Bed rest and hydration.
They still have not been shown to have any impact on prolonging pregnancy and may be harmful. Bed rest and hydration should not be routinely recommended to women with preterm labor (listed as Level B evidence in 2003 and 2012).1
The other new addition to the 2012 bulletin is the proposed performance measure, which is ACOG's suggestion for what might be used for recertification by the American Board of Medical Specialties as part of maintenance of certification sometime in the future.1 The proposed performance measure is "the proportion of women with preterm labor at less than 34 weeks of gestation who receive corticosteroid therapy." Finally, predictors of preterm delivery (fetal fibronectin and ultrasound cervical length) remain useful only for their negative predictive value and "should not be used exclusively to direct management in the setting of acute symptoms" (Level B evidence in the 2012 bulletin).1,16