BACKGROUND Overweight and obese women are known to be at increased risk of caesarean birth. This study estimates the contribution of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) to caesarean births in Canada. METHODS We analyzed data from women in the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey who had a singleton term live birth in 2005-2006. Adjusted odds ratios for caesar...

There is a well-documented reduction in endometrial cancer risk with combined oral contraceptive (COC) use. COC use before the first full-term pregnancy may affect breast cancer risk for decades, but this relationship has not been investigated in endometrial cancer. We investigated the risk for endometrial cancer with COC use before the first full-term pregnancy. Cases (n = 524) from a populati...

The authors conducted a case-control study in Mexico City between September 1990 and December 1992 to determine whether a dose-response relation could be observed between duration of lactation and the risk of breast cancer. Cases, women aged 20-75 years, were identified through six hospitals in Mexico City (n = 349) and were interviewed to obtain data on risk factors for breast cancer, includin...

BACKGROUND Although maternal infection and inflammation during pregnancy can adversely affect offspring birth weight (BW), whether low grade inflammation in the non-pregnant state predicts BW is unknown. AIM To evaluate relationships between offspring BW and pro- and anti-inflammatory factors measured in parous but non-pregnant women. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Data come from 234 parous Filipino ...

We previously reported that a secreted glycoprotein YKL-40 acts as an angiogenic factor to promote breast cancer angiogenesis. However, its functional role in normal mammary gland development is poorly understood. Here we investigated its biophysiological activity in mammary epithelial development and mammary tissue morphogenesis. YKL-40 was expressed exclusively by ductal epithelial cells of p...

Prolonged or frequent secretion of adrenal glucocorticoids in response to aversive stimuli can negatively impact reproduction. Because female southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) reproduce poorly in captivity, we compared fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations among parous, nulliparous, and adolescent females and examined social and physical aspects of the captive envir...

OBJECTIVE We examined the association between 1-hour glucose challenge test (GCT) values and risk of caesarean section. STUDY DESIGN A prospective cohort study recruited 203 pregnant Black women to participate. At ~28 weeks of gestation, participants underwent a routine 1-hour 50 g GCT to screen for gestational diabetes mellitus. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between...

BACKGROUND Continuous support by a midwife during childbirth has shown positive effects on the duration of active labour, use of pain relief and frequency of caesarean section (CS) in women without fear of childbirth (FOC). We have evaluated how continuous support by a specially assigned midwife during childbirth affects birth outcome and the subjective experience of women with severe FOC. ME...

A few cases of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) that have been treated by surgery during pregnancy have been reported in the literature. However, symptomatic recurrent LDH during pregnancy has been rarely reported. A 32-year-old parous woman presented with lumbago and severe right leg pain at 20 weeks' gestation. Eleven years prior to admission, she had undergone an open discectomy for right-sided ...