Trusted Information for Healthy Pregnancies
Archive for December 31, 2009
Prompt treatment beneficial for pregnant and postpartum women with H1N1
Dec 31st
Delayed treatment of suspected influenza A (H1N1) illness among pregnant women may result in a four-fold risk of intensive care admission or death, according to results of a recent study.
Regardless of rapid antigen test results, prompt evaluation and antiviral treatment should be considered for pregnant or postpartum women displaying influenza A (H1N1)-like symptoms, according to researchers from the California Department of Public Health.
The study was a review of records for women of reproductive age who had been hospitalized or died from influenza A (H1N1) between April 23 and August 11, 2009.
The study involved 94 pregnant women, 137 non-pregnant women and 8 postpartum women who had delivered <2 weeks prior. False negative results for rapid antigen tests were observed in 38% of patients.
Among 94 pregnant women, 95% were in the second or third trimester. Risk factors for complications from influenza other than pregnancy were observed in 32 of 93 (34%) of those pregnant women.
Early antiviral treatment was defined as treatment <2 days after the onset of symptoms. Pregnant women treated later than this had an RR of 4.3 for admission to an ICU or death.
Intensive care was required for 18 pregnant women and four postpartum women (total, 22 of 102 [22%]). There were eight deaths (8%).
Of six deliveries which took place in the ICU, four were emergency cesarean deliveries.
The specific mortality ratio associated with influenza A (H1N1), which the researchers defined as the number of maternal deaths per 100,000, was 4.3.
Source
Hormone testing may help doctors predict abnormal childbirth
Dec 31st
Testing for low levels of a thyroid hormone shortly before childbirth may help physicians identify women who will require special care during delivery, new research indicates.
Specifically, a study published in the December 23 issue of Clinical Endocrinology, sought to examine whether thyroid hormone levels in the late stages of pregnancy are associated with the head position of a fetus shortly before childbirth, Health Day News reports.
The team of researchers examined the thyroid levels of 960 expectant Dutch mothers and found that those with higher levels of the hormone T4 about 9 months into pregnancy were more likely deliver a baby in the normal delivery position - head first with the fetus facing the mother's back at the start of labor.
Women with lower levels of the hormone more commonly needed assisted delivery because of an abnormal fetal head position, according to the news source.
"We believe that the relationship between thyroid hormone levels and fetal presentation at birth may be explained by recent findings that motor development in children is related to low maternal thyroid hormone concentration during pregnancy," Victor Pop, professor at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, told HealthDay News.
According to the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, almost 32 percent of U.S. births in 2007 took place via cesarean section - a 50 percent increase since 1996.
Source