The link between placental growth factor and pregnancy complications Ernesto Figueiro-Filho and Karolina Grzyb from the University of Saskatchewan discuss the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) in screening for preeclampsia and adverse obstetric outcomes in diabetic populations.Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications during pregnancy, affecting 2-8% of pregnancies after 20 weeks. (1) It is often asymptomatic and defined by gestational hypertension, proteinuria, and one or more adverse conditions (maternal end-organ complication or evidence of uteroplacental dysfunction). (1) Early detection of preeclampsia during routine prenatal testing is important due to the asymptomatic nature of the condition. (2, 3) The management goal of a pregnant person with preeclampsia is ultimately to monitor the maternal-fetal complications and to reach the minimum safe gestational age for delivery. (4, 5)
In: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety: EES ; official journal of the International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, Band 241, S. 113727
In: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety: EES ; official journal of the International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, Band 262, S. 115165
Maternal death rate is one of the important health development indicators. Indonesian maternal mortality is still high due to both direct and indirect causes that occur during pregnancy and childbirth. High-risk pregnancy can present complications for both the mother and fetus, and demands early detection. Early detection requires involvement of the community, health cadre, medical officers, and government. There is a need to increase the community health cadre competency in the detection of pregnancy complications, especially high-risk pregnancy knowledge. This study used a quasi-experimental design without control group to determine the effect of training regarding pregnancy complications on community health worker's knowledge in Wijimulyo, Nanggulan, Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta in October 2018. The research subjects were community health cadre workers chosen by purposive random sampling. There were 43 research subjects who were given pretests, training about complications of pregnancy, and posttests. The instrument used was a knowledge questionnaire about complications during pregnancy that consisted of 23 items with reliability of 0.865. There was significant difference between community health cadre's knowledge about complications of pregnancy at pretest and posttest. These results indicate that training about pregnancy complications increases the knowledge of community health cadre workers concerning complications of pregnancy. Further research is needed to assess community health cadre's skills in making early detection of pregnancy complications.
In: Social work in health care: the journal of health care social work ; a quarterly journal adopted by the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Band 36, Heft 1, S. 59-75
Background: Maternal mortality amounted to 33 cases in Tegal, Central Java, in 2015. The leading cause of maternal mortality rate in Indonesia was obstetric complication, i.e 46.8%. Pregnancy complication may be affected by maternal age, parity, education, and maternal employment status. Various efforts have been implemented by the government to reduce maternal mortality rate, including pregnant woman class. The objective of the pregnant mother class is to increase maternal knowledge in risk factor detection and to increase their willingness to use antenatal care. This study aimed to estimate the association between pregnant woman class and pregnancy complication, while controlling for confounding factors.Subjects and Method: This was an analytical observational with case control design. This study was conducted at Pagerbarang, Pangkah and Dukuhwaru Health Centers, Tegal, Central Java. A total of 90 study subjects, consisting of 30 laboring women with complication and 60 without complication. The dependent variable was pregnancy complication. The independent variables were maternal age, parity, education, employment status, and participation in pregnant woman class. The data were collected by a set of questionnaire. The data on pregnancy complication was obtained from the obstetric record at the health center. The data were analyzed by multiple logistic regresion.Results: Parity ≥3 (OR = 3.47; CI 95% = 0.95 to 12.69; p=0.060) and maternal education
BACKGROUND. Events in Chile provided an opportunity to evaluate health effects associated with exposure to high levels of social and political violence. METHODS. Neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile, were mapped for occurrences of sociopolitical violence during 1985-86, such as bomb threats, military presence, undercover surveillance, and political demonstrations. Six health centers providing prenatal care were then chosen at random: three from "high-violence" and three from "low-violence" neighborhoods. The 161 healthy, pregnant women due to deliver between August 1 and September 7, 1986, who attended these health centers were interviewed twice about their living conditions. Pregnancy complications and labor/delivery information were subsequently obtained from clinic and hospital records. RESULTS. Women living in the high-violence neighborhoods were significantly more likely to experience pregnancy complications than women living in lower violence neighborhoods (OR = 5.0; 95% CI = 1.9-12.6; p less than 0.01). Residence in a high-violence neighborhood was the strongest risk factor observed; results persisted after controlling for several sets of potential confounders. CONCLUSION. Living in areas of high social and political violence increased the risk of pregnancy complications among otherwise healthy women.
In: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety: EES ; official journal of the International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, Band 272, S. 116017
The urinary tract is a common site of infection in humans. During pregnancy, urinary tract infection (UTI) is associated with increased risks of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, even when the infection is asymptomatic. By mapping available rates of UTI in pregnancy across different populations, we emphasize this as a problem of global significance. Many countries with high rates of preterm birth and neonatal mortality also have rates of UTI in pregnancy that exceed rates seen in more developed countries. A global analysis of the etiologies of UTI revealed familiar culprits as well as emerging threats. Screening and treatment of UTI have improved birth outcomes in several more developed countries and would likely improve maternal and neonatal health worldwide. However, challenges of implementation in resource-poor settings must be overcome. We review the nature of the barriers occurring at each step of the screening and treatment pipeline and highlight steps necessary to overcome these obstacles. It is our hope that the information compiled here will increase awareness of the global significance of UTI in maternal and neonatal health and embolden governments, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers to do their part to make urine screening and UTI treatment a reality for all pregnant women.
