Articles

Risk factors for pre-term birth in Iraq: a case-control study

Preterm birth (PTB)is a major clinical problem associated with perinatal mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study is to identify risk factors associated with PTB in Mosul, Iraq.

Authors: Samim A Al-Dabbagh and Wafa Y Al-Taee

Maternal health study: a prospective cohort study of nulliparous women recruited in early pregnancy

In the first year after childbirth, 94% of women experience one or more major health problems (urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence, perineal pain, back pain). Difficulties in intimate partner relationshi...

Authors: Stephanie J Brown, Judith M Lumley, Ellie A McDonald and Ann H Krastev

Absorbing and transferring risk: assessing the impact of a statewide high-risk-pregnancy telemedical program on VLBW maternal transports

Prior research has shown that resources have an impact on birth outcomes. In this paper we ask how combinations of telemedical and hospital-level resources impact transports of mothers expecting very low birth...

Authors: David W Britt, Janet Bronstein and Jonathan D Norton

A randomized cross over trial of tolerability and compliance of a micronutrient supplement with low iron separated from calcium vs high iron combined with calcium in pregnant women [ISRCTN56071145]

Prenatal micronutrient combinations with high iron content are associated with high rates of gastrointestinal symptoms. This coupled with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy results in women often discontinuing t...

Authors: Eric Ahn, Nicholas Pairaudeau, Nicholas Pairaudeau Jr, Yves Cérat, Bernard Couturier, Andre Fortier, Éric Paradis and Gideon Koren

Protocol for the immediate delivery versus expectant care of women with preterm prelabour rupture of the membranes close to term (PPROMT) Trial [ISRCTN44485060]

Preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM) complicates up to 2% of all pregnancies and is the cause of 40% of all preterm births. The optimal management of women with PPROM prior to 37 weeks, is not known....

Authors: Jonathan M Morris, Christine L Roberts, Caroline A Crowther, Sarah L Buchanan, David J Henderson-Smart and Glenn Salkeld

Effects of high volume saline enemas vs no enema during labour – The N-Ma Randomised Controlled Trial [ISRCTN43153145]

Enemas are used during labour in obstetric settings with the belief that they reduce puerperal and neonatal infections, shorten labour duration, and make delivery cleaner for attending personnel. However, a sy...

Authors: Luis Gabriel Cuervo, María del Pilar Bernal and Natalia Mendoza

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism (Glu298Asp) and development of pre-eclampsia: a case-control study and a meta-analysis

Pre-eclampsia is thought to have an important genetic component. Recently, pre-eclampsia has been associated in some studies with carriage of a common eNOS gene Glu298Asp polymorphism, a variant that leads to ...

Authors: Christina KH Yu, Juan P Casas, Makrina D Savvidou, Manpreet K Sahemey, Kypros H Nicolaides and Aroon D Hingorani

Maternal deaths in Sagamu in the new millennium: a facility-based retrospective analysis

Health institutions need to contribute their quota towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) with respect to maternal health. In order to do so, current data on maternal mortality is ess...

Authors: Olufemi T Oladapo, Mustafa A Lamina and Tuminu A Fakoya

Hypnosis Antenatal Training for Childbirth (HATCh): a randomised controlled trial[NCT00282204]

Although medical interventions play an important role in preserving lives and maternal comfort they have become increasingly routine in normal childbirth. This may increase the risk of associated complications...

Authors: Allan M Cyna, Marion I Andrew, Jeffrey S Robinson, Caroline A Crowther, Peter Baghurst, Deborah Turnbull, Graham Wicks and Celia Whittle

Severe respiratory distress in term infants born electively at high altitude

We studied the contribution of elective delivery to severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in term babies born at high altitude.

Authors: Ahmad F Bakr and Mohammad M Abbas

What is the optimal gestational age for twin delivery

The question about outcome in twins delivered early versus late remains unanswered. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of the timing of delivering twins and the perinatal outcome.

Authors: Ahmad F Bakr and Tarek Karkour

Uteroplacental bleeding disorders during pregnancy: do missing paternal characteristics influence risk?

Several studies have assessed the risks of uteroplacental bleeding disorders in relation to maternal characteristics. The association between uteroplacental bleeding disorders and paternal characteristics, how...

Authors: Darios Getahun, Cande V Ananth and Anthony M Vintzileos

Erratum to: The DiAMOND trial protocol: A randomised controlled trial of two decision aids for mode of delivery among women with a previous caesarean section [ISRCTN84367722]

Authors: Alan A Montgomery

Prevalence of pre- and postpartum depression in Jamaican women

Maternal depression during pregnancy has been studied less than depression in postpartum period. The aims of this study were to find out the prevalence of prepartum and postpartum depression and the risk facto...

