Prenatal Women Research Articles

The tentative pregnancy: then and now.

This paper examines the ways in which prenatal diagnosis changes women's experiences of pregnancy. The paper explores the role of patriarchal ideology in the development and use of prenatal diagnostic technology.

Sociodemographic factors and the quality of prenatal care.

In this study, maternal sociodemographic factors are examined in relationship to the quality of prenatal health services US women receive. Data from the 1980 National Natality Survey and 1980 Fetal Mortality Survey were used for the analysis. Indicator variables for prenatal care quality are the percentages of prenatal visits at which blood pressure and urine were tested, the performance of hemoglobin or hematocrit tests, and the presence or absence of advice regarding salt restriction and diuretics usage during pregnancy. Distribution of the basic examinations in prenatal care vary according to marital status, parity, education, and residence in a metropolitan or nonmetropolitan county. The advice received concerning salt and diuretics usage was also influenced by sociodemographic variables. The analyses reveal that prenatal care is not of even minimally acceptable quality for many women.

The Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Use on the Growth of Children at Three Years of Age

In this prospective study of substance use during pregnancy, women were interviewed in their 4th and 7th prenatal months, and women and children were assessed at 24 hr, 8, 18, and 36 months postpartum. Data are presented on the outcome of 519 children at age 3. At 3 years, children who were exposed prenatally to alcohol were smaller in weight, length, and head circumference. They also had an increased number of minor physical anomalies. These effects were found even after controlling for nutritional and environmental factors. The persistence of growth effects at age 3 suggests that children exposed to alcohol prenatally may have a diminished capacity for growth.

Testing Mothers' Knowledge of Breastfeeding

A simple educational curriculum designed for use in promoting breastfeeding among low income prenatal women was developed along with reliable instruments suitable for use as pre- and posttests in such a group. Using these instruments women who received the prenatal education about breastfeeding were shown to learn and retain this information when compared to a control group who received no special instruction. Furthermore, those who chose breastfeeding scored higher on the posttest than those who bottle fed their infants. Widespread use of such interventions has the potential to improve the incidence of breastfeeding among low income groups in this country.

More Than Mothers and Whores: Redefining the Aids Prevention Needs of Women

Women are increasingly at risk for AIDS. At the root of this risk is women's relative lack of control over their bodies and their lives. Those women with least control, generally poor women of color, are at greatest risk in both developed and developing countries. To date, AIDS prevention programs have ignored most women, focusing almost exclusively on women in the sex industry and, more recently, prenatal women. We urgently need prevention programs for women that view women as more than "mothers and whores" and recognize that AIDS poses a real risk to many of us; programs that are sensitive to the complex realities of women's lives and offer realistic alternatives that will allow women to protect themselves from HIV infection.

How postpartum women explain their lack of obtaining adequate prenatal care

The quality of life for infants and children is often dependent on the adequacy of the prenatal care pregnant women receive. From July through to December 1985, 15% of pregnant women in one Midwestern county were identified as having inadequate prenatal care. The purposes of the study were to identify and analyse the reasons women in that county gave for not obtaining adequate prenatal care. In addition, chi-square was used to determine the relationship between the reasons given and the three variables, age, time between knowledge of pregnancy and making an appointment for care, and source of payment. A convenience sample (n = 44) was used in a study over a 5-month period at three locations. The Health Belief Model was the conceptual framework for this study. Insufficient money to pay for care was the primary reason given for not obtaining adequate prenatal care (81%). Other reasons included motivational issues (45%) and access or lack of transportation (19%). There was a significant relationship (P = 0.05) with four reasons to the variable of age and with three reasons to both the variables of time and source of payment. The following recommendations were identified as a result of this research: the need for subsidized prenatal care and the need for a community-wide education campaign regarding the need for adequate prenatal care and the consequences of inadequate care. Prenatal care is sometimes not available to all in the United States in spite of the relationship of infant mortality and the quality of life for infants and children to adequate prenatal care.

Factors influencing the uptake of screening for open neural‐tube defects and amniocentesis to test for Down's syndrome

The study assesses relationship between uptake of prenatal screening tests and women attitudes about these tests and pregnancy. All 218 women studied had asked for tests. Various questionnaires and rating scales are used

Quantitative NBT reduction test with or without stimulation of peripheral polymorphonuclear cells from pregnant women.

We performed the nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction test to investigate the function of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) from prenatal, intrapartal, postpartal and nonpregnant women with or without stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate (PMN). The capacity for NBT reduction of PMN was significantly increased in pregnancy, followed by a further increases during labor without any stimulation. On the other hand, when stimulated with PMA, there were no differences between pregnancy and labor in the reactivities of PMNs, although they were still significantly higher than those of nonpregnant women. Kallikrein increased the activity of PMN in an in vitro study, suggesting that it may be associated with the change in PMN function in labor.

Unexplained periparturient thrombocytopenia.

Since the advent of routine automated platelet counting we have observed unexplained periparturient thrombocytopenia (PPT) in an unexpected number of periparturient women, ie, during labor or within 24 hr postpartum. Mean +/- SD platelet count in 686 random blood donors was 236 +/- 50 X 10(9)/L and 1.02% had a platelet count less than 136 X 10(9)/L; in 2,204 random prenatal and postpartum women mean count was significantly higher (275 +/- 86 X 10(9)/L; p less than 0.001). Of 1,621 periparturient women, 74 (4.6%) had unexplained PPT (mean +/- SD platelet count 122 +/- 24 X 10(9)/L, range 21-135 X 10(9)/L, N = 74). Platelet count in PPT usually rose to normal within 1 week of delivery; in 10% thrombocytopenia