BACKGROUND Cesarean delivery accounts for nearly one-third of all births in the U.S. and contributes to an additional $38 billion in healthcare costs each year. Although Cesarean delivery has a long record of improving maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, increased utilization over time has yielded public health concerns and calls for reductions. Observational evidence suggests Cesare...

RESULTS: Cord serum PRL level was directly proportional to gestational age and birth weight in normal and abnormal pregnancies but was not affected by maternal age, parity, socioeconomic status, geographical background and mode of delivery. Women with abnormal pregnancy had significantly lower (302.12± 103.02 vs 385.65 ± 85.01 ng/mL) prolaction level as compared to that with normal pregnancy. N...

OBJECTIVE to describe what pregnant women who present themselves as overweight or obese write about their pregnancy in their blogs. SETTING Swedish private blogs. DESIGN a qualitative study, using 13 Internet blogs as the source of data. Google was used to find the blogs. The blog content was analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS three main themes were identified: Pregnancy as an exc...

BACKGROUND Exposure to air pollution has adverse effects on cardiopulmonary health of adults. Exposure to air pollution in pregnancy may affect foetal development. However, the evidence of such effect remains inconsistent. We investigated the effects of exposure to air pollution during pregnancy on birth outcomes. METHODS This study, based within the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (M...

Excessive gestational weight gain has been shown to relate to high-postpartum weight retention and the development of overweight and obesity later in life. Because many women are concerned about the health of their babies during pregnancy and are in frequent contact with their healthcare providers, pregnancy may be an especially powerful "teachable moment" for the promotion of healthy eating an...

Since shortly before the release of the 2009 Institute of Medicine report, Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines,1 there has been an explosion of research around the amount of weight a woman gains during her pregnancy. For the mother herself, the more weight she gains during pregnancy, the harder it is to return to her prepregnancy weight. Retaining more weight postpartum, es...

Global changes in eating attitudes were examined prospectively across pregnancy and 4 months postpartum in a sample of 90 women. In addition, specific changes in dieting behavior and weight/shape satisfaction were assessed at 4 months postpartum for concurrent and retrospective time points. Measures included the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and weight/shape satisfaction in pregnancy and at 4 mon...