PURPOSE: Compare outcomes with vaginal gel versus intramuscular progesterone replacement in donor oocyte recipients. METHODS: A single-center retrospective analysis (January 2004-December 2006) evaluated pregnancy outcomes (serum human chorionic gonadotropin, implantation, clinical pregnancy, delivery, total pregnancy loss rates) for 225 recipients of embryos from donor (aged <32 years) oocytes. Vaginal progesterone gel ...

Aim: Cardiac disease is a leading cause of maternal death in the developed world, responsible for one-fifth of all maternal deaths in the UK. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) in pregnancy and up to one week postpartum in the UK and ...

We describe the case of a 30-year-old primiparous woman who had multiple coronary stenoses of unknown cause, and discuss causes and risks in pregnancy in a patient with coronary stenoses and the management and outcome. At 13 years of age, the patient was diagnosed as having multiple coronary stenoses and percutaneous ...

: Little information regarding the potential implications of drug-eluting stents and clopidogrel on pregnancy exists. : We report a case of a 27-year-old woman who received a drug-eluting coronary stent for an acute myocardial infarction and was started on clopidogrel as treatment. She was on clopidogrel when she conceived and ...

Objective: To describe birth outcomes following intentional acute poisoning during pregnancy. Setting: California Linked Vital Statistics-Patient Discharge Database, 2000 to 2004. Participants: Pregnant women age 15 to 44, who had a singleton live birth or fetal death that occurred between gestational ages 20 and 42 weeks who were discharged from ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the long-term (6- and 12-month) effects of the Strong Healthy Women intervention on health-related behaviors, weight and body mass index (BMI), and weight gain during pregnancy. Strong Healthy Women is a small-group behavioral intervention for pre- and interconceptional women designed to modify key risk factors for adverse ...

In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) revised their pregnancy weight gain guidelines, recommending gestational weight gain of 11-20 pounds for women with prepregnancy BMI >30 kg/m(2). We investigated the potential influence of the new guidelines on perinatal outcomes using a retrospective analysis (n = 691), comparing obese women who gained ...

The study aims to describe overall gestational weight gain among Canadian women and to assess demographic, socio-economic, maternal, and pregnancy-related characteristics of gestational weight gain including uncovering the predictors above or below the range recommended by Health Canada. This study proceeds as a secondary data analysis of the Maternity Experiences ...

BACKGROUND: Ramadan is an annual period of day-time fasting during which people in Saudi Arabia, including pregnant women, change their diets and physical activity. We recently reported that among babies who were in the second or third trimester of gestation during Ramadan placental growth slowed. We also found that, over ...

OBJECTIVE: In utero exposure to steroid hormones may be related to risk of some cancers such as testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). To determine whether placental characteristics are good surrogate measures of maternal biomarker levels, we evaluated the correlations in mothers of sons at higher (whites, n = 150) and lower (blacks, ...

We evaluated the impact of adherence to the new Institute of Medicine weight gain guidelines within each prepregnancy body mass index (PPBMI) category on the development of pregnancy-related hypertension (PRH). Patients with singleton term deliveries (≥37 weeks) with documented PPBMI and pregnancy weight gain information were identified from a database ...

The objective of this study was evaluation of excessive pregnancy weight gain effect in non-diabetic women with normal pre-pregnancy BMI on macrosomia of neonate. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, neonate weighs of all term pregnancy in non-diabetic women with normal pre-pregnancy BMI delivered from 2002 to 2004 in Shaheed Sadoughi ...

Objective. The aim of the study was to retrospectively assess what was the optimal gestational weight gain to have better maternal and neonatal outcomes in overweight and obese Korean women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who maintained normoglycemia throughout pregnancy by dietary modification, exercise, and/or insulin treatment. Study design. We performed a ...

Objective. To investigate the effects of a weight-gain restriction program on weight development or weight maintenance 2 years after childbirth. Design. A case-control intervention study. Setting. Antenatal care clinics in the southeast of Sweden. Sample. One hundred and fifty-five obese pregnant women who participated in a weight-gain restriction program with ...

Congenital anomalies are the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, and congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common type of birth defects. Recently, 4-dimensional ultrasonography (4DUS) with spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) has been introduced for fetal echocardiography. Accumulating evidence indicates that 4DUS with STIC may facilitate ...

To evaluate whether National Institute of Child Health and Human Health and Development (NICHD) fetal heart rate categories were predictive of neonatal survival in periviable pregnancies. We reviewed the charts of 57 infants delivered at 23 and 24 weeks' gestation. Fetal heart rate tracings were evaluated following the NICHD 2008 ...

The case of a 32-year-old pregnant woman, who had had several syncopal episodes during swimming and running at 9 and 10 years of age and whose fetus had 2:1 AV block, is presented. The mother and baby had the same heterozygous single nucleotide substitution in KCNQ1 at T587M. After 27 ...

