Biomedical aspects of pregnancy

Ureaplasma parvum genotype, combined vaginal colonisation with Candida albicans, and spontaneous preterm birth in an Australian cohort of pregnant women

Detection of Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma and Candida spp. in the vagina during pregnancy has previously been associated with preterm birth (PTB). However, the prevalence of these microorganisms and the associated obst...

Authors: Matthew S. Payne, Demelza J. Ireland, Rory Watts, Elizabeth A. Nathan, Lucy L. Furfaro, Matthew W. Kemp, Jeffrey A. Keelan and John P. Newnham

Bacterial vaginosis and adverse outcomes among full-term infants: a cohort study

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) during pregnancy is a well-established risk factor for preterm birth and other preterm pregnancy complications. Little is known about adverse neonatal outcomes associated with BV expos...

Authors: Adam S. Dingens, Tessa S. Fairfortune, Susan Reed and Caroline Mitchell

Medication utilization pattern for management of pregnancy complications: a study in Western Nepal

Drugs used during pregnancy can adversely affect the health and life of the mother and unborn child. However, the fact that drugs are needed to mitigate complications during pregnancy cannot be avoided. The pr...

Authors: Ramesh Devkota, G. M. Khan, Kadir Alam, Amisha Regmi and Binaya Sapkota

The effects of embryo culture media on the birthweight of singletons via fresh or frozen-thawed embryo transfer: a large-scale retrospective study

Embryo culture media used for IVF treatment might affect fetal growth and thus birthweight of the newborns.

Authors: Fang Gu, Mingfen Deng, Jun Gao, Zilian Wang, Chenhui Ding, Yanwen Xu and Canquan Zhou

Use of the National Diabetes Data Group and the Carpenter-Coustan criteria for assessing gestational diabetes mellitus and risk of adverse pregnancy outcome

The influence of different diagnostic thresholds for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on pregnancy outcomes is not fully understood. Degrees of glucose intolerance according to the Carpenter-Coustan (CC) cr...

Authors: Mei-Chun Lu, Song-Shan Huang, Yuan-Horng Yan and Panchalli Wang

Normal ranges for fetal electrocardiogram values for the healthy fetus of 18–24 weeks of gestation: a prospective cohort study

The fetal anomaly ultrasound only detects 65 to 81 % of the patients with congenital heart disease, making it the most common structural fetal anomaly of which a significant part is missed during prenatal life...

Authors: Kim M. J. Verdurmen, Carlijn Lempersz, Rik Vullings, Christian Schroer, Tammo Delhaas, Judith O. E. H. van Laar and S. Guid Oei

Use of metabolomics for the identification and validation of clinical biomarkers for preterm birth: Preterm SAMBA

Spontaneous preterm birth is a complex syndrome with multiple pathways interactions determining its occurrence, including genetic, immunological, physiologic, biochemical and environmental factors. Despite gre...

Authors: Jose G. Cecatti, Renato T. Souza, Karolina Sulek, Maria L. Costa, Louise C. Kenny, Lesley M. McCowan, Rodolfo C. Pacagnella, Silas G. Villas-Boas, Jussara Mayrink, Renato Passini Jr, Kleber G. Franchini and Philip N. Baker

Maternal and cord blood adiponectin levels in relation to post-natal body size in infants in the first year of life: a prospective study

Adiponectin is an adipocyte hormone involved in energy homeostasis and metabolism. However, its role in early infancy is poorly understood.

Authors: Zhe-qing Zhang, Qing-gui Lu, Jie Huang, Chang-ya Jiao, Shao-ming Huang and Li-mei Mao

Hormone concentrations throughout uncomplicated pregnancies: a longitudinal study

Evidence suggests that the hormonal milieu of pregnancy is an important determinant of subsequent cancer and other chronic diseases in both the mother and the offspring. Many of the existing maternity and birt...

Authors: Helena Schock, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Eva Lundin, Kjell Grankvist, Hans-Åke Lakso, Annika Idahl, Matti Lehtinen, Heljä-Marja Surcel and Renée T. Fortner

Identification of fetal cardiac anatomy and hemodynamics: a novel enhanced screening protocol

Prenatal cardiac screening is of great importance as it contributes to appropriate neonatal management and helps parents to make a decision regarding their pregnancy. The aim of our study was to evaluate the e...

