Tocolytic

Tocolytics (also called anti-contraction medications or labor repressants) are medications used to suppress premature labor (from the Greek tokos, childbirth, and lytic, capable of dissolving). They are given when delivery would result in premature birth. The therapy also buys time for the administration of betamethasone, a glucocorticoid drug which greatly accelerates fetal lung maturity, but takes one to two days to work.