Pregnant women urged to take cervix test to detect risk of premature birth

PREGNANT women should routinely undergo physical checks to determine if they have a short cervical length, known to increase the risk of premature birth.

Pregnant women should routinely undergo physical checks. Picture: iStock

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PREGNANT women should routinely undergo physical checks to determine if they have a short cervical length, known to increase the risk of premature birth.

Before a screening program was introduced, Australian researchers argued a public health campaign was needed to advise healthcare workers about how to screen, treatment options, and how to give women information about the benefits and risks.

In the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology researchers from the University of Western Australia write that there are barriers to a screening program.

These include the lack of availability of treatment options, cost, a reluctance for women to undergo internal ultrasounds, and the views of the medical profession.

But they insisted there was still “compelling evidence” to recommend a universal screening program.