Authors: Janice Wissart, Omkar Parshad and Santosh Kulkarni

Determination of Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha concentrations in Iranian-Khorasanian patients with preeclampsia

Our objective was to determine the role of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), markers of immune activation and endothelial dysfunction, in patients with preeclampsia.

Authors: J Tavakkol Afshari, N Ghomian, A Shameli, MT Shakeri, MA Fahmidehkar, E Mahajer, R Khoshnavaz and M Emadzadeh

Longer postpartum hospitalization options – who stays, who leaves, what changes?

This paper examines the practice implications of a policy initiative, namely, offering women in Ontario Canada up to a 60-hour postpartum in-hospital stay following an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. This chan...

Authors: Susan Watt, Wendy Sword and Paul Krueger

Antenatal screening for Group B Streptococcus: A diagnostic cohort study

A range of strategies have been adopted to prevent early onset Group B Streptococcal (EOGBS) sepsis, as a consequence of Group B Streptococcal (GBS) vertically acquired infection. This study was designed to pr...

Authors: Janet E Hiller, Helen M McDonald, Philip Darbyshire and Caroline A Crowther

SSRI'S and other antidepressant use during pregnancy and potential neonatal adverse effects: Impact of a public health advisory and subsequent reports in the news media

On Aug 9^th 2004 Health Canada released an advisory, which followed a similar one from the FDA regarding the use of SSRI's and other antidepressants during pregnancy and potential adverse effects on newborns. In n...

Authors: A Einarson, AK Schachtschneider, R Halil, E Bollano and G Koren

Pregnancy-induced hypertension and infant growth at 28 and 42 days postpartum

No previous studies have examined the effect of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) on early infant growth. The objective was to study infant growth patterns of babies born to mothers with PIH at 28 and 42 da...

Authors: Emmanuelle Baulon, William D Fraser, Bruno Piedboeuf, Pierre Buekens and Xu Xiong

Incidence of stillbirth and perinatal mortality and their associated factors among women delivering at Harare Maternity Hospital, Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional retrospective analysis

Death of an infant in utero or at birth has always been a devastating experience for the mother and of concern in clinical practice. Infant mortality remains a challenge in the care of pregnant women worldwide...

Authors: Shingairai A Feresu, Siobán D Harlow, Kathy Welch and Brenda W Gillespie

Hospitalisation for bed rest for women with a triplet pregnancy: an abandoned randomised controlled trial and meta-analysis

This abandoned randomised controlled trial assessed the effects of hospitalisation from 24 to 30 weeks gestation for women with a triplet pregnancy on the risk of preterm birth.

Authors: Jodie M Dodd and Caroline A Crowther

Antiplatelet agents for prevention of pre-eclampsia and its consequences: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

There is now good evidence that antiplatelet agents (principally low dose aspirin) prevent pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for pregnant women and their babies. A Cochrane Review ident...

Authors:

Women's health groups to improve perinatal care in rural Nepal

Neonatal mortality rates are high in rural Nepal where more than 90% of deliveries are in the home. Evidence suggests that death rates can be reduced by interventions at community level. We describe an interve...

Authors: Joanna Morrison, Suresh Tamang, Natasha Mesko, David Osrin, Bhim Shrestha, Madan Manandhar, Dharma Manandhar, Hilary Standing and Anthony Costello

Individual patient data meta-analysis : Cervical stitch (cerclage) for preventing pregnancy loss in women

Cervical cerclage is a surgical procedure involving suturing the cervix with a purse type stitch to keep it closed during pregnancy. This procedure has been used widely in the management of pregnancies conside...

Authors: Catrin Tudur-Smith, Andrea L Jorgensen, Zarko Alfirevic and Paula R Williamson

Polymorphisms in immunoregulatory genes and the risk of histologic chorioamnionitis in Caucasoid women: a case control study

Chorioamnionitis is a common underlying cause of preterm birth (PTB). It is hypothesised that polymorphisms in immunoregulatory genes influence the host response to infection and subsequent preterm birth. The ...

Authors: Margaret F Annells, Prue H Hart, Charles G Mullighan, Susan L Heatley, Jeffrey S Robinson and Helen M McDonald

Customized birth weight for gestational age standards: Perinatal mortality patterns are consistent with separate standards for males and females but not for blacks and whites

Some currently available birth weight for gestational age standards are customized but others are not. We carried out a study to provide empirical justification for customizing such standards by sex and for wh...

