Pregnancy and Birth

A striking number of sexually active women experience reproductive coercion by their male partners, and their ability to use contraception and plan pregnancies may be compromised.

An iliac artery rupture results in a patient's death. Was it caused by the cesarean delivery, the patient’s disease process, or the care she received following her delivery?

New study findings have revealed that only about a third of women of childbearing age take folic acid regularly, revealing that health policy alone does not work.

Hourly titrated oral misoprostol provides a steady-state drug level and is an effective substitute for dinoprostone vaginal insert, new research shows.

Of the 8 cases of listeriosis that have been confirmed in this latest outbreak, 5 of the cases were related to pregnancy, underscoring the importance of food safety in pregnant women.

What abnormality of the placenta is affecting this late second-trimester pregnancy?

Women who have had bariatric surgery require special care during pregnancy, particularly with assessment of micronutrient deficiencies and appropriate replacement. Here’s one ob/gyn’s approach.

Lifestyle advice, including diet and exercise information, can reduce the number of infants who are born weighing more than 4 kg (8.8 lb) among overweight and obese pregnant women, research shows.

New guidelines for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in obstetrical patients have been released. Provided here is an overview of the guidelines and tips on how to implement them.

Pregnant women who require dialysis have healthier babies and fewer pregnancy complications when they receive dialysis for more than 36 hours per week, researchers report.

Evidence shows that continuing professional education and structured internal audit can both reduce levels of obstetrical interventions and improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

Rates of cesarean delivery have risen, and with them, interest in determining what influence-if any-progress and management of labor have on the uptick. A retrospective chart review presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine: The Pregnancy Meeting suggests that labor curves are unchanged and a better understanding of labor management is needed to reverse the cesarean trend.

“Term” delivery is defined as 39 weeks 0 days, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. For women with repeat cesareans, that timing may not result in the best outcomes, say investigators from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

New research presented at The Pregnancy Meeting™ last week in New Orleans shows that noninvasive prenatal testing can detect more than 80% of chromosomal abnormalities.

In women with late preterm hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, immediate delivery did not decrease the risk of severe adverse maternal outcomes but did increase the risk of neonatal RDS, unlike with expectant monitoring.

The effectiveness of remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia is not equivalent to that of epidural analgesia for pain relief during labor, study finds.

Obesity during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity, and these complications tend to occur at a younger age, researchers found.

New study findings may soon help ob/gyns personalize preterm birth prevention treatments by identifying which women at higher risk for preterm birth will be helped by progesterone injections.

DNA analysis of vaginal swabs shows that cervicovaginal microbiota differs in the late second and early third trimester in women destined to have a preterm birth.

The risk of death in the first 28 days of life was roughly 4 times higher for babies delivered at home by midwives than babies delivered at a hospital by midwives, new research shows.

About 20% of premature babies who appear healthy at discharge have cerebral palsy or neurological impairment at age 2 years, suggesting that all preemies need early childhood evaluation.

After excluding chromosomal abnormalities, women 35 years and older are at decreased risk for having a child with a major congenital malformation.

With a US cesarean rate of more than 30%, strategies to lower the primary cesarean rate are needed, experts say. One simple change: avoid practices that increase the potential for unneeded first cesarean deliveries.

High body mass index (BMI) and short stature are risk factors for cesarean delivery across all racial/ethnic groups, according to a study to be presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine: The Pregnancy Meeting on February 7, 2014 in New Orleans.

A reader writes regarding the November 2013 article "The transcervical Foley balloon." Are there any data that this method of induction is connected to higher rates of umbilical cord prolapse?