OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of pregnancy and vaginal delivery on the pelvic floor and levatorani morphology and function. METHODS Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Tertiary care teaching hospital. Population. 75 primigravid women were recruited for assessment at 6 weeks postpartum compared with 25 nulliparous women. Hiatal morphology and levator ani muscle avulsion were assessed b...

Obstetric fistula is a serious and debilitating complication of childbirth affecting millions of women in the developing world. A gynecologic fistula refers to an abnormal communication between the urinary tract or the gastrointestinal tract and the genital tract, produced by obstetric causes, usually prolonged and obstructed labor. The earliest example of obstetric fistula was found in 2050 BC...

We report on a Filipino neonate with early onset and prolonged hyperbilirubinemia who was delivered by a vacuum extraction due to a prolonged labor. Subsequent studies revealed adrenal hemorrhage and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. It is likely that asphyxia and resultant hypoxia underlie the occurrence of adrenal hemorrhage and the clinical manifestation of G6PD deficiency...

The last few hours of human pregnancy are characterized by uterine contractions that effect dilatation of the cervix and force the fetus through the birth canal. The myometrial contractions of labor are painful, which is why the term labor pains is used to describe this process. Before these forceful, painful contractions begin, however, the uterus must be prepared for labor. During the first 3...