Authors: Ying Zhang, Ai-Lu Cai, Wei-dong Ren, Ya-Jun Guo, Dong-yu Zhang, Wei Sun, Yu Wang, Lei Wang, Yue Qin and Li-ping Huang

Perinatal maternal depression and cortisol function in pregnancy and the postpartum period: a systematic literature review

Perinatal depression has a significant impact on both mother and child. However, the influence of hormonal changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period remains unclear. This article provides a systematic...

Authors: Sunaina Seth, Andrew J. Lewis and Megan Galbally

Effects of simvastatin, rosuvastatin and pravastatin on soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and soluble endoglin (sENG) secretion from human umbilical vein endothelial cells, primary trophoblast cells and placenta

Preeclampsia is associated with the placental release of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and soluble endoglin (sENG). These anti-angiogenic factors cause hypertension and multi-organ injury. Pravas...

Authors: Fiona C. Brownfoot, Stephen Tong, Natalie J. Hannan, Roxanne Hastie, Ping Cannon and Tu’uhevaha J. Kaitu’u-Lino

Effects of additional anterior body mass on gait

Gradual increases in mass such as during pregnancy are associated with changes in gait at natural velocities. The purpose of this study was to examine how added mass at natural and imposed slow walking velocit...

Authors: Simone V. Gill, Maureen Ogamba and Cara L. Lewis

Serum level and polymorphisms of retinol-binding protein-4 and risk for gestational diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis

Retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP4) has been reported to be potentially involved in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); however, the findings are inconsistent. Our aims were to review the stu...

Authors: Shimin Hu, Qian Liu, Xin Huang and Hongzhuan Tan

Urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio in pregnant women after dipstick testing: prospective observational study

The dipstick test is widely used as a primary screening test for detection of significant proteinuria in pregnancy (SPIP). However, it often shows a false positive test result. This study was performed to dete...

Authors: Yosuke Baba, Takahiro Yamada, Mana Obata-Yasuoka, Shun Yasuda, Yasumasa Ohno, Kosuke Kawabata, Shiori Minakawa, Chihiro Hirai, Hideto Kusaka, Nao Murabayashi, Yusuke Inde, Michikazu Nagura, Hiromi Hamada, Atsuo Itakura, Akihide Ohkuchi, Makoto Maeda…

Validating the British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry: a chart re-abstraction study

The British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry (BCPDR) contains individual-level obstetrical and neonatal medical chart data for virtually all births occurring in British Columbia, Canada. The objective of this ...

Authors: Gillian Frosst, Jennifer Hutcheon, KS Joseph, Brooke Kinniburgh, Cathe Johnson and Lily Lee

Effect of maternal skin-to-skin contact on decolonization of Methicillin-Oxacillin-Resistant Staphylococcus in neonatal intensive care units: a randomized controlled trial

Decolonization with topical antibiotics is necessary to control outbreaks of multidrug-resistant bacterial infection in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), but can trigger bacterial resistance. The object...

Authors: Fernando Lamy Filho, Sílvia Helena Cavalcante de Sousa, Isolina Januária Sousa Freitas, Zeni Carvalho Lamy, Vanda Maria Ferreira Simões, Antônio Augusto Moura da Silva and Marco Antônio Barbieri

Evaluation of the quality of guidelines for the management of reduced fetal movements in UK maternity units

The development of evidence-based guidelines is a key step in ensuring that maternity care is of a universally high standard. To influence patient care national and international guidelines need to be interpre...

Authors: Stephanie Jokhan, Melissa K Whitworth, Felicity Jones, Ashleigh Saunders and Alexander E P Heazell

Epigenetic regulation of lncRNA connects ubiquitin-proteasome system with infection-inflammation in preterm births and preterm premature rupture of membranes

Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is responsible for one third of all preterm births (PTBs). We have recently demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are differentially expressed in human ...

Authors: Xiucui Luo, Jing Pan, Leilei Wang, Peirong Wang, Meijiao Zhang, Meilin Liu, Ziqing Dong, Qian Meng, Xuguang Tao, Xinliang Zhao, Julia Zhong, Weina Ju, Yang Gu, Edmund C Jenkins, W Ted Brown, Qingxi Shi…

Appropriate provision of anti-D prophylaxis to RhD negative pregnant women: a scoping review

The purpose of this scoping review was to review the literature on healthcare provider provision of anti-D prophylaxis to RhD negative pregnant women in appropriate clinical situations in various healthcare se...