As part of a double-blind study of medication treatment for opioid dependence during pregnancy, 17 opioid-dependent pregnant women maintained on either buprenorphine or methadone underwent fetal monitoring at 24, 28, 32, and 36 weeks gestation. Maternal demographic information and infant outcomes did not significantly differ by medication group. Earlier in ...

Objective. We monitored the fetal heart rate (FHR) during amniocentesis in fetuses at 16-18 weeks of gestation and investigated whether an abnormal FHR is associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Methods. This prospective study involves 807 women at 16-18 weeks of gestation who underwent genetic amniocentesis. The FHR, expressed as beats for minute, is ...

To quantify changes in fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters after vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS) and to evaluate the usefulness of VAS testing (VAST) in anencephalic fetuses. Our findings may also help to clarify the route(s) of vibration and sound transmission during VAST. We obtained the antepartum FHR tracings of 16 anencephalic ...

Congenital heart block develops in fetuses of anti-Ro52 Ab-positive women. A recurrence rate of 20%, despite the persistence of maternal autoantibodies, indicates that there are additional, yet unidentified, factors critical for development of congenital heart block. In this study, we demonstrate that besides the maternal MHC controlling Ab specificity, fetal ...

Congenital heart block affects 2% of all mothers with anti-Ro/La antibodies, can cause heart failure in utero, and has a 20% mortality rate in the first 3 years of life. Maternal fluorinated steroids to prevent or reverse congenital heart block can cause pregnancy complications. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been given ...

Auscultation of the fetal heart is a common event in antenatal care, in early pregnancy it may be associated with false negative results, which require ultrasound scan to confirm fetal viability. We studied 197 women in early pregnancy to determine the gestational age at which the fetal heart can be ...

To investigate the difference in fetal heart rate of opioid-dependent mothers compared to non-dependent mothers in the first trimester of pregnancy. The data of 74 consecutive singleton pregnancies of mothers enrolled in a maintenance programme for opioid-dependent women was matched to 74 non-exposed singleton pregnancies by maternal age, crown-rump length, ...

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) describes neonatal encephalopathy that is caused by intrapartum asphyxia and it can result in the long term sequelae of cerebral palsy which is a major cause of disability. The incidence of cerebral palsy has not changed over the last few decades and the challenge to obstetricians ...

To evaluate the use of fetal hepatic venous Doppler in the diagnosis of fetal extrasystoles, to estimate the prevalence and persistence of extra atrial and ventricular heart beats throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery, and to estimate the frequency of coexisting congenital heart disease. This was a retrospective study of 256 ...

Electrophysiological monitoring of the fetal-heart and the uterine-muscle activity, referred to as an electrohysterogram, is essential to permit timely treatment during pregnancy. While remarkable progress is reported for fetal-cardiac-activity monitoring, the electrohysterographic (EHG) measurement and interpretation remain challenging. In particular, little attention has been paid to the analysis of the ...

BACKGROUND: Steroid administration to accelerate fetal lung maturation reduces neonatal morbidity and mortality in the case of preterm delivery. Behavioral observations suggest effects on fetal cardiovascular regulation. AIM: We hypothesize that beat to beat heart rate variability (fHRV) derived from fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) will reveal a direct, acute steroidal effect ...

Fetal heart rate (FHR) changes have been reported after regional labor analgesia. In this prospective single-blinded study, we aimed to assess whether epidural analgesia with ropivacaine and sufentanil is associated with significant changes in fetal heart rate. Fetal heart rate traces from 120 women in active labor requesting epidural analgesia ...

The purpose of this study is to describe an in utero management strategy for fetuses with immune-mediated 2° or 3° atrioventricular (AV) block. The management strategy as applied to 29 fetuses consisted of three parts. First, using fetal echocardiography and obstetrical ultrasound, we assessed fetal heart rate (FHR), heart failure, ...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare individual fetal heart rate (FHR) indices, as determined by computer analysis of the tracing, in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertension (PIH), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and premature rupture of membranes (pPROM). METHODS: The study population consisted of 100 pregnant women affected ...

To evaluate the correlation of 10 b.p.m.-10 s and 15 b.p.m.-15 s fetal heart rate (FHR) accelerations in gestations before or after 32 weeks using computerized analysis. A combination of amplitude and duration of FHR accelerations, 10 b.p.m.-10 s (Acc10-10) and 15 b.p.m.-15 s (Acc15-15), was analyzed according to gestational ...

A healthy pregnant woman at 28 weeks of gestation was admitted with complete loss of fetal movement. Fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring showed a fixed flat FHR pattern with no variability. Ultrasound examination revealed no fetal breathing movement. The fetus showed heart failure with extremely diminished left heart contractility. No ...

