To all LDR nurses......

A post a while back mentioned a patient coming into the hospital in preterm labor. She was only 16 or so weeks along (if memory serves), yet was started on meds to halt labor, as opposed to letting nature take its course. The responders were pretty much horrified that the preterm labor was treated. It just got me thinking (since I have never remotely participated in the LDR arena), what is the standard for treating/not treating preterm labor?

In other words, at which week of pregnancy does the diagnosis change from missed AB to treatable preterm labor?
I am not an LDR nurse, however, I think it might be conditional on how advanced the labor was and what precipitated the contractions.I was 21 wks pregnant when I was involved in a car accident (I was the passenger). The next morning, I went into labor. The treated it w/o any complications. My son was born pre-term, but at 34 wks. My sister, on the other hand, had been in infertility treatments for years. She was definitely pregnant and in pre-term labor (24 wks)....they put her on ritodrine and kept her on it to keep the contractions at bay until she finally delivered at 38 wks.

20 weeks and under.....we don't even use the heart monitor because it is nonviable.