Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology最新文献

{"title":"Association between furosemide in premature infants and sensorineural hearing loss and nephrocalcinosis: a systematic review.","authors":"Wesley Jackson,&nbsp;Genevieve Taylor,&nbsp;David Selewski,&nbsp;P Brian Smith,&nbsp;Sue Tolleson-Rinehart,&nbsp;Matthew M Laughon","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0092-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0092-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Furosemide is a potent loop diuretic commonly and variably used by neonatologists to improve oxygenation and lung compliance in premature infants. There are several safety concerns with use of furosemide in premature infants, specifically the risk of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and nephrocalcinosis/nephrolithiasis (NC/NL). We conducted a systematic review of all trials and observational studies examining the association between these outcomes with exposure to furosemide in premature infants. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and clinicaltrials.gov. We included studies reporting either SNHL or NC/NL in premature infants (< 37 weeks completed gestational age) who received at least one dose of enteral or intravenous furosemide. Thirty-two studies met full inclusion criteria for the review, including 12 studies examining SNHL and 20 studies examining NC/NL. Only one randomized controlled trial was identified in this review. We found no evidence that furosemide exposure increases the risk of SNHL or NC/NL in premature infants, with varying quality of studies and found the strength of evidence for both outcomes to be low. The most common limitation in these studies was the lack of control for confounding factors. The evidence for the risk of SNHL and NC/NL in premature infants exposed to furosemide is low. Further randomized controlled trials of furosemide in premature infants are urgently needed to adequately assess the risk of SNHL and NC/NL, provide evidence for improved FDA labeling, and promote safer prescribing practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0092-2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36763438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Magnitude and associated factors of postpartum morbidity in public health institutions of Debre Markos town, North West Ethiopia.","authors":"Asmare Talie,&nbsp;Abere Yekoye,&nbsp;Megbaru Alemu,&nbsp;Belsity Temesgen,&nbsp;Yibeltal Aschale","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0086-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0086-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Postpartum maternal morbidity is maternal illness that occurs after one hour of expulsion of placenta up to six weeks of childbirth. Though the true burden of this problem is not well known estimates of WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA showed that 1.4 million women experience acute obstetric morbidity annually. Knowledge of magnitude and predicting factors postpartum morbidity is central to understand the extent of the problem and will help as a cornerstone in designing and implementing better preventive strategies.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To assess the magnitude and factors associated with postpartum morbidity in public health institutions in Debre Markos town.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted in Debre Markos town public health institutions by reviewing delivery charts, delivery records and reporting log books. Total deliveries in each health institution in the previous year were identified and number of records to be included from each institution was determined by probability proportion to size. Systematic sampling technique was employed to select 308 charts for review. Data was collected by trained midwifes using structured checklist; entered by epi info and analyzed using SPSS 20. To present findings descriptive statistics using frequencies, charts and figures were used accordingly. Finally binary and multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify predicting factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The magnitude of postpartum morbidity was found to be 101(32.8%). Divorced/widowed women [AOR = 10.920, 95% CI: (2.168, 54.998)], women who didn't have ANC follow up [AOR = 3.710, 95% CI: (1.749, 7.870)], abnormal labour [AOR =3.496, 95% CI: (1.69, 7.22)], women delivered by doctor [AOR =0.111, 95% CI: (0.027, 0.454)] and women who were not attended postpartum visit [AOR =0.088, 95% CI: (0.040, 0.194)] were the factors associated with postpartum maternal morbidity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Maternal morbidity in Debre Markos health institution was found to be major maternal health issue. Being divorced/widowed, absence of ANC visit, intrapartum abnormalities, delivery attended by skilled professionals and no post-partum visit were important predictors of maternal postpartum morbidity.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0086-0","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36573919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The fortification method relying on assumed human milk composition overestimates the actual energy and macronutrient intakes in very preterm infants.","authors":"Israel Macedo,&nbsp;Luis Pereira-da-Silva,&nbsp;Manuela Cardoso","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0090-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0090-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>To achieve recommended nutrient intakes in preterm infants, the target fortification method of human milk (HM) was proposed as an alternative to standard fortification method. We aimed to compare assumed energy and macronutrient intakes based on standard fortified HM with actual intakes relying on measured composition of human milk (HM), in a cohort of HM-fed very preterm infants.