The maternal heart significantly adapts to the circulatory needs of pregnancy, but the effect of pregnancy on ventricular repolarization is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to quantify longitudinal changes in ventricular repolarization during pregnancy. Monthly electrocardiographs (ECGs) were recorded in 32 pregnant women with normal uterine perfusion ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a significantly aberrant expression of circulating placental mRNA genes related with cardiogenesis can be detected at the second trimester of pregnancy. METHODS: The study was performed in two stages. First stage (development model group): match of 14 placental tissues at delivery of fetuses with congenital heart ...

OBJECTIVE: We compared a non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) to Doppler cardiotocogram (CTG) during the 1(st) stage of labor. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective observational study of non-invasive fECG using five abdominal electrodes and one Doppler ultrasound probe in 27 patients. Data were analyzed for reliability, clinical and statistical equivalence. ...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze maternal and fetal safety of colonoscopy during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study comparing fetal outcomes at 2 hospitals from 1986 to 2007 of 20 pregnant women undergoing colonoscopy vs. 20 matched pregnant controls not undergoing colonoscopy. RESULTS: Colonoscopic indications included diarrhea (8), hematochezia (4), bloody diarrhea (3), ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess practice patterns concerning intraoperative fetal heart rate monitoring during nonobstetric surgery in pregnancy among members of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO). STUDY DESIGN: A 16-question survey regarding intraoperative fetal heart rate monitoring during nonobstetric surgery was delivered to the 1300 APGO members via ...

Heart rate is an important parameter of fetal well-being. We have analyzed fetal heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) by fetomaternal electrocardiography (ECG) in the horse (Equus caballus) from midpregnancy to foaling. It was the aim of the study to detect changes in the regulation of fetal cardiac ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate quality-of-care improvements after the introduction of ST waveform analysis as an adjunct to standard cardiotocography (CTG). STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective clinical study that was conducted over 7 years. Four yearly cohorts of 12,832 term pregnancies were part of a ...

This study was conducted to determine the incidence and risk factors of fetal loss in threatened abortion after ultrasonographic detection of fetal cardiac activity in a low socioeconomic population. A total of 202 women with singleton pregnancies who presented with vaginal bleeding in which fetal heart activity was ultrasonographically demonstrated ...

Fetal neurobehavioral development was modeled longitudinally using data collected at weekly intervals from 24 to 38 weeks gestation in a sample of 112 healthy pregnancies. Predictive associations between 3 measures of fetal neurobehavioral functioning and their developmental trajectories to neurological maturation in the first weeks after birth were examined. Prenatal ...

AIMS: To determine the predictive value of fetal pulse oximetry (FPO) for the development of fetal acidosis in cases of non-reassuring fetal heart rate (FHR). METHODS: In a prospective observational study, pulse oximetry monitoring was examined in cases of non-reassuring FHR during singleton cephalic delivery at 36-42 weeks' gestation. The ...

The aim of this study was to assess cardiotocograph (CTG) interpretation by midwives and trainee obstetricians using the standard and a modified definition of fetal heart rate deceleration compared with consultant interpretation as the Gold Standard. A randomised survey using the online tool at: www.surveymonkey.com between 4 January and 24 ...

Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) monitoring gives important information about the fetus health state during pregnancy. This paper presents a new prototype for remote fetal monitoring. The device will allow to monitor FHR in a domiciliary context and to send fetal ECG traces to a hospital facility, where clinicians can interpret ...

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is a promising new technique for assessing fetal rhythm; however, no prior studies have utilized fMCG to evaluate human fetal electromechanical physiology. Pre-ejection period (PEP) is an important measure of the electromechanical activation of the heart, and is altered by disease states and arrhythmias. A novel technique ...

We present a case study of a patient with a congenital heart block associated with a left isomerism that was diagnosed during the 26th week of gestation. The mother had type 2 diabetes mellitus that was difficult to control during the early stages of the pregnancy. A fetal echocardiogram revealed ...

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is defined as the first appearance of systolic heart failure in a previously healthy woman during the last month of pregnancy or up to 6 months postpartum. Both planned and unplanned pregnancies may occur in recovered and non-recovered PPCM mothers, requiring careful counseling and management strategies. Previous ...

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the level of risk for heart failure relapse in a subsequent pregnancy in women who have had peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), and to test the hypothesis that meeting additional criteria may help lower the risk. METHODS: Prospectively-identified PPCM patients volunteering between 2003 and 2009 were identified from the ...

OBJECTIVES: This paper describes a methodology for the monitoring of the fetal cardiac health status during pregnancy, through the effective and non-invasive monitoring of the abdominal ECG signals (abdECG) of the mother. METHODS: For this purpose, a three-stage methodology has been developed. In the first stage, the fetal heart rate ...