Pregnancy complications in our country are common in spite of a lot of progress made in antenatal care of pregnant women in the recent times. The complications range from simple anemia to ectopic pregnancy. We conducted an observational study in a government maternity hospital where majority of the patients came from rural and impoverished background. The study was done for a period of 6 months during which we had interacted with the patients. The analysis of the results indicated that most of the complications were linked to poverty, ignorance, early pregnancy and non compliance of the medication. Complications could have been easily prevented if the patients had access to healthy, nutritious food and appropriate counseling. Low birth weight newborns were born to the women who were severely anemic. The study showed a strong link between pregnancy complications, low birth weight of newborns and prevalence of anemia in pregnant women.
Background: Gestational diabetes and gestational hypertensive disorders are associated with offspring obesity, but the role of maternal adiposity in these associations remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether these pregnancy complications affect the odds of offspring obesity independently of maternal obesity. Methods: We did an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of mother–offspring pairs from prospective birth cohort studies that had IPD on mothers with singleton liveborn children born from 1989 onwards and had information available about maternal gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia, and childhood body-mass index (BMI). We applied multilevel mixed-effects models to assess associations of gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and pre-eclampsia with BMI SD scores and the odds of overweight and obesity throughout childhood, adjusting for lifestyle characteristics (offspring's sex, maternal age, educational level, ethnicity, parity, and smoking during pregnancy). We then explored the extent to which any association was explained by maternal pre-pregnancy or early-pregnancy BMI. Findings: 160 757 mother–offspring pairs from 34 European or North American cohorts were analysed. Compared with uncomplicated pregnancies, gestational diabetes was associated with increased odds of overweight or obesity throughout childhood (odds ratio [OR] 1·59 [95% CI 1·36 to 1·86] for early childhood [age 2·0–4·9 years], 1·41 [1·26 to 1·57] for mid childhood [5·0–9·9 years], and 1·32 [0·97 to 1·78] for late childhood [10·0–17·9 years]); however, these associations attenuated towards the null following adjustment for maternal BMI (OR 1·35 [95% CI 1·15 to 1·58] for early childhood, 1·12 [1·00 to 1·25] for mid childhood, and 0·96 [0·71 to 1·31] for late childhood). Likewise, gestational hypertension was associated with increased odds of overweight throughout childhood (OR 1·19 [95% CI 1·01 to 1·39] for early childhood, 1·23 [1·15 to 1·32] for mid childhood, and 1·49 [1·30 to 1·70] for late childhood), but additional adjustment for maternal BMI largely explained these associations (1·01 [95% CI 0·86 to 1·19] for early childhood, 1·02 [0·95 to 1·10] for mid childhood, and 1·18 [1·03 to 1·36] for late childhood). Pre-eclampsia was associated with decreased BMI in early childhood only (difference in BMI SD score −0·05 SD score [95% CI −0·09 to −0·01]), and this association strengthened following additional adjustment for maternal BMI. Interpretation: Although lowering maternal risk of gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and pre-eclampsia is important in relation to maternal and fetal pregnancy outcomes, such interventions are unlikely to have a direct impact on childhood obesity. Preventive strategies for reducing childhood obesity should focus on maternal BMI rather than on pregnancy complications. Funding: EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (LifeCycle Project). ; This study has received support from the US National Institute of Health (R01 DK10324) and European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh 22 Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement no 669545. The Swedish Research Council, The Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation, The Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Welfare, the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association Research Foundation, The Swedish Research Council Formas, Stockholm County Council, and the European Commission's Seventh Framework 29 Program MeDALL under grant agreement No. 261357. This study has received support from the British Heart Foundation (CS/16/4/32482), US National Institute of Health (R01 DK10324) and European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement no 669545. The general design of the Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and Ministry of Youth and Families. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013), project EarlyNutrition under grant agreement n°289346, the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633595 (DynaHEALTH) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 733206 (LifeCycle Project). European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements Early Nutrition n° 289346 and by funds from the Norwegian Research Council's MILPAAHEL programme, project No.213148. This study was funded by Grants from UE (FP7-ENV-2011 cod 282957 and HEALTH.2010.2.4.5-1), Spain: ISCIII (G03/176; FIS-FEDER: PI09/02647, PI11/01007, PI11/02591, PI11/02038, PI13/1944, PI13/2032, PI14/00891, PI14/01687, and PI16/1288; Miguel Servet-FEDER CP11/00178, CP15/00025, and CPII16/00051), and Generalitat Valenciana: FISABIO (UGP 15-230, UGP-15-244, and UGP-15-249). The "Rhea" project was financially supported by European projects (EU FP6-2003-Food-3-NewGeneris, EU FP6. STREP Hiwate, EU FP7 ENV.2007.1.2.2.2. Project No 211250 Escape, EU FP7-2008-ENV-28.1.2.1.4 envirogenomarkers, EU FP7-HEALTH-2009- single stage CHICOS, EU FP7 ENV.2008.1.2.1.6. Proposal No 226285 ENRIECO, EU- FP7- HEALTH-2012 Proposal No 308333 HELIX) and the Greek Ministry of Health (Program of Prevention of obesity and neurodevelopmental disorders in preschool children, in Heraklion district, Crete, Greece: 2011-2014; "Rhea Plus": Primary Prevention Program of Environmental Risk Factors for Reproductive Health, and Child Health: 2012-15). ROLO is supported by the Health Research Board Ireland, the Health Research Centre for Health and Diet Research, and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), project EarlyNutrition under grant agreement no. 289346. The SWS is supported by grants from the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton National Health Service Foundation Trust, and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), project EarlyNutrition (grant 289346). Study participants were drawn from a cohort study funded by the Medical Research Council and the Dunhill Medical Trust.