A study put together by researchers in Detroit is being called the "most important ever conducted on premature birth." It is getting the designation because researchers claim they have figured out how to drastically reduce the rate of premature births in our nation. They say doctors should measure the cervixes of pregnant women and then treat women with shorter cervixes with vaginal progesterone. The study was put together by researchers at Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Roberto Romero, head of the study and chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, which is based in Detroit at the DMC and Wayne State University's School of Medicine, said in the Detroit Free Press story that "evidence is compelling" that the cervical measurements and gel significantly improve a woman's chance of having a full-term, healthy baby. A woman with a short cervix has a greater chance of delivering before 37 weeks of pregnancy. A normal pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

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