Term Births (term + birth)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Modelling sequence of prior pregnancies on subsequent risk of very preterm birth

PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
Lyndsey F. Watson
Summary Watson LF, Rayner J-A, King J, Jolley D, Forster D, Lumley J. Modelling sequence of prior pregnancies on subsequent risk of very preterm birth. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010. The prevalence and intractability of preterm birth is known as is its association with reproductive history, but the relationship with sequence of pregnancies is not well studied. The data were from a population-based case,control study, conducted in Victoria, Australia. The study recruited women giving birth between April 2002 and April 2004 from 73 maternity hospitals. Detailed reproductive histories were collected by interview a few weeks after the birth. The cases were 603 women having a singleton birth between 20 and <32 weeks gestation (very preterm births including terminations of pregnancy). The controls were 796 randomly selected women from the population having a singleton birth of at least 37 completed weeks gestation. Unconditional logistic regression was used to assess the association of very preterm birth with sequence of pregnancies defined by their outcome (prior abortion , spontaneous or induced, and prior preterm or term birth) with adjustment for sociodemographic factors. The outcomes of each prior pregnancy, stratified by pregnancy order, and starting with the pregnancy immediately before the index or control pregnancy, were categorised as one of abortion, preterm birth or term birth. We showed that each of these prior pregnancy events was an independent risk of very preterm birth. This finding does not support the hypothesis of a neutralising effect of a term birth after an abortion on the subsequent risk for very preterm birth and is further evidence for the cumulative or increasing risk associated with increasing numbers of prior abortions or preterm births. [source]


Growth perturbations in a phenotype with rapid fetal growth preceding preterm labor and term birth

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Michelle Lampl
The variability in fetal growth rates and gestation duration in humans is not well understood. Of interest are women presenting with an episode of preterm labor and subsequently delivering a term neonate, who is small relative to peers of similar gestational age. To further understand these relationships, fetal growth patterns predating an episode of preterm labor were investigated. Retrospective analysis of fetal biometry assessed by serial ultrasound in a prospectively studied sample of pregnancies in Santiago, Chile, tested the hypothesis that fetal growth patterns among uncomplicated pregnancies (n = 3,706) and those with an episode of preterm labor followed by term delivery (n = 184) were identical across the time intervals 16,22 weeks, 22,28 weeks, and 28,34 weeks in a multilevel mixed-effects regression. The hypothesis was not supported. Fetal weight growth rate was faster from 16 weeks among pregnancies with an episode of preterm labor (P < 0.05), declined across midgestation (22,28 weeks, P < 0.05), and rebounded between 28 and 34 weeks (P = 0.06). This was associated with perturbations in abdominal circumference growth and proportionately larger biparietal diameter from 22 gestational weeks (P = 0.03), greater femur (P = 0.01), biparietal diameter (P = 0.001) and head circumference (P = 0.02) dimensions relative to abdominal circumference across midgestation (22,28 weeks), followed by proportionately smaller femur diaphyseal length (P = 0.02) and biparietal diameter (P = 0.03) subsequently. A distinctive rapid growth phenotype characterized fetal growth preceding an episode of preterm labor among this sample of term-delivered neonates. Perturbations in abdominal circumference growth and patterns of proportionality suggest an altered growth strategy pre-dating the preterm labor episode. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Neighbourhood deprivation and small-for-gestational-age term births in the United States

PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Irma T. Elo
Summary Residential context has received increased attention as a possible contributing factor to race/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in birth outcomes in the United States. Utilising vital statistics birth record data, this study examined the association between neighbourhood deprivation and the risk of a term small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth among non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks in eight geographical areas. An SGA birth was defined as a newborn weighing <10th percentile of the sex- and parity-specific birthweight distribution for a given gestational week. Multi-level random intercept logistic regression models were employed and statistical tests were performed to examine whether the association between neighbourhood deprivation and SGA varied by race/ethnicity and study site. The risk of term SGA was higher among non-Hispanic blacks (range 10.8,17.5%) than non-Hispanic whites (range 5.1,9.2%) in all areas and it was higher in cities than in suburban locations. In all areas, non-Hispanic blacks lived in more deprived neighbourhoods than non-Hispanic whites. However, the adjusted associations between neighbourhood deprivation and term SGA did not vary significantly by race/ethnicity or study site. The summary fully adjusted pooled odds ratios, indicating the effect of one standard deviation increase in the deprivation score, were 1.15 [95% CI 1.08, 1.22] for non-Hispanic whites and 1.09 [95% CI 1.05, 1.14] for non-Hispanic blacks. Thus, neighbourhood deprivation was weakly associated with term SGA among both non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks. [source]


