Obstetrical Risk (obstetrical + risk)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A Longitudinal Examination of Physiological Regulation in Cocaine-Exposed Infants Across the First 7 Months of Life

INFANCY, Issue 1 2009
Pamela Schuetze
This study examined the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and physiological regulation across the first 7 months of age. Measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were obtained from 169 (82 cocaine-exposed and 87 nonexposed) infants during baseline periods at 1 month and 7 months of age and during tasks designed to elicit positive and negative affect at 7 months of age. After controlling for maternal age, gestational age, and obstetrical risk, structural equation modeling indicated that the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and baseline RSA at 7 months of age was direct even in the presence of an indirect effect through baseline RSA at 1 month of age. There were no indirect effects through maternal affect during mother-infant interactions assessed at 1 month of age. Analyses also indicated a direct association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and RSA regulation to negative affect at 7 months of age. [source]


Adolescent primiparas: Changes in obstetrical risk between 1983,1987 and 1999,2005

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY RESEARCH (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2008
Willibald Zeck
Abstract Aims:, Teenage pregnancies have always been considered at increased risk for obstetric complications. Deliveries in adolescent primiparas in the 5-year time periods 1983,1987 and 1999,2005 were compared against each other, the general population and against primiparas aged 20,29 years in order to reveal trends and differences in obstetric outcome. Methods:, A total of 186 primiparas delivering at an age of 17 or less between October 1999 and October 2005 were compared with 353 adolescent primiparas delivered between 1983 and 1987. Type of delivery and complications such as low birthweight, pre-eclampsia, breech presentation and third stage complications were studied. Results:, The percentage of adolescents in the overall obstetric population decreased. The cesarean section rate remained the same in the adolescents while increasing in the general population. Rates of low birthweight and operative vaginal delivery increased in the adolescent group and overall. Third stage complications (abnormally adherent or incomplete placentas) decreased in both groups. There were no intrauterine fetal deaths in adolescent pregnancies in either time period. Other obstetric variables were unchanged in the adolescent as well as in the general population between 1999 and 2005. When comparing the adolescents' outcome with the outcome of the 20,29-year-old primiparas between 1999 and 2005, it was noted that the rates of abstracted obstetric variables were higher in the population of the 20,29-year-olds. Conclusions:, The obstetric outcome of adolescent pregnancies has remained favorable over the last 18 years. We do not consider adolescence as an obstetrical risk. We suggest that adolescent pregnancy is more a public health issue than a clinical problem. [source]


Do Italian Mothers Prefer Cesarean Delivery?

BIRTH, Issue 2 2003
Serena Donati MD
ABSTRACT: Background: In Italy the proportion of births by cesarean section rose from 11.2 percent in 1980 to 27.9 percent in 1996 and 33.2 percent in 2000. The aim of this study was to identify factors, other than medical and obstetrical risk, that may influence the method of delivery and to analyze mother's preference for vaginal versus cesarean delivery among women after the birth of their first baby in university hospitals in Italy. Methods: Primiparous women were selected from 100 consecutive deliveries in 23 university hospitals in 1999. To determine antenatal, delivery, and postnatal history, and women's preference for method of delivery, trained health personnel interviewed 1986 women. Results: Of the 1986 women who were interviewed (response rate 95%), 1023 primiparas comprised the study sample. The cesarean section rate was 36 percent. Ninety-one percent of the women who delivered spontaneously and 73 percent of those who underwent a cesarean section would have preferred a vaginal delivery. Conclusions: Most of the interviewed women in this study preferred, or were satisfied with, vaginal birth. (BIRTH 30:2 June 2003) [source]