Pregnancy

Several cases of the hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) caused by immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-M antibodies have been reported, in which almost all the HDFN-associated anti-M were warmly reacting. Here we report two cases of severe HDFN associated with cold-reacting IgG anti-M. In both cases, pregnancy was terminated, in weeks 33 and 23 respectively, due to a diagnosis of fetal growth retardation (FGR). To our knowledge, these are the most severe HDFN cases caused by cold-reacting IgG anti-M.

BACKGROUND: Maternal obesity is the most common medical condition among women of reproductive age worldwide. The pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain have been suggested to be associated with maternal mental disorders. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain on antenatal depression, stress, and anxiety. METHODS: In total, 4,890 pregnant women were enrolled in the present study, which is based on an ongoing prospective cohort study...

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination may cause loss of or damage to cultured oocytes or embryos, resulting in the lack of transplantable embryos during IVF embryo culture. However, there are few reports about IVF embryo contamination caused by embryology laboratories. In this work, we evaluated clinical pregnancy outcomes and the risk of maternal and infant complications after embryo contamination caused by environmental pollution during IVF. METHODS: The authors retrospectively analyzed 2490 IVF-ET ovulation induction therapy cycles in the Reproductive Center of Yichang Central People's Hospital from January 2015 to May 2022...

INTRODUCTION: Evidence shows that most women in Ghana do not meet the minimum 8-contact model for antenatal care as recommended by WHO with only 31.2%-41.9% of them meeting the recommendation. To the best of our knowledge, no study in Ghana has examined women's noncompliance with the WHO's recommended 8-contact model for antenatal care using geospatial analysis, as this study sets out to do. METHODS: We sourced data from the recent version of the Ghana Maternal Health Survey which was executed in 2017...

BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (APIP) with a high risk of death is extremely harmful to mother and fetus. There are few models specifically designed to assess the severity of APIP. Our study aimed to establish a clinical model for early prediction of severity of APIP. METHODS: A retrospective study in a total of 188 patients with APIP was enrolled. The hematological indicators, IAP (intra-abdominal pressure) and clinical data were obtained for statistical analysis and prediction model construction...

BACKGROUND: The current detection of fetal chromosomal abnormalities by non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) mainly relies on the cell free DNA(cfDNA) in the maternal blood. However, a gestational age of less than 12 weeks or a high maternal BMI affects cfDNA fetal fraction and further the detection by NIPT negatively. In this study, we aim to retrieve the trophoblast cells from the maternal cervix to develop a new sampling method for NIPT enabling an earlier use of NIPT. METHODS: We enrolled three patients who wanted to undergo induced abortion at Beijing Hospital between January 2022 and March 2022...

The existence of a placental microbiota is debated. The human placenta has historically been considered sterile and microbial colonization was associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Yet, recent DNA sequencing investigations reported a microbiota in typical human term placentas. However, this detected microbiota could represent background DNA or delivery-associated contamination. Using fifteen publicly available 16S rRNA gene datasets, existing data were uniformly re-analyzed with DADA2 to maximize comparability...

BACKGROUND: Childbearing women face the problem of managing spontaneous onset of labour without professional support. It is their responsibility to diagnose and react to early labour and subsequently recognise the right time to seek support. Institutional guidelines of clinics aim to admit childbearing women when in established labour. This explains why women in early labour are often advised to stay at home, which can be overwhelming and dissatisfying. This study aims to understand the self- and clinical management of early labour and care needs of first-time mothers during early labour...

INTRODUCTION: Surgery trainees spend their prime fertility years in training, which leads to delays in childbearing, accompanying infertility challenges, and high-risk pregnancies. Literature report of institutional support for fertility preservation (egg/sperm freezing) and treatment is lacking. The cost is particularly prohibitive while receiving a resident physician salary. This study aimed to assess availability of fertility resources and institutional coverage of fertility services to US General Surgery Residents (GSR) and Breast Fellows...

Inflammatory responses have been demonstrated to link air pollution with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in adults. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between prenatal air pollution and fetal β-cell function and the mediating effect of systematic inflammation remains elusive. Whether the anti-inflammatory effect of vitamin D could attenuate the β-cell dysfunction in early life warrants further investigations. We aimed to determine whether maternal blood 25(OH)D attenuates the associations of ambient air pollution during pregnancy with fetal hyperinsulinism mediated by maternal inflammatory response...

BACKGROUND: The mainstay of assessment of the fetal lungs in clinical practice is via evaluation of pulmonary size, primarily using 2D ultrasound and more recently with anatomical MRI.  The emergence of advanced MR techniques such as T2* relaxometry in combination with the latest motion correction post-processing tools now facilitates assessment of the metabolic activity/perfusion of fetal pulmonary tissue in vivo. OBJECTIVE: To characterise normal pulmonary development using T2* relaxometry, accounting for fetal motion, across gestation...

BACKGROUND: Congenital syphilis can cause severe morbidity, including miscarriage and stillbirth, and rates are increasing rapidly within the US. However, congenital syphilis can be prevented with early detection and treatment of syphilis during pregnancy. Current screening recommendations hold that all women should be screened early in pregnancy, while women at elevated risk of congenital syphilis should be screened again later in pregnancy. The rapid increase in congenital syphilis rates suggests that there are still gaps in prenatal syphilis screening...

OBJECTIVES: We investigated how the Antenatal Late Preterm Steroids (ALPS) trial findings have been translated into clinical practice in Canada and the United States (U.S.). METHODS: The study included all live births in Nova Scotia, Canada and the United States from 2007 to 2020. ACS administration within specific categories of gestational age was assessed by calculating rates per 100 live births, and temporal changes were quantified using odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI...

BACKGROUND: Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (HDP) are associated with the risk of long-term cardiovascular disease after pregnancy, but it has not yet been determined whether genetic predisposition for HDP can predict the risk for long-term cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the risk for long-term atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) according to polygenic risk scores for HDP (HDP-PRS). STUDY DESIGN: Among UK Biobank participants, we included European-descent women (n=164,575) with at least one live birth...

BACKGROUND: The FKBP5 and NR3C1 genes play an important role in stress response, thus impacting mental health. Stress factor exposure in early life, such as maternal depression, may contribute to epigenetic modifications in stress response genes, increasing the susceptibility to different psychopathologies. The present study aimed to evaluate the DNA methylation profile in maternal-infant depression in regulatory regions of the FKBP5 gene and the alternative promoter of the NR3C1 gene...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Parameters for body size growth are essential to evaluate the relationship between fetal growth and accurate age estimation in forensics. Size values measured postmortem are also affected by the postmortem environment. On the contrary, when using hard tissue maturation criteria, age estimation remains unaffected by the degree of fetal preservation. In Japan, a fetus dying 12 weeks after pregnancy must be reported as a stillbirth. A Japanese stillborn infant buried without reporting to the authorities underwent a forensic autopsy...

The present study investigated whether bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) facilitate angiogenesis and improve outcomes of pregnancy with obstetric deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and explored the underlying mechanism. A pregnant DVT rat model was established using a "stenosis" method on the lower segment of the inferior vena cava (IVC). The extent of vascularization in thrombosed IVC was examined by immunohistochemistry. In addition, the effect of BMMSCs on DVT pregnancy outcomes was evaluated...

BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA), a common endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), has been revealed to be closely associated with the induction of abnormal heart development, obesity, prediabetes, and other metabolic disorders. However, the underlying mechanism of maternal BPA exposure on fetal heart development abnormalities is not clear. METHODS: To explore the adverse effects of BPA and its potential mechanism on heart development, C57BL/6 J mice and human cardiac AC-16 cells were used to conduct in vivo and in vitro studies...