Authors: K S Joseph, Russell Wilkins, Linda Dodds, Victoria M Allen, Arne Ohlsson, Sylvie Marcoux and Robert Liston

Association between fetal growth restriction and polymorphisms at sites -1 and +3 of pituitary growth hormone: a case-control study

Fetal growth restriction is associated with significantly increased risks of neonatal death and morbidity and with susceptibility to hypertension, cardiovascular disease and NIDDM later in life. Human birth we...

Authors: Ronald M Adkins, Caroline Campese, Rehana Vaidya and Theonia K Boyd

Postpartum maternal morbidity requiring hospital admission in Lusaka, Zambia – a descriptive study

Information on the extent of postpartum maternal morbidity in developing countries is extremely limited. In many settings, data from hospital-based studies is hard to interpret because of the small proportion ...

Authors: Lisa Vallely, Yusuf Ahmed and Susan F Murray

Potential of essential fatty acid deficiency with extremely low fat diet in lipoprotein lipase deficiency during pregnancy: A case report

Pregnancy in patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency is associated with high risk of maternal pancreatitis and fetal death. A very low fat diet (< 10% of calories) is the primary treatment modality for the...

Authors: Elaine C Tsai, Judy A Brown, Megan Y Veldee, Gregory J Anderson, Alan Chait and John D Brunzell

Protocol for the evaluation of a decision aid for women with a breech-presenting baby [ISRCTN14570598]

There is now good evidence about the management options for pregnant women with a breech presentation (buttocks or feet rather than head-first) at term; external cephalic version (ECV) – the turning of a breec...

Authors: Christine L Roberts, Natasha Nassar, Alexandra Barratt, Camille H Raynes-Greenow, Brian Peat and David Henderson-Smart

The DiAMOND trial protocol: a randomised controlled trial of two decision aids for mode of delivery among women with a previous caesarean section [ISRCTN84367722]

Caesarean section (CS) has become an increasingly common method of delivery worldwide, rising in the UK from 9% of deliveries in 1980 to over 21% 2001. This increase, and the question of whether CS should be a...

Authors: Alan A Montgomery

Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a decision aid for the management of pain in labour and childbirth [ISRCTN52287533]

Women report fear of pain in childbirth and often lack complete information on analgesic options prior to labour. Preferences for pain relief should be discussed before labour begins. A woman's antepartum deci...

Authors: Christine L Roberts, Camille H Raynes-Greenow, Natasha Nassar, Lyndal Trevena and Kirsten McCaffery

Successful obstetrical management of 110-day intertwin delivery interval without cerclage: counseling and conservative management approach to extreme asynchronous twin birth

This report describes a patient counseling approach and non-surgical management of a dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancy where delivery of the second twin followed the delivery of the first by 110 days.

Authors: Labib M Ghulmiyyah, Salim A Wehbe, Seth A Schwartz and Eric Scott Sills

Reexamining the effects of gestational age, fetal growth, and maternal smoking on neonatal mortality

Low birth weight (<2,500 g) is a strong predictor of infant mortality. Yet low birth weight, in isolation, is uninformative since it is comprised of two intertwined components: preterm delivery and reduced fet...

Authors: Cande V Ananth and Robert W Platt

Missing paternal demographics: A novel indicator for identifying high risk population of adverse pregnancy outcomes

One of every 6 United Status birth certificates contains no information on fathers. There might be important differences in the pregnancy outcomes between mothers with versus those without partner information....

Authors: Hongzhuan Tan, Shi Wu Wen, Mark Walker and Kitaw Demissie

A comprehensive evaluation of food fortification with folic acid for the primary prevention of neural tube defects

Periconceptional use of vitamin supplements containing folic acid reduces the risk of a neural tube defect (NTD). In November 1998, food fortification with folic acid was mandated in Canada, as a public health...

Authors: Shiliang Liu, Roy West, Edward Randell, Linda Longerich, Kathleen Steel O'Connor, Helen Scott, Marian Crowley, Angeline Lam, Victor Prabhakaran and Catherine McCourt

A failed RCT to determine if antibiotics prevent mastitis: Cracked nipples colonized with Staphylococcus aureus: A randomized treatment trial [ISRCTN65289389]

A small, non-blinded, RCT (randomised controlled trial) had reported that oral antibiotics reduced the incidence of mastitis in lactating women with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)- colonized cracked nipples. W...

Authors: Lisa Helen Amir, Judith Lumley and Suzanne M Garland

Malaria and anemia prevention in pregnant women of rural Burkina Faso

Pregnant women are a major risk group for malaria in endemic areas. Only little information exists on the compliance of pregnant women with malaria and anaemia preventive drug regimens in the rural areas of su...

