Uterine wall tension is thought to be an important determinant of the onset of labor in pregnant women. We characterize human uterine wall tension using ultrasound from the second trimester of pregnancy until parturition and compare preterm, term and twin pregnancies. A total of 320 pregnant women were followed from ...

BACKGROUND: Repeat digital cervical assessment (RDCA - examination of the cervix with a finger) has been promoted as a routine intervention in the antenatal clinic as a screening test for the risk of preterm birth (that is, birth occurring before 37 weeks of gestation). OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of ...

This work stands as a pilot study in assessing the reliability of metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) as a marker for intraamiotic infection and preterm birth already in early pregnancy. 100 amniotic fluids taken at the Midwife Obstetrics and Gynaecological Clinic of the University of L'Aquila (Italy). Our results show that MMP-9 is ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of diagnostic laser conization and the obstetric outcomes of patients undergoing diagnostic laser conization during pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: The study population consisted of a consecutive series of 47 patients who presented with histologically proven carcinoma in situ microinvasive ...

Preterm birth (PTB; spontaneous delivery prior to 37 weeks gestation) affects one out of eight infants born in the United States and is the most common cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Although the pathogenesis of PTB is multifactorial, a growing body of literature supports the hypothesis that one cause ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of transabdominal amnioinfusion on prolongation of pregnancy, and maternal and neonatal outcomes in preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM). METHODS: We conducted a prospective randomized controlled study of women with pPROM during singleton live pregnancy-between 26 and 33+6weeks-whose amniotic fluid index (AFI) was less than ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine if there are sex differences in risk and incidence of stillbirth, preterm delivery and small-for-gestational age (SGA) in pregnancies complicated by maternal asthma relative to a non-asthmatic population. STUDY DESIGN: Univariant and multiple regression analysis of the incidence of preterm delivery, SGA and stillbirth in singleton pregnancies ...

Circulating soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) has been associated with pregnancy complications, and determination of sHLA-G concentrations in amniotic fluid (AF) has been reported in normal pregnancies. Our aim was to determine if the AF concentrations of sHLA-G change with advancing gestation, spontaneous labor at term, and in patients with ...

OBJECTIVES: To estimate women's understanding of the definition of full term and the gestational age at which it is safe to deliver an otherwise healthy pregnancy. METHODS: A national sample of 650 insured women who recently gave birth were surveyed about their beliefs related to the meaning of full term ...

An imbalance between angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors in maternal blood has been observed in several obstetrical syndromes including preeclampsia, pregnancies with fetal growth restriction and fetal death. Vascular lesions have been identified in a subset of patients with spontaneous preterm labor (PTL). It is possible that PTL may be one ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) can be used to identify pregnancies at risk for poor perinatal outcomes among patients with second trimester fetal growth restriction (FGR). METHODS: We analyzed outcomes for singleton pregnancies of patients with evidence of FGR in the second trimester who also had ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess pregnancy outcome after conisation. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Belgium, data from a university hospital. POPULATION: Fifty-five pregnancies in 34 women after conisation, and 55 pregnancies in 54 women without a history of conisation or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). METHODS: Hospital data were reviewed and questionnaires were ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of one or two conisations on preterm delivery and perinatal mortality in subsequent pregnancies. DESIGN: A population-based cohort study. SETTING: Aarhus University Hospital. POPULATION: Preterm delivery and mortality rates were evaluated in 721 deliveries after one conisation, and in 37 deliveries after two conisations, and ...

Although successful pregnancy is rare, results attained with higher dialysis efficiency and the spread of dialysis to different cultural and religious settings are changing the panorama. In this study, we systematically review the recent literature (2000 through 2008) on pregnancy in dialysis. Medline on OVID was searched in November 2008, ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate pregnancy and perinatal outcomes in women with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). METHODS: A retrospective study comparing all singleton pregnancies of women with and without ITP was conducted. Deliveries occurred between the years 1988 and 2007. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to control for confounders. RESULTS: During ...

The present study was aimed to compare term versus preterm placental pathologies associated with fetal growth restriction (FGR). A retrospective cohort study was performed, including all singleton deliveries of FGR with placental pathology examination. Comparison of placental findings was performed between neonates who were born at term versus preterm. Preterm ...

To study the association between microalbuminuria and development of preeclampsia and preterm delivery in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes. This was a population-based prospective study in 846 normoalbuminuric or microalbuminuric women with type 1 diabetes without antihypertensive treatment in early pregnancy. Data were collected prospectively by one to three ...

