Poor maternal nutrition, especially in rural settings, adversely affects pregnancy and birth outcomes. In many local communities, pregnant women have food taboos with consequent depletion of vital nutrients. To facilitate early identification and prompt counseling, this study aimed at describing pregnant women who are likely to keep food taboos. Data was collected from 405 pregnant women that a...

BACKGROUND A woman carrying her first pregnancy is starting a new life, and this is a crucial time in her obstetric career. This study was aimed to compare the obstetric performance of primigravidae to that of the multigravidae with a view to suggesting ways of preventing the associated complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study was a cross-sectional case-control study carried out among wo...

OBJECTIVES To establish the epidemiological variables associated with episiotomies and their puerperal complications at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, in order to institute appropriate management including preventive measures. DESIGN A prospective cohort study. SETTING Ahmadu cello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. METHODS A cohort of all consecutive patients...

BACKGROUND In several developing countries, achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 is still off track. Multiple maternal and fetal risk factors were inconsistently attributed to the high perinatal mortality in developing countries. However, there was no meta-analysis that assessed the pooled effect of these factors on perinatal mortality. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify mater...

OBJECTIVE To determine predictors of outcome for induction of labour using oral misoprostol. SETTING Labour ward at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, that serves an indigent South African urban population. METHODS Data were collected prospectively on all women undergoing induction of labour with oral misoprostol from 1 March 2004 to 28 February 2005. Patients with contraindicat...

In Malawi, physicians analyzed retrospective data on 600 consecutive abortion cases who were admitted to the gynecology ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe during January-May 1990. These cases comprised 45% of all admissions to this ward during the study period. 71% of the patients had first-trimester abortions and 29% had second-trimester abortions. 85% of cases were admitted with i...

Introduction Preterm birth is still a major health problem throughout the world. Preterm birth results in 75% of neonatal mortality. We sought to identify risk factors which cause preterm birth. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study assessed all preterm neonates born in Asali Hospital in Khorram Abad (either by NVD or C/S) during the first 6 months of 2007. Sampling method was censu...

BACKGROUND Pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy-specific multisystemic disorder is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. This syndrome has been known to medical science since ancient times. However, despite considerable research, the cause/s of preeclampsia remain unclear, and there is no effective treatment. Development of an animal model that recapitulates this complex preg...

OBJECTIVE To explore the incidence of preterm delivery, maternal risk factors for having a preterm neonate, and preterm neonates' mortality in Jordan. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional population-based design was applied. Socio-demographic, perinatal, delivery risk factors, and survival information were gathered in pre- and post-hospital discharge interviews with 21075 women who gave bi...

Background & aim: Decreased sleep quality is a common complaint during pregnancy. Relaxation is one of the non-pharmaceutical treatments for sleep disorders. Different techniques could have different impacts on various biological and mental stressors. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery on the sleep quality of primigravida women...