Authors: Trina M Fyfe, M Jane Ritchey, Christorina Taruc, Daniel Crompton, Brian Galliford and Rose Perrin

Changes in thrombin generation and D-dimer concentrations in women injecting enoxaparin during pregnancy and the puerperium

It is well accepted that the gravid state is hypercoagulable and a significant cause of both maternal morbidity and mortality in the Western world. Although thrombin generation is reported to be increased in p...

Authors: Jignesh P Patel, Raj K Patel, Lara N Roberts, Michael S Marsh, Bruce Green, J Graham Davies and Roopen Arya

Care-related factors associated with antepartal diagnosis of intrauterine growth restriction: a case–control study

Antenatal care is of core importance for maternal and child health and is therefore a central aspect of mother and child health care. One of the main goals of effective screening in antenatal care is the detec...

Authors: Sinja Alexandra Ernst, Anna Reeske, Jacob Spallek, Knud Petersen, Tilman Brand and Hajo Zeeb

B7 costimulation and intracellular indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) expression in peripheral blood of healthy pregnant and non-pregnant women

B7 costimulatory molecules are expressed on antigen presenting cells (APCs) and are important regulators of T cell activation. We investigated the role of the B7 family of costimulatory molecules in the develo...

Authors: Enikő Grozdics, László Berta, Anna Bajnok, Gábor Veres, István Ilisz, Péter Klivényi, János Rigó Jr, László Vécsei, Tivadar Tulassay and Gergely Toldi

Elastography in predicting preterm delivery in asymptomatic, low-risk women: a prospective observational study

Despite the efforts to decrease the rate of preterm birth, preterm delivery is still the main cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Identifying patients threatened with preterm delivery remains one of the...

Authors: Slawomir Wozniak, Piotr Czuczwar, Piotr Szkodziak, Pawel Milart, Ewa Wozniakowska and Tomasz Paszkowski

The Midland and North of England Stillbirth Study (MiNESS)

The United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of stillbirth in Europe, resulting in approximately 4,000 stillbirths every year. Potentially modifiable risk factors for late stillbirths are maternal age, obes...

Authors: Jayne Platts, Edwin A Mitchell, Tomasina Stacey, Bill L Martin, Devender Roberts, Lesley McCowan and Alexander E P Heazell

The Welsh study of mothers and babies: protocol for a population-based cohort study to investigate the clinical significance of defined ultrasound findings of uncertain significance

Improvement in ultrasound imaging has led to the identification of subtle non-structural markers during the 18 – 20 week fetal anomaly scan, such as echogenic bowel, mild cerebral ventriculomegaly, renal pelvi...

Authors: Lisa Hurt, Melissa Wright, Fiona Brook, Susan Thomas, Frank Dunstan, David Fone, Gareth John, Sue Morris, David Tucker, Marilyn Ann Wills, Lyn Chitty, Colin Davies and Shantini Paranjothy

Erratum To: Induction of labour with a Foley catheter or oral misoprostol at term: the PROBAAT-II study, a multicentre randomised controlled trial

Authors: Mieke LG ten Eikelder, Femke Neervoort, Katrien Oude Rengerink, Gert J van Baaren, Marta Jozwiak, Jan-Willem de Leeuw, Irene de Graaf, Maria G van Pampus, Maureen Franssen, Martijn Oudijk, Paulien van der Salm, Mallory Woiski, Paula JM Pernet, A Hanneke Feitsma, Huib van Vliet, Martina Porath…

A gestational ketogenic diet alters maternal metabolic status as well as offspring physiological growth and brain structure in the neonatal mouse

The use of the ketogenic diet (KD) among women of child-bearing age has been increasing, leading to increased interest in identifying the diet’s suitability during gestation. To date, no studies have thoroughl...

Authors: Dafna Sussman, Jacob Ellegood and Mark Henkelman

Diabetes and hypertension increase the placental and transcellular permeation of the lipophilic drug diazepam in pregnant women

Previous studies carried out in our laboratories have demonstrated impaired drug permeation in diabetic animals. In this study the permeation of diazepam (after a single dose of 5 mg/day, administered intramus...

