Background: Group B streptococcus is regarded as a potential factor for adverse outcomes of pregnancy such as preterm birth. Objective: To study the association of maternal vaginal colonization with group B streptococcus (GBS) and preterm labor. Materials and Methods: From April 2005 to May 2006, vaginal culture for GBS were conducted in 101 laboring women with a gestational age of 24-37 weeks ...

AIMS Our aim is to investigate, in 13 cases (delivering preterm) and 21 matched (for age, parity, and gestational age) controls (delivering at term), whether midtrimester amniotic fluid concentrations of elastase, secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor (SLPI), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule predict asymptomatic intra-amniotic inflammatio...

BACKGROUND The existence of a "placental clock" which determines the duration of gestation has been previously proposed. It is related to placental CRH secretion and is active from an early phase in human pregnancy. Urocortin is a specific ligand for the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor expressed by human trophoblast and fetal membranes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate wh...

Preterm birth remains the most prevalent cause of neonatal morbidity. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of SDF-1α, resistin, secretory RAGE (sRAGE), and endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE) in preterm labor. A total of 211 pregnant women participated in the study. Group A contained 72 women between 22 and 36 weeks of gestation, with premature labor, who finally had preterm birth. ...

BACKGROUND While tocolytic therapy can halt the process of delivery, some patients return before the 37th week of pregnancy with recurrence of preterm labor signs. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of progesterone in the prolonging of gestation and reduction of neonatal complications. MATERIAL AND METHODS In a clinical trial in 2010, 110 singleton pregnant women ad...

Reproductive success is critical for survival of the species. The timely onset of labor and delivery is an important determinant of perinatal outcome. Preterm birth (defined as delivery before 37 weeks’ gestation) and post-term pregnancy (defined as pregnancy continuing beyond 42 weeks) are both associated with a significant increase in perinatal morbidity and mortality. The factors responsible...

OBJECTIVES To describe the incidence of breech presentation at 22-34 weeks' gestation, estimate the incidence of cesarean section delivery by cause of prematurity, and assess the factors associated with caesarean delivery in preterm breech births with preterm labor or preterm premature rupture of membranes. STUDY DESIGN EPIPAGE 2 is a French national prospective population-based cohort study ...

AIM CCL20, also known as MIP-3 alpha, is a chemokine that participates in chemotaxis of immature dendritic cells, effector/memory T-cells, and B-lymphocytes. The objectives of this study were to determine whether CCL20 can be detected in amniotic fluid (AF) and if AF concentration of this chemokine changes with advancing gestational age, parturition (term and preterm), and intra-amniotic infect...

background: low birth weight (lbw) is one of the most important health indicators in the world. it has certain known and unknown causes. the present study was designed to evaluate the role of socio-behavioral factors on neonatal birth weight. methods: the current case-control study was conducted on 300 eligible neonates (150 lbw infants as cases and 150 normal body weight infants as controls) i...