Authors: Caroline Miaffo, Florent Some, Bocar Kouyate, Albrecht Jahn and Olaf Mueller

The effect of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy on small for gestational age and stillbirth: a population based study

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are leading causes of maternal, fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, studies attempting to quantify the effect of hypertension on adverse perinatal...

Authors: Victoria M Allen, KS Joseph, Kellie E Murphy, Laura A Magee and Arne Ohlsson

Misoprostol for treating postpartum haemorrhage: a randomized controlled trial [ISRCTN72263357]

Postpartum haemorrhage remains an important cause of maternal death despite treatment with conventional therapy. Uncontrolled studies and one randomised comparison with conventional oxytocics have reported dra...

Authors: G Justus Hofmeyr, Sandra Ferreira, V Cheryl Nikodem, Lindeka Mangesi, Mandisa Singata, Zukiswa Jafta, Babalwa Maholwana, Zonke Mlokoti, Gijs Walraven and A Metin Gülmezoglu

'Perinatal outcome in preterm premature rupture of membranes with Amniotic fluid index < 5 (AFI < 5)

Our purpose was to determine whether AFI<5 cm after preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) is associated with an increased risk of perinatal morbidity.

Authors: Sedigheh Borna, Hajieh Borna, Soghra khazardoost and Sedigheh Hantoushzadeh

Myomectomy at time of cesarean delivery: a retrospective cohort study

Myomectomy at time of cesarean delivery is traditionally discouraged because of the risk of hemorrhage. A retrospective cohort study was performed to determine whether myomectomy at time of cesarean delivery l...

Authors: Ashley S Roman and Khalil MA Tabsh

Prenatal diagnosis of pygopagus tetrapus parasitic twin: case report

Asymmetric and parasitic conjoined twins are rarer anomalies of monochorionic monoamniotic twins, consisting of an incomplete twin attached to the fully developed body of the co-twin.

Authors: Ahmet Gul, Halil Aslan and Yavuz Ceylan

An ethnic predilection for fetal echogenic intracardiac focus identified during targeted midtrimester ultrasound examination: A retrospective review

Echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) has been identified as a common ultrasound finding in association with fetal aneuploidy. Little is known about the association of this soft marker aneuploidy in various ethni...

Authors: Andrei Rebarber, Kenneth A Levey, Edmund Funai, Susan Monda and Michael Paidas

Use of hormonal contraceptives and occurrence of pregnancy-related pelvic pain: a prospective cohort study in Norway

Pregnancy-related pelvic pain is a common condition, and use of hormonal contraceptives before pregnancy has been proposed as a risk factor. We used data from a sub-sample of women participating in the "Norweg...

Authors: Merethe Kumle, Elisabete Weiderpass, Elin Alsaker and Eiliv Lund

Racial discrepancies in the association between paternal vs. maternal educational level and risk of low birthweight in Washington State

The role of paternal factors in determining the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes has received less attention than maternal factors. Similarly, the interaction between the effects of race and socioeconomic st...

Authors: Christina Nicolaidis, Cynthia W Ko, Somnath Saha and Thomas D Koepsell

Analysis of neonatal mortality:is standardizing for relative birth weight biased?

Infant mortality has traditionally been analyzed as a function of birth weight and birth weight-specific mortality. Often, however, when comparing two populations, the population with higher overall mortality ...

Authors: Robert W Platt, Cande V Ananth and Michael S Kramer

Socioeconomic and physical distance to the maternity hospital as predictors for place of delivery: an observation study from Nepal

Although the debate on the safety and women's right of choice to a home delivery vs. hospital delivery continues in the developed countries, an undesirable outcome of home delivery, such as high maternal and p...

Authors: Rajendra Raj Wagle, Svend Sabroe and Birgitte Bruun Nielsen

A parsimonious explanation for intersecting perinatal mortality curves: understanding the effects of race and of maternal smoking

Neonatal mortality rates among black infants are lower than neonatal mortality rates among white infants at birth weights <3000 g, whereas white infants have a survival advantage at higher birth weights. This ...

Authors: K S Joseph, Kitaw Demissie, Robert W Platt, Cande V Ananth, Brian J McCarthy and Michael S Kramer

Dependency of magnetocardiographically determined fetal cardiac time intervals on gestational age, gender and postnatal biometrics in healthy pregnancies

Magnetocardiography enables the precise determination of fetal cardiac time intervals (CTI) as early as the second trimester of pregnancy. It has been shown that fetal CTI change in course of gestation. The ai...

Authors: Peter van Leeuwen, Silke Lange, Anita Klein, Daniel Geue and Dietrich HW Grönemeyer