background: preterm birth is the major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prophylactic vaginal progesterone on decreasing preterm birth rate and neonatal complications in a high-risk population. materials and methods: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed on 100 high-risk singleton pregnancies. v...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the potential role of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) investigation in assessing the osteopenia of prematurity. DESIGN QUS parameters measured at the time of discharge were related to the anthropometric characteristics and age (postnatal and gestational) of 51 (34 female and 17 male) preterm infants fed fortified human milk. METHODS QUS evaluation was performed at the hu...

OBJECTIVE Elevated pre-pregnancy BMI, excessive gestational weight gain (GWG), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are known determinants of fetal growth. The role of placental weight is unclear. We aimed to examine the extent to which placental weight mediates the associations of pre-pregnancy BMI, GWG, and GDM with birth weight-for-gestational age, and whether the relationships differ by ...

OBJECTIVE Recent observations have revealed an interaction between inflammation and angiogenesis, which may be mediated by angiopoietins and chemokines. Given the importance of inflammation in parturition, we sought to determine whether angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is present in amniotic fluid (AF) and if its concentration changes with gestational age, labor, and in intra-amniotic infection/inflammat...

Bidder, R. T., Crowe, E. A., and Gray, 0. P. (1974). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 49, 766. Mothers' attitudes to preterm infants. Mothers' attitudes to their preterm and term children were examined and compared using the SemanticDifferential and an interview related to the experiences of mothers during pregnancy and after birth. It was postulated that mothers would show more concern for th...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate pregnancy outcomes after electrosurgical conization. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 56 singleton pregnancies after electrosurgical conization of the uterine cervix. Of the 56 cases, 25 women underwent prophylactic cerclage with McDonald procedure (cerclage group), and 31 were managed expectantly (expectant group). Pregnancy outcomes including rate of...

OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of positive screens using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) questionnaire and follow-up interview in late and moderately preterm (LMPT; 32-36 weeks) infants and term-born controls. STUDY DESIGN Population-based prospective cohort study of 1130 LMPT and 1255 term-born infants. Parents completed the M-CHAT questionnaire at 2-years correct...

Human milk contains substantial amounts of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, particularly the isoform TGF-β2. We previously showed in preclinical models that enterally administered TGF-β2 can protect against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an inflammatory bowel necrosis of premature infants. In this study we hypothesized that premature infants remain at higher risk of NEC than full-term infa...

Exposure to maternal glucocorticoids exacerbates post-asphyxial brain injury in the preterm fetus Miriam Koome, Paul P Drury, Joanne O Davidson, Sam Mathai, Sherly George, Alistair J Gunn, & Laura Bennet 1 Department of Physiology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand [email protected] Background: maternal glucocorticoid treatment for threatened premature delivery consistently im...

Background and aim Maternal recto-vaginal organisms are the main cause of early-onset sepsis in neonates. The aim of this study was to determine the most common organisms and compare maternal recto-vaginal colonization in term and preterm delivery. Methods This cross-sectional study was done from October 2014 through October 2016 among participants referred to Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital in Ba...