Authors: Mladena Lalic-Popovic, Jovana Paunkovic, Zorica Grujic, Svetlana Golocorbin-Kon, Hani Al-Salami and Momir Mikov

Pharmacogenetic predictors of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy severity and response to antiemetic therapy: a pilot study

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is a common condition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between response to antiemetics in the treatment of NVP and genetic polymorphisms in th...

Authors: Amalia S Lehmann, Jamie L Renbarger, Catherine L McCormick, Ariel R Topletz, Carrie Rouse and David M Haas

Serum lactate dehydrogenase profile as a retrospective indicator of uterine preparedness for labor: a prospective, observational study

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes are required for adenosine triphosphate production, with each of five different isoenzymes having varying proficiencies in anaerobic versus aerobic environments. With adv...

Authors: Jeremy L Neal, Nancy K Lowe and Elizabeth J Corwin

Pre-pregnancy BMI and weight gain: where is the tipping point for preterm birth?

Obesity in pregnant women is a major problem affecting both the mother and her offspring. Literature on the effect of obesity on preterm birth is inconsistent and few studies have investigated the influence of...

Authors: Saba W Masho, Diane L Bishop and Meaghan Munn

Effect of elective cesarean section on the risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus

Many clinicians and hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected pregnant women prefer elective caesarean section (ECS) to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV, since some studies found higher transmission of HBV i...

Authors: Yali Hu, Jie Chen, Jian Wen, Chenyu Xu, Shu Zhang, Biyun Xu and Yi-Hua Zhou

Surgical versus expectant management in women with an incomplete evacuation of the uterus after treatment with misoprostol for miscarriage: the MisoREST trial

Medical treatment with misoprostol is a non-invasive and inexpensive treatment option in first trimester miscarriage. However, about 30% of women treated with misoprostol have incomplete evacuation of the uter...

Authors: Marianne AC Verschoor, Marike Lemmers, Patrick M Bossuyt, Giuseppe CM Graziosi, Petra J Hajenius, Dave J Hendriks, Marcel AH van Hooff, Hannah S van Meurs, Brent C Opmeer, Maurits W van Tulder, Liesanne Bouwma, Ruby Catshoek, Peggy Geomini, Ellen R Klinkert, Josje Langenveld, Theodoor E Nieboer…

Risk of recurrence, subsequent mode of birth and morbidity for women who experienced severe perineal trauma in a first birth in New South Wales between 2000 –2008: a population based data linkage study

Severe perineal trauma occurs in 0.5-10% of vaginal births and can result in significant morbidity including pain, dyspareunia and faecal incontinence. The aim of this study is to determine the risk of recurre...

Authors: Holly Priddis, Hannah G Dahlen, Virginia Schmied, Annie Sneddon, Christine Kettle, Chris Brown and Charlene Thornton

Induction of labour with a Foley catheter or oral misoprostol at term: the PROBAAT-II study, a multicentre randomised controlled trial

Induction of labour is a common obstetric procedure. At present, different methods are used for induction of labour in women with an unfavourable cervix. Recently, we showed that in term women with an unfavora...

Authors: Mieke LG ten Eikelder, Femke Neervoort, Katrien Oude Rengerink, Marta Jozwiak, Jan-Willem de Leeuw, Irene de Graaf, Maria G van Pampus, Maureen Franssen, Martijn Oudijk, Paulien van der Salm, Mallory Woiski, Paula JM Pernet, A Hanneke Feitsma, Huib van Vliet, Martina Porath, Frans Roumen…

How effective are the components of active management of the third stage of labor?

Active management of the third stage of labor is recommended for the prevention of post-partum hemorrhage and commonly entails prophylactic administration of a uterotonic agent, controlled cord traction, and u...

Authors: Wendy R Sheldon, Jill Durocher, Beverly Winikoff, Jennifer Blum and James Trussell

Factors associated with success of vaginal birth after one caesarean section (VBAC) at three teaching hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a case control study

Vaginal delivery after previous one cesarean section for a non recurring indication has been described by several authors as safe and having a success rate of 60–80%. Hence many centers are offering VBAC for c...

Authors: Malede Birara and Yirgu Gebrehiwot

Using a decline in serum hCG between days 0–4 to predict ectopic pregnancy treatment success after single-dose methotrexate: a retrospective cohort study

The current measure of treatment efficacy of single-dose methotrexate for ectopic pregnancy, is a fall in serum hCG of ≥15% between days 4–7 of treatment, which has a positive predictive value of 93% for treat...

