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J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2021 Jun 14. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.

Myotonic dystrophy is a dominantly inherited multisystem disorder that results from increased CTG repeats in the 3' region of the myotonic dystrophy protein kinase gene (DMPK). The mutant DMPK mRNA remains nuclear, and sequesters RNA-binding proteins including regulators of mRNA splicing. Myotonic dystrophy is characterized by a highly variable phenotype that includes muscle weakness and myotonia, and may affect the function of many Endocrine glands. Read More

J Family Med Prim Care 2021 Apr 29;10(4):1747-1753. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Arash Women Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Background: Preterm labor is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality this study aimed to determine single and combined effects of all risk factors in relation to preterm labor.

Methods: This was a case-control study that included patients from a teaching hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Women who came to this hospital for delivery were divided into two groups: 200 in preterm delivery (before 37 weeks) and 195 in term delivery (after 37 weeks). Read More

Front Immunol 2021 26;12:685919. Epub 2021 May 26.

Postgraduate Program of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná-PUCPR, Curitiba, Brazil.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, few papers describe the placenta's morphological and morphometrical features in SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnant women. Alterations, such as low placental weight, accelerated villous maturation, decidual vasculopathy, infarcts, thrombosis of fetal placental vessels, and chronic histiocytic intervillositis (CHI), have been described.

Objective: To analyze clinical data and the placental morphological and morphometric changes of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 group) in comparison with the placentas of non-infected pregnant women, matched for maternal age and comorbidities, besides gestational age of delivery (Control group). Read More

Reprod Sci 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 271, Cheonbo-Ro, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do, Uijeongbu-si, Republic of Korea.

The role and mechanisms of progesterone in preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms of action of progesterone in pre-labor full-term fetal amniotic membrane cells with and without stimulation by microbial, pro-inflammatory, or thrombogenic agents. Fetal amniotic membranes were collected from 30 women with a normal singleton pregnancy undergoing elective cesarean section at term prior to the onset of labor. Read More

Glob Pediatr Health 2021 27;8:2333794X211019695. Epub 2021 May 27.

Arsi University, Asella, Oromia, Ethiopia.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) remains to be the most critical and frequent gastrointestinal disorder understood in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The presented study was intended to assess the prevalence of NEC and associated factors among enteral Fed preterm and low birth weight neonates. Institution based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 350 enteral Fed preterm and low birth weight neonates who were admitted at selected public hospitals of Addis Ababa from March 25/2020 to May 10/2020. Read More

Early Hum Dev 2021 Jul 24;158:105397. Epub 2021 May 24.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Objective: β-Thalassemia has been shown to be associated with adverse short-term perinatal outcomes including low birth weight and preterm labor. The aim of this study was to assess whether in-utero exposure of maternal β-thalassemia minor is a risk factor for offspring hematological morbidity.

Study Design: A population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted, including all infants born between the years 1991-2014 at a tertiary medical center. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2021 Jun 7;14(6). Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Neonatal Unit, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK.

A late preterm infant was born to a diabetic mother on a background of reduced fetal movements and a poor CTG. It was noted immediately at birth that there was pathology in both upper limbs. Targeted investigation led to the diagnosis of bilateral upper limb arterial thromboses. Read More

Pediatr Neonatol 2021 May 23. Epub 2021 May 23.

Department of Neonatology, Women and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China; Xiamen Key Laboratory of Perinatal-neonatal Infection, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China. Electronic address:

Invasive disease owing to group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of illness and death among newborns. Maternal GBS colonization of gastrointestinal tract and/or vagina is the primary risk factor for neonatal GBS early-onset disease (EOD). In Europe and America, there are marked declines in neonatal GBS-EOD through widespread implementation of guidelines for maternal GBS screening and subsequent intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP). Read More

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2021 Jun 4;21(1):415. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Menopause Andropause Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

Background: There are few epidemiological studies on the relation between temperature changes and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the relation between Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) with adverse pregnancy outcomes including stillbirth, low birth weight (LBW), preterm labor (PTL), spontaneous abortion (SA), preeclampsia and hypertension in Ahvaz, Iran.

