WSU professor to brief Congress on new interventions that greatly reduce preterm birth

A world-renowned expert on maternal-fetal health who developed a method that reduces preterm birth will present her findings during an Oct. 23 congressional briefing. Sonia Hassan, M.D., associate vice president of Women’s Health and founder of the new Office of Women’s Health at Wayne State University in Detroit, will tell members of Congress how the use of a simple, inexpensive vaginal progesterone for women found to have a shortened cervix decreases the rate of preterm birth before 33 weeks of gestation by 45 percent and respiratory distress syndrome by 61 percent. Recommendations to sonographically screen pregnant women for a shortened cervix and prescription of the self-applied progesterone have been adopted worldwide to reduce the numbers of preterm birth. Dr. Hassan’s briefing will be the first of many in the Wayne State University Capitol Series titled Improving Health Outcomes for Minority Women and Their Children, held in conjunction with U.S. Reps. Brenda Lawrence and Rashida Tlaib.