Authors: Monika Skubisz, Philip Dutton, William Colin Duncan, Andrew W Horne and Stephen Tong

Characteristics of first-time fathers of advanced age: a Norwegian population-based study

The modern phenomenon of delayed parenthood applies not only to women but also to men, but less is known about what characterises men who are expecting their first child at an advanced age. This study investig...

Authors: Anne Britt Vika Nilsen, Ulla Waldenström, Svein Rasmussen, Anna Hjelmstedt and Erica Schytt

Outpatient Foley catheter versus inpatient prostaglandin E2 gel for induction of labour: a randomised trial

Induction of labour (IOL) is one of the commonest obstetric interventions, with significant impact on both the individual woman and health service delivery. Outpatient IOL is an attractive option to reduce the...

Authors: Amanda Henry, Arushi Madan, Rachel Reid, Sally K Tracy, Kathryn Austin, Alec Welsh and Daniel Challis

Knowledge and utilization of partograph among obstetric care givers in public health institutions of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Globally, there was an estimated number of 287,000 maternal deaths in 2010. Eighty five percent (245,000) of these deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Among the causes of these deaths were...

Authors: Engida Yisma, Berhanu Dessalegn, Ayalew Astatkie and Nebreed Fesseha

Accuracy of erythrogram and serum ferritin for the maternal anemia diagnosis (AMA): a phase 3 diagnostic study on prediction of the therapeutic responsiveness to oral iron in pregnancy

Pregnancy anemia remains as a public health problem, since the official reports in the 70’s. To guide the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy, the haemoglobin concentration is the most used test i...

Authors: Cristiane Campello Bresani, Maria Cynthia Braga, Daniel Falcão Felisberto, Carlos Eduardo Lopes Tavares-de-Melo, Debora Bresani Salvi and Malaquias Batista-Filho

Reproductive patterns among twins - a Swedish register study of men and women born 1973-1983

During the last decades there has been a steady increase of twin births. A combination of improved medical treatment of preterm and small-for-gestational age children has contributed to a higher number of surv...

Authors: Marie Bladh, Ann Josefsson, John Carstensen, Orvar Finnström and Gunilla Sydsjö

A qualitative interview study exploring pregnant women’s and health professionals’ attitudes to external cephalic version

Women who have a breech presentation at term have to decide whether to attempt external cephalic version (ECV) and how they want to give birth if the baby remains breech, either by planned caesarean section (C...

Authors: Rebecca Say, Richard Thomson, Stephen Robson and Catherine Exley

Professionals’ views of fetal monitoring during labour: a systematic review and thematic analysis

Current recommendations do not support the use of continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) for low risk women during labour, yet EFM remains widespread in clinical practice. Consideration of the views, per...

Authors: Valerie Smith, Cecily M Begley, Mike Clarke and Declan Devane

Clean birth kits to improve birth practices: development and testing of a country level decision support tool

Clean birth practices can prevent sepsis, one of the leading causes of both maternal and newborn mortality. Evidence suggests that clean birth kits (CBKs), as part of package that includes education, are assoc...

Authors: Vanora A Hundley, Bilal I Avan, Haris Ahmed and Wendy J Graham

Mode of birth and women’s psychological and physical wellbeing in the postnatal period

Physical and psychological problems after childbirth are common, and may have a significant negative and long-term impact on women’s wellbeing and daily functioning. The method of birth may be a particularly i...

Authors: Ingrid J Rowlands and Maggie Redshaw

Silent loss and the clinical encounter: Parents’ and physicians’ experiences of stillbirth–a qualitative analysis

In the United States, an estimated 70 stillbirths occur each day, on average 25,000 each year. Research into the prevalence and causes of stillbirth is ongoing, but meanwhile, many parents suffer this devastat...

Authors: Maureen C Kelley and Susan B Trinidad

High maternal mortality in rural south-west Ethiopia: estimate by using the sisterhood method

Estimation of maternal mortality is difficult in developing countries without complete vital registration. The indirect sisterhood method represents an alternative in places where there is high fertility and m...

Authors: Yaliso Yaya and Bernt Lindtjørn