Methods: Distributed Lag Non-linear Models (DLNM) combined with quasi-Poisson regression were used to investigate the effect of PET on adverse pregnancy outcomes. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Aug 9;783:146984. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, PR China. Electronic address:

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), a class of persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals, are widely used in consumer products due to their unique amphiphilic properties. Previous epidemiological studies suggest association of maternal PFASs exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes, while evidences about the association are inconsistent. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the relationship of maternal PFASs exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Read More

Turk J Obstet Gynecol 2021 06;18(2):159-162

University of Health Sciences Turkey, Dr. Sami Ulus Maternity and Children's Research and Training Hospital, Clinic of Pediatric Endocrinology, Ankara, Turkey

In recent years, interest in the evaluation of vitamin D levels and the possible outcomes of their deficiency during pregnancy has increased. However, there is no consensus on when to start vitamin D supplementation, its duration, dosage, and the optimum level during pregnancy. The toxicity of vitamin D is as important as its deficiency. Read More

Turk J Obstet Gynecol 2021 06;18(2):109-114

Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey

Objective: Due to the recent increase in the successful pregnancies after renal transplant, the number of renal transplant recipients having vaginal or cesarean delivery possibly associated with high maternal, fetal and/or neonatal risk requiring team approach increased. We aimed to evaluate antenatal follow-up, perinatal outcomes, and anesthesia management in pregnancies with renal transplantation and to compare them with the current literature.

Materials And Methods: After ethics committee approval, renal transplant recipients who gave birth in our hospital between January 2010 and December 2019 were documented in this retrospective study. Read More

Reprod Health 2021 Jun 2;18(1):110. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.

Background: Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity globally. Planned delivery between 34 and 36 weeks may reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes but is yet to be evaluated in a low and middle-income setting. Prior to designing a randomised controlled trial to evaluate this in India and Zambia, we carried out a 6-month feasibility study in order to better understand the proposed trial environment and guide development of our intervention. Read More

Afr J Reprod Health 2020 Sep;24(3):33-40

Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Vaginal Candida infection is one of the most common genital tract infections reported in pregnant women. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of vaginal Candida infection and pattern of Candida species isolates in the genital tract of pregnant women during antenatal period and in early labour; and the associated fetal outcome. The study was conducted at the antenatal clinic and labor ward of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. Read More

J Appl Lab Med 2021 Jun 2. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA.

Identifying women with preterm labor who will go on to deliver prematurely is crucial to improving outcomes for mother and baby and for saving healthcare resources. Even among those with symptoms, the number of women who deliver preterm is low, and thus the low positive predictive value (PPV) and high negative predictive value (NPV) associated with available biomarkers does not substantially reduce the uncertainty of the clinical diagnosis. While there is some promise in the use of fetal fibronectin (fFN), interleukin 6 (IL-6), or placental alpha microglobulin 1 (PAMG-1) for predicting preterm birth (PTB), their use is unlikely to provide considerable clinical value in populations with a low prevalence. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 May 29;18(11). Epub 2021 May 29.

Department of Research, Women's Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar.

Preterm birth (PTB) and early term birth (ETB) are associated with high risks of perinatal mortality and morbidity. While extreme to very PTBs have been extensively studied, studies on infants born at later stages of pregnancy, particularly late PTBs and ETBs, are lacking. In this study, we aimed to assess the incidence, risk factors, and feto-maternal outcomes of PTB and ETB births in Qatar. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2021 May 12;21(10). Epub 2021 May 12.

Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería (CI2B), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Camino de la Vera s/n Ed. 8B, 46022 Valencia, Spain.

Electrohysterography (EHG) has emerged as an alternative technique to predict preterm labor, which still remains a challenge for the scientific-technical community. Based on EHG parameters, complex classification algorithms involving non-linear transformation of the input features, which clinicians found difficult to interpret, were generally used to predict preterm labor. We proposed to use genetic algorithm to identify the optimum feature subset to predict preterm labor using simple classification algorithms. Read More

Microorganisms 2021 May 11;9(5). Epub 2021 May 11.

Department of Pathophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.

Preterm birth (PTB) and threatened preterm labor (TPL), an important pre-PTB state, are major obstetric complications during pregnancy. However, their triggers have not been fully elucidated. The vagina is dominated by species (categorized as community state types; CSTs I, II, III, and V) or by mixed anaerobes (CST IV). Read More

Medicina (Kaunas) 2021 May 21;57(6). Epub 2021 May 21.

Reproductive Biology Laboratory, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

: Therapeutic interventions targeting molecular factors involved in the transition from uterine quiescence to overt labour are not substantially reducing the rate of spontaneous preterm labour. The identification of novel rational therapeutic targets are essential to prevent the most common cause of neonatal mortality. Based on our previous work showing that Tbx2 (T-Box transcription factor 2) is a putative upstream regulator preceding progesterone withdrawal in mouse myometrium, we now investigate the role of TBX2 in human myometrium. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2021 May 31. Epub 2021 May 31.

Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, and Laboratorio de Toxicología de Mezclas Químicas (LATOMEQ), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón II, 4to piso. Intendente Güiraldes 2160, (C1428EGA), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Among residents living close to agricultural fields who are potentially exposed to pesticides, pregnant women and their fetuses are of particular concern for their vulnerability to environmental chemicals. In this collaborative multicenter study, we covered a wide distribution of participants in the most important fruit production zone of north Patagonia (Argentina) to investigate whether maternal residential proximity to fruit croplands with intense pesticide applications (rural group -RG-) is associated with pregnancy complications and alterations in their newborn parameters compared to the urban population (urban group -UG-). A total of 776 pregnant women met the inclusion criteria. Read More

CMAJ 2021 05;193(22):E813-E822

Département d'obstétrique-gynécologie (Wei), Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine; Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Département de médecine sociale et préventive (Auger), École de santé publique, Université de Montréal; Bureau d'information et d'études en santé des populations (Wei, Bilodeau-Bertrand, Auger), Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montréal, Qc; Centre de surveillance et de recherche appliquée (Liu), Agence de la santé publique du Canada, Ottawa, Ont.

J Assist Reprod Genet 2021 May 31. Epub 2021 May 31.

Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women's Health Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Desk A-81, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA.

Purpose: To provide a comprehensive review of uterus transplantation in 2021, including a discussion of pregnancy outcomes of all reported births to date, the donor and recipient selection process, the organ procurement and transplant surgeries, reported complications, postoperative monitoring, preimplantation preparation, and ethical considerations.

Methods: Literature review and expert commentary.

Results: Reports of thirty-one live births following uterus transplantation have been published from both living and deceased donors. Read More

Front Pediatr 2021 13;9:652857. Epub 2021 May 13.

Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is under investigation. A few reports suggest the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from mothers to their neonates. Most neonates have mild symptoms, but some develop multisystem involvement and shock. Read More

Exp Ther Med 2021 Jul 17;22(1):771. Epub 2021 May 17.

Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology, 'George Emil Palade' University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, 540142 Targu-Mures, Romania.

Pregnancy, labor and childbirth are accompanied by excessive oxidative aggression. The excessive formation of free radicals [reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), chlorine reactive species (CRS)] causes cellular oxidative damage, which can be scavenged by enzymatic or non-enzymatic antioxidants in normal healthy pregnancy, physiological labor and delivery without any complications. An imbalance between the pro-oxidant and antioxidant factors may lead to oxidative stress, which contributes to the development of many diseases. Read More

BMC Womens Health 2021 05 27;21(1):222. Epub 2021 May 27.

School of Women's and Children's Health, University of NSW (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

Background: Women from migrant and refugee backgrounds who live in high-income countries are at increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes, including mental health issues, preterm birth and maternal and infant mortality. There is a need to implement and evaluate models of care to meet their specific needs in order to improve health outcomes, their experiences of care, and overcome barriers to access. In Sydney, Australia, a unique model of care was implemented to support women and families from migrant and refugee backgrounds to access health and community-based services through the continuum of pregnancy to the early parenting period. Read More

PLoS One 2021 27;16(5):e0252215. Epub 2021 May 27.

Sydney Medical School-Nepean, Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Asthma is the most common non-communicable pulmonary condition, affecting prepubertal boys more often than girls. This study explored how maternal and perinatal risk factors are linked to poorly controlled childhood asthma in a sex dependent manner. This single centre study was performed at a metropolitan teaching hospital in Western Sydney, Australia, using electronical obstetric records from 2000 to 2017 and electronical pediatric records from 2007 to 2018. Read More

Stud Health Technol Inform 2021 May;281:283-287

Biomedical Engineering Group, Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamilnadu, India.

In this work, an attempt has been made to analyze the influence of the frequencies bands in uterine electromyography (uEMG) signals on the detection of preterm birth. The signals recorded from the women's abdomen during pregnancy are considered in this study. The signals are subjected to preprocessing using digital bandpass Butterworth filter and decomposed into different frequency bands namely, 0. Read More

Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi 2021 May;55(5):598-605

Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China.

To analyze the associations between prenatal and 1-year-old exposure to antibiotics and allergic symptoms in children aged 6-11 months and 18-23 months. In this study, a prospective birth cohort study was adopted. A total of 2 122 pregnant women were enrolled in Maternal and Child Health Care Center of Ma'anshan from June 2015 to June 2016, and they were followed up from the beginning of pregnancy to children's 24 months of age. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 May;100(21):e26106

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu.

Background: There is limited study that has conducted a review investigating the clinical effects of vitamin and omega-3 fatty acid co-supplementation on blood glucose in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Therefore, in order to provide new evidence-based medical evidence for clinical treatment, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness and safety of vitamin and omega-3 fatty acid co-supplementation on blood glucose in women with GDM.

Methods: This protocol was written following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement guidelines. Read More

J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2021 May 24:1-6. Epub 2021 May 24.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.

Background: Induction abortion in the second trimester may be favored in some instances, such as in women with compounding medical conditions or when skilled providers are not available. Various methods of pre-induction cervical preparation have been used to shorten the length of induction and decrease the risk of complications. The benefits of cervical preparation with laminaria before D&E have been well studied, but the benefits of laminaria before medical induction are less clear. Read More