We sought to evaluate the change in cervical length (CL) as a predictor of preterm birth in asymptomatic twin pregnancies. We studied a historical cohort of 121 twin pregnancies with CL testing between 18-24 weeks who had a follow-up CL 2-6 weeks after the initial CL. A total of 19 ...

We examined pregnancy outcomes in women receiving nifedipine tocolysis having recurrent preterm labor (RPTL). Singleton gestations enrolled for outpatient nursing surveillance and prescribed nifedipine tocolysis were identified (N = 4748). Women hospitalized for RPTL at <35 weeks then resuming outpatient surveillance were included (N = 1366). Pregnancy outcomes of women ...

Preterm delivery, which occurs in about 5%-13% of pregnancies in most countries, is the main cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Symptomatic treatment of pregnancies presenting in preterm labor with corticosteroids has improved perinatal outcome but has not reduced the incidence of preterm delivery. Recent evidence suggests that the rate ...

To investigate risks of physical activity at work by pregnancy trimester, including the effects on head and abdominal circumference. Method: At 34 weeks of gestation we interviewed 1327 mothers from the prospective Southampton Women's Survey (SWS); we asked about their activities (working hours, standing/walking, kneeling/squatting, trunk bending, lifting and night ...

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence and provide recommendations on the use of antibiotics in preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM). OUTCOMES: Outcomes evaluated include the effect of antibiotic treatment on maternal infection, chorioamnionitis, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. EVIDENCE: Published literature was retrieved through searches of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, ...

To identify combinations of tests and treatments to predict and prevent spontaneous preterm birth. Searches were run on the following databases up to September 2005 inclusive: MEDLINE, EMBASE, DARE, the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL and Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register) and MEDION. We also contacted experts including the Cochrane ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the association of maternal psychotropic medication use during pregnancy with preterm delivery and other adverse perinatal outcomes. A cohort of 2793 pregnant women in Washington State was interviewed, and their medical files were abstracted. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess odds ...

Objective. An imbalance between angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors in maternal blood has been observed in several obstetrical syndromes including preeclampsia, pregnancies with fetal growth restriction and fetal death. Vascular lesions have been identified in a subset of patients with spontaneous preterm labor (PTL). It is possible that PTL may be ...

BACKGROUND: Preterm delivery is a serious problem in obstetrics. A pre-existing inflammation in the first half of gestation has been proposed as a possible condition that leads to preterm delivery. AIM: Our aim was to compare C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentrations in mid-trimester amniotic fluid of ...

The analysis of genetic and environmental contributions to preterm birth is not straightforward in family studies, as etiology could involve both maternal and fetal genes. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are presented as a flexible approach for defining user-specified covariance structures to handle multiple random effects and hierarchical dependencies ...

Objective. Circulating soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) has been associated with pregnancy complications, and determination of sHLA-G concentrations in amniotic fluid (AF) has been reported in normal pregnancies. Our aim was to determine if the AF concentrations of sHLA-G change with advancing gestation, spontaneous labor at term, and in patients ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe obstetric intervention for extremely preterm births in ten European regions and assess its impact on mortality and short term morbidity. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: Ten regions from nine countries participating in the 'Models of Organising Access to Intensive Care for Very Preterm Babies in Europe' ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate the association between pregnancy complications and small for gestational age (SGA) birthweight, comparing SGA based on the customized growth potential with SGA based on the birthweight standard of the same population. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective analysis of a database ...

Objective. To investigate pregnancy and perinatal outcomes in women with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Methods. A retrospective study comparing all singleton pregnancies of women with and without ITP was conducted. Deliveries occurred between the years 1988 and 2007. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to control for confounders. Results. During ...

BACKGROUND: Women with twin pregnancy are at high risk for spontaneous preterm delivery. Progesterone seems to be effective in reducing preterm birth in selected high-risk singleton pregnancies, albeit with no significant reduction in perinatal mortality and little evidence of neonatal benefit. We investigated the use of progesterone for prevention of ...

OBJECTIVE: To review our experience with preterm premature rupture of membranes at a tertiary-care hospital in Turkey to determine whether the amount of residual amniotic fluid after rupture has prognostic value for adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 191 pregnant women with gestational ages ...

The authors examined the associations between placental vascular findings and preterm delivery in 1,053 subcohort women (239 preterm, 814 term) from a Michigan pregnancy cohort study (1998-2004). Twenty-nine placental vascular variables from microscopic examinations were grouped into 5 constructs: 3 maternal constructs-obstructive lesions (MV-O), bleeding/vessel integrity (MV-I), and lack of ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare procedure-related pregnancy loss after second-trimester genetic amniocentesis in women given an antibiotic prophylaxis and controls. METHODS: Prospective, open randomised controlled single-centre study between January 1999 and December 2005 at Artemisia Fetal Maternal Medical Centre. A follow-up within 4 weeks after the procedure was done.Of 36,347 eligible women, ...