Outdoor exposure to airborne polycyclic organic matter and adverse reproductive outcomes: A pilot study

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2001
Zdravko P. Vassilev MD
Abstract Background To investigate the association between outdoor airborne polycyclic organic matter (POM) and adverse reproductive outcomes in New Jersey, we used a cross-sectional design combining air quality data from the USA EPA Cumulative Exposure Project and individual data on pregnancy outcomes from birth and fetal death certificates at the census tract level. Methods After excluding plural births and chromosomal anomalies, 221,406 live births and 1,591 fetal deaths registered in New Jersey during the years of 1990 and 1991 were included. The exposure estimates were derived from modeled average POM concentrations for each census tract in the state. Results After adjustment for potential confounders, the odds ratios (OR) for very low birth weight for the highest exposure compared to the lowest exposure group was 1.31 (95% CI 1.15,1.51); among term births, high POM exposure was associated with low birth weight OR,=,1.31 (95% CI 1.21,1.43), with fetal death OR,=,1.19 (95% CI 1.02,1.39) and with premature birth OR,=,1.25 (95% CI 1.19,1.31). The univariate stratified analyses suggested effect modification of all observed associations by maternal alcohol consumption. Conclusions This study found associations between outdoor exposure to modeled average airborne POM and several adverse pregnancy outcomes. The data and methods utilized in this pilot study may be useful for identifying hazardous air pollutants requiring in-depth investigation. Am. J. Ind. Med. 40:255,262, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Association of Genetic Variants, Ethnicity and Preterm Birth with Amniotic Fluid Cytokine Concentrations

ANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS, Issue 2 2010
Ramkumar Menon
SUMMARY We examined the association of 166 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cytokines and cytokine related genes with cytokine concentrations (IL-1,, IL-8, and IL-10) in the amniotic fluid (AF). These cytokines have been associated with spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) and their genetic regulation may play a role in disease risk. These associations were studied in both PTB and term births in African Americans and Caucasians; maternal and fetal genotypes were studied separately. Analyses modeled genotype, pregnancy status, and marker by pregnancy status (case/control) interaction with cytokine concentration as outcome. Our results indicate that AF cytokines (IL-1, and IL-10) were associated with interactions between pregnancy status and both maternal and fetal SNPs, with the most significant interactions being observed for African Americans with IL-1, concentration (maternal at IL1RAP rs1024941 p < 10,3, fetal IL1RAP rs3773953 p < 10,3). AF IL-10 concentrations also showed evidence for association with SNPs in both ethnicities with the most significant interaction in Caucasian maternal samples (IL10 rs1800896 p < 10,3). Our data indicate that the genetic regulation of cytokine concentrations in PTB likely differs by ethnicity. AF cytokine concentrations were associated with interactions between genotype and PTB in African Americans, but less so in Caucasians. [source]


Birth Centers in Australia: A National Population-Based Study of Perinatal Mortality Associated with Giving Birth in a Birth Center

BIRTH, Issue 3 2007
Sally K Tracy DMid
ABSTRACT: Background: Perinatal mortality is a rare outcome among babies born at term in developed countries after normal uncomplicated pregnancies; consequently, the numbers involved in large databases of routinely collected statistics provide a meaningful evaluation of these uncommon events. The National Perinatal Data Collection records the place of birth and information on the outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth for all women who give birth each year in Australia. Our objective was to describe the perinatal mortality associated with giving birth in "alongside hospital" birth centers in Australia during 1999 to 2002 using nationally collected data. Methods: This population-based study included all 1,001,249 women who gave birth in Australia during 1999 to 2002. Of these women, 21,800 (2.18%) gave birth in a birth center. Selected perinatal outcomes (including stillbirths and neonatal deaths) were described for the 4-year study period separately for first-time mothers and for women having a second or subsequent birth. A further comparison was made between deaths of low-risk term babies born in hospitals compared with deaths of term babies born in birth centers. Results: The total perinatal death rate attributed to birth centers was significantly lower than that attributed to hospitals (1.51/1,000 vs 10.03/1,000). The perinatal mortality rate among term births to primiparas in birth centers compared with term births among low-risk primiparas in hospitals was 1.4 versus 1.9 per 1,000; the perinatal mortality rate among term births to multiparas in birth centers compared with term births among low-risk multiparas in hospitals was 0.6 versus 1.6 per 1,000. Conclusions: This study using Australian national data showed that the overall rate of perinatal mortality was lower in alongside hospital birth centers than in hospitals irrespective of the mother's parity. (BIRTH 34:3 September 2007) [source]