BACKGROUND AND AIM: Toxicology studies have identified pregnancy as a window of susceptibility for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and women’s cardiometabolic health. No study in humans, however, has examined EDC mixtures health during pregnancy. We used the Health Outcomes Measures Environment (HOME) Study to examine whether bisphenol A (BPA), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), per-...

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a complex phenomenon that is prevalent in pregnant and parous women and requires the use of sophisticated measures to adequately reflect functioning of the continence system. The purpose of this study was to develop reliable and valid measures of UI and levator ani function for use in research and clinical settings. A Leakage Index (LI) and a Levator Ani Function In...

INTRODUCTION A few older publications describe leprosy associated with pregnancy, a situation that has been linked to leprosy exacerbation. This study aimed to describe the detection rate of this association in the State of Pará by county and Integration Region (IR) from 2007 to 2009 via an analysis of socio demographic, epidemiological and operational indices. METHODS This was a descriptive ...

OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were evaluation of the association of reduced fetal movements (RFM) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth at term and to explore if fetal and maternal outcomes are different with single vs repeated episodes of RFM and normal fetal assessment test results. STUDY DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort study of all singleton pregnancies referred for RFMs at a...

BACKGROUND Research examining women's pregnancy physical activity (PA) behaviors with objective measures is scant. Therefore, 2 studies were conducted to determine the feasibility of pregnant women wearing pedometers and to examine women's self-reported and objectively measured PA behaviors. METHODS Participants were pregnant women (Study 1 N=50, Study 2 N=30) who completed the Leisure-Time E...

OBJECTIVE To describe gestational weight gain during pregnancy, adherence to Health Canada 2010 Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines, and the effects of weight gain on postpartum weight retention in women with different pre-pregnancy body mass indices. METHOD Body weight data were collected from women during pregnancy and in the early postpartum period as part of this prospective cohort study; ...

OBJECTIVE To compare uterine artery blood flow in normal first-trimester pregnancies with those complicated by uterine bleeding. METHODS Uterine artery blood flow was investigated by transvaginal color Doppler in 46 pregnant women affected by uterine bleeding and in a control group of 35 women with normal intrauterine pregnancy. Gestational age ranged from the 6th to the 12th week. Three bloo...