Background: The objective of present study was to measure the serum magnesium levels in preterm labor patients, to measure the serum magnesium levels in term labor patients and to correlate the serum magnesium levels in preterm and term labor patients. Methods: It is a prospective case control study conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, KIMS hospital and research Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. A venous blood sample is drawn from patients admitted to labor room who fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria out of which 50 patients belong to the Group-A (preterm labor) and 50 patients belong to Group-B (term labor). Serum magnesium level is measured in both the groups. Results: Women with preterm labor had a significantly reduced serum magnesium level with a mean serum magnesium level of 1.59 mg/dl with a SD of 0.83 whereas the patients with term labor had a mean serum magnesium level of 2.55 mg/dl with a SD of 0.40. The difference of serum magnesium levels observed between the study population and control population is independent of factors like maternal age, parity, gestational age, and socio-economic factors. In this study, it is found that serum magnesium levels are lower in early and late preterm compared to preterm between 33-34+6 weeks. Conclusions: Serum magnesium level can be used as a predicting tool for preterm labor. Preterm labor can be avoided by simple supplementation of Magnesium which might provide an easy and inexpensive means to decrease the problems related to preterm labor. There is a further scope for research on serum magnesium levels based on gestational age.
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