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study is a secondary retrospective analysis, in which assumed energy and macronutrient contents of daily pools of own mother's milk (OMM) from 33 mothers and donated HM (DHM) delivered to infants were compared with the measured values using a mid-infrared HM analyzer. A fortification method consisting of modular protein and/or fat supplements added to standard fortified HM was used to provide the minimum recommended daily intakes of energy 110 Kcal/kg and protein up to 4.0 g/kg. Assumed nutrient intakes were compared with actual nutrient intakes from full enteral feeding to 35 weeks plus 6 days postmenstrual age, using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks test.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The composition of 1181 samples of daily pools of HM were measured. For 90.2% of study days, infants were exclusively fed OMM and in remaining days fed OMM <i>plus</i> DHM. Comparing with reported preterm OMM composition, measured protein concentration was significantly lower, and energy and other macronutrient concentrations were lower only from the second to third postnatal week. Using fortified HM, the actual median daily intakes of energy, protein, and fat were significantly lower (113.3 vs. 120.7 Kcal/kg, 4.45 vs. 4.73 g/kg, and 4.96 vs. 5.35 g/kg, respectively) and the actual protein-to-energy ratio (PER) significantly higher than what was assumed (4.2 vs. 4.0), without differences in carbohydrate intake.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>When fortifying the HM, we used conservative target intakes trying not to exceed the osmolarity recommended for infant feeds. Actual energy, protein and fat intakes in OMM were significantly lower than assumed. This resulted in inadequate intake using our fortification method, that did not compensate the suboptimal measured energy and macronutrient contents of OMM delivered. Further studies comparing assumed with the gold standard target fortification are needed to determine safe upper limits of assumed fortification.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0090-4","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36511875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Undernutrition and its association with socio-demographic, anemia and intestinal parasitic infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.","authors":"Gemechu Kumera,&nbsp;Dereje Gedle,&nbsp;Animut Alebel,&nbsp;Fetuma Feyera,&nbsp;Setegn Eshetie","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0087-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0087-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Under nutrition is a worldwide public health problem affecting the well-being of millions of pregnant women in the developing world. Only limited research has been conducted on the prevalence and determinants of maternal nutritional status in Ethiopia. Particularly, data on the nutritional status of pregnant women are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among pregnant women attending antenatal care at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in January and February 2016. Randomly selected 409 pregnant women were included in the study. Nutritional status was estimated using mid-upper-arm circumference. Data on potential determinants of undernutrition were gathered using a structured questionnaire. The blood sample was collected to analyze hemoglobin. The stool sample was collected to identify intestinal parasitic infections. Statistical analysis was done using logistic regression. <i>P</i>-value < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 16.2% (95% CI: 12.4-20.1%). Using a logistic regression model, factors significantly associated with the undernutrition were living in rural areas (AOR = 2.26), low educational status [no formal education (AOR = 2.91), primary education (AOR = 2.69)], history of too many births (AOR = 2.55), anemia (AOR = 2.01), and intestinal parasitic infection (AOR = 2.73).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The study findings provide evidence for the public health significance of under nutrition among pregnant women in the study area. The problem must be combated through rural livelihood promotion, socioeconomic empowerment of women, sustained nutrition education and expansion of family-planning services in the area.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0087-z","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36491988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence and correlates of unintended pregnancy in Ghana: Analysis of 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.","authors":"Edward Kwabena Ameyaw","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0085-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0085-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Unintended pregnancies increase levels of stress, adoption of risky behaviours and impact on women's general quality of life. In Ghana, in spite of the paucity of literature on unintended pregnancies, the phenomenon is high especially among women in the early years of their reproductive health. This study therefore sought to investigate the prevalence and correlates of unintended pregnancies in Ghana.