Three large, randomized placebo-controlled trials of antenatal magnesium sulfate (MgSO(4)) for fetal neuroprotection have recently been conducted and reported. The results of these trials provide strong support for the utilization of MgSO(4) to lower the risk of cerebral palsy among the survivors of early preterm birth. In the United States, ...

AIM: Maternal complete heart block (CHB), which manifests for the first time during pregnancy and peurperium, poses a challenge to treating physicians. We present here four cases that were diagnosed during pregnancy and peurperium, and we discuss their management issues. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of a 3-year period was carried ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential value of maternal serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in first-trimester screening for preeclampsia and spontaneous early preterm delivery. METHODS: The concentrations of MMP-9, tumour necrosis factor soluble receptor-1 (TNF-R1), pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and uterine artery pulsatility index (UA-PI) were measured at 11(+0) - 13(+6) weeks ...

Hypovitaminosis D is common in both urban and rural Indians. The dose of vitamin D needed for the treatment of its deficiency during pregnancy is not clear. We conducted a study in rural Indians to evaluate the effect of cholecalciferol supplementation during routine antenatal visits on maternal 25 hydroxyvitamin D ...

BACKGROUND: Low plasma folate concentrations in pregnancy are associated with preterm birth. Here we show an association between preconceptional folate supplementation and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In a cohort of 34,480 low-risk singleton pregnancies enrolled in a study of aneuploidy risk, preconceptional folate supplementation was ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether a first or second trimester induced abortion with misoprostol influences the risk of late abortion or preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study in a teaching hospital from January 2005 to June 2006. The cases had singleton pregnancies delivered at 16-36 weeks of gestation ...

Hemoglobin and its catabolic products have been associated with amniotic fluid (AF) discoloration and intra-amniotic infection/inflammation (IAI). However, the origin of AF hemoglobin (maternal or fetal) has not been determined. The aims of this study were to determine if fetal hemoglobin can be detected in AF obtained from normal pregnancies, ...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been incorporated into many consumer products as flame retardants. Due to their persistence and ability to bioaccumulate, PBDEs are ubiquitous in human blood and breast milk samples from industrialized nations. Although there exists a potential for environmental pollutants such as PBDEs to adversely impact birth ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether occupational hazards such as anesthetic gases, radiation, pesticides, and working hours in veterinary practice are associated with preterm delivery (before 37 weeks of gestation) in female veterinarians. METHODS: The Health Risks of Australian Veterinarians project was conducted as a questionnaire-based survey of all graduates of Australian ...

BACKGROUND: Prenatal ultrasound study allows the detection of fetal malformations. Intrauterine interventions are now contemplated to correct, or interfere with, the natural history of these anomalies. Minimally invasive techniques, such as the so-called "Fetendo" (fetal endoscopy), are now therapeutic possibilities. METHODS: From 2002 to 2007, 205 fetoscopies were performed in ...

OBJECTIVE(S): There were three primary objectives of this study: (1) to estimate the risk of preterm and very preterm birth by severity of low pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), (2) to determine if the risk in preterm and very preterm birth by severity of low pre-pregnancy BMI differs for spontaneous ...

We have followed 6 pregnancies in women affected by idiopathic pericarditis from 2002 to 2008, the largest reported clinical series. Four women were treated with aspirin 800 mg three times daily; in 3 women aspirin was gradually stopped at 20 weeks gestation, while in one case aspirin was continued till ...

Maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) may affect the risk of preterm birth. However, it is unclear how changes in BMI between pregnancies modify the risk of preterm birth in the following pregnancy. We studied this effect in the Collaborative Perinatal Project, when obesity was uncommon and the prevalence of ...

BACKGROUND The aim was to evaluate the impact of early pregnancy events and complications as predictors of adverse obstetric outcome. METHODS We conducted a literature review on the impact of first trimester complications in previous and index pregnancies using Medline and Cochrane databases covering the period 1980-2008. RESULTS Clinically relevant ...

CONTEXT: Clinical prediction of preterm delivery is largely ineffective, and the mechanism mediating progesterone (P) withdrawal and estrogen activation at the onset of human labor is unclear. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to determine associations of rates of change of circulating maternal CRH in midpregnancy with preterm delivery, CRH with estriol ...