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study made use of data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive statistics were conducted whereby prevalence of unintended pregnancy was presented in proportions. This was followed by binary logistic regression to investigate correlates associated with unintended pregnancy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Descriptively, unintended pregnancies were high among women aged 15-19 years (69.4%), unmarried women (45.1%) and non-working women (40.0%). Factors found to be associated with the phenomenon were age, parity and level of education. The binary logistic regression revealed that women in middle wealth category were 1.42 times more probable of having unintended pregnancy than poor women whilst rich women were less likely to experience unintended pregnancy [OR = 0.89, CI = 0.35-0.79] as compared to poor women. Again, urban women were more likely to experience unintended pregnancies as compared rural women [OR = 1.39, CI = 0.86-1.95].</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The study has indicated that specific interventions must be targeted at different categories of women. The Reproductive and Child Health unit of the Ghana Health Service ought to collaborate with non-governmental organisations to intensify access to well-tailored family planning services among adolescents and young women, women out of marriage and the non-working category.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0085-1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36477975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determinants of choice of skilled antenatal care service providers in Ghana: analysis of demographic and health survey.","authors":"Kwamena Sekyi Dickson, Eugene Kofuor Maafo Darteh, Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0082-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40748-018-0082-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The International Safe Motherhood initiative provides a focus for programmes and research to improve maternal health in low - income countries. Antenatal care is one of the key pillars of the initiative. This study sought to examine the association between background characteristics and choice of skilled providers of antenatal care services in Ghana.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study used data from the six rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). Binary logistic regression models were applied to analyse the data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results show that the proportion of women who received antenatal care (ANC) services from skilled providers improved over the period. Also, women with secondary education (OR = 1.42, CI = 1.07-1.88), richest wealth status (OR = 5.10, CI = 2.28-11.85) were more likely to utilise antenatal care services from skilled providers. Whereas women from rural areas (OR = 0.55, CI = 0.41-0.74), with four births or more (OR = 0.55, CI = 0.36-0.85) and from the northern ethnic group were less likely to utilise antenatal care services from skilled providers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Choice of skilled providers of antenatal care services were predicted by some predisposing factors including education, ethnicity, and ecological zone. Also enabling factors such as wealth status, residence and the need for care factor, parity predicted choice of skilled providers of antenatal care services. Women with secondary or higher education, those within richer and richest wealth status, those from forest zone are more likely to utilise the services of skilled providers during their antenatal care visits. Whereas women from rural areas, those with four births or more and those with the northern ethnic group were more likely to utilise ANC service from unskilled providers. The Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health should encourage women in rural areas to utilise antenatal care services from skilled providers through social and behaviour change communication campaigns.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6040073/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36309309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revert to the original: time to re-establish delayed umbilical cord clamping as the standard approach for preterm neonates.","authors":"Ryan M McAdams,&nbsp;Carl H Backes,&nbsp;Omid Fathi,&nbsp;David J R Hutchon","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0081-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0081-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Delayed cord clamping, the common term used to denote placental-to-newborn transfusion at birth, is a practice now endorsed by the major governing bodies affiliated with maternal-newborn care. Despite considerable evidence, delayed cord clamping, not early cord clamping, continues to be viewed as the \"experimental\" intervention category when discussed in research studies. We provide a brief overview of placental-to-newborn transfusion in relation to birth transitional physiology and discuss areas where we may need to modify our interpretation of \"normal\" vital signs and laboratory values as delayed cord clamping becomes standardized. We also assert that delayed cord clamping should now be viewed as the standard of care approach, especially given that multiple randomized controlled trials have revealed that early cord clamping, which lacks evidence-based support, is associated with a greater risk for morbidity and mortality than delayed cord clamping.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0081-5","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36304745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Air displacement plethysmography (pea pod) in full-term and pre-term infants: a comprehensive review of accuracy, reproducibility, and practical challenges.","authors":"Hajar Mazahery,&nbsp;Pamela R von Hurst,&nbsp;Christopher J D McKinlay,&nbsp;Barbara E Cormack,&nbsp;Cathryn A Conlon","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0079-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0079-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Air displacement plethysmography (ADP) has been widely utilised to track body composition because it is considered to be practical, reliable, and valid. Pea Pod is the infant version of ADP that accommodates infants up to the age of 6 months and has been widely utilised to assess the body composition of full-term infants, and more recently pre-term infants. The primary goal of this comprehensive review is to 1) discuss the accuracy/reproducibility of Pea Pod in both full- and pre-term infants, 2) highlight and discuss practical challenges and potential sources of measurement errors in relation to Pea Pod operating principles, and 3) make suggestions for future research direction to overcome the identified limitations.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0079-z","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36265714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contributing factors of pregnant women's beliefs towards mode of delivery: a cross-sectional study from Iran.","authors":"Fereshteh Zamani-Alavijeh,&nbsp;Marzieh Araban,&nbsp;Akbar Hassanzadeh,&nbsp;Khadije Makhouli","doi":"10.1186/s40748-018-0077-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-018-0077-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Delivery is a critical event in every woman's life. Under some medical conditions, women sometimes undergo a cesarean section to save the life of themselves and their infant. Understanding the factors associated with choosing the type of delivery leads to more effective health interventions and the promotion of maternal and newborn health. The aim of this study is to determine contributing factors in pregnant women's beliefs toward the mode of delivery in a sample of women referring to Hojatieh Hospital in Isfahan, Iran.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2016 on 200 pregnant women (gestational age 30-37 weeks) referred to Hojatieh Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. The inclusion criteria of this study included healthy pregnancy and having no known cases (heart, pulmonary, and renal disease) and pregnancy complications (spotting, bleeding, headache, blurred vision), and willingness of pregnant women to complete the questionnaire. Data were collected through an eight-part questionnaire consisting of demographic factors, delivery intention, knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, attitude, perceived social, and private support in the presence of the researcher and the outcome of delivery were asked 2 weeks after the due date of delivery during a telephone call. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 software, independent t-test, chi-square, and logistic regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There was no significant differences between the mean scores of knowledge and private social support among individuals with two types of delivery (<i>P</i> > 0.05), but the mean scores of perceived self-efficacy and public social support in women who gave birth normal were significantly higher than those of women who gave birth by cesarean section (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings of this study showed that attitude and perceived self-efficacy were the most important predictors of delivery mode. Therefore, education based on the items included in these factors might be useful for choosing the delivery mode. The results might be used in evidence based midwifery practices in low and middle income countries to promote normal delivery and perhaps maternal health index.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-018-0077-1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36084086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Serum nitric oxide levels in healthy pregnant women: a case- control study in a tertiary facility in Ghana.","authors":"Ebenezer Owusu Darkwa,&nbsp;Robert Djagbletey,&nbsp;Daniel Sottie,&nbsp;Christian Owoo,&nbsp;Naa Martekuor Vanderpuye,&nbsp;Raymond Essuman,&nbsp;George Aryee","doi":"10.1186/s40748-017-0072-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-017-0072-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pregnancy is associated with significant changes in maternal cardiovascular system which regulates oxygen and nutrient supply to the growing foetus. Nitric oxide, a physiologic vascular smooth muscle relaxant regulates blood flow and therefore may play a role in the cardiovascular changes in pregnancy. The study aimed to determine the levels and changes in maternal serum nitric oxide levels during healthy pregnancy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A case-control study was conducted among 32 healthy non-pregnant women as controls and 100 healthy pregnant women (consisting of 33 first trimester, 37 s trimester, and 30 third trimester) as cases. Subjects were consecutively recruited into the study after obtaining an informed consent and meeting the inclusion criteria. Griess Reagent method was used to determine serum nitric oxide levels.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were no statistically significant difference in the ages and parity of recruited cases and controls. Mean arterial blood pressures were significantly lower (<i>p</i> = 0.009) and serum nitric oxide levels were significantly higher (<i>p</i> < 0.001) in healthy pregnant women compared to healthy non-pregnant women. There was a non-significant progressive increase in serum nitric oxide levels during healthy normal pregnancy.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The finding of a significantly reduced blood pressures and a significant increase in serum nitric oxide levels in healthy pregnancy may suggest a role of nitric oxide in vascular adaptation in pregnancy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"4 ","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40748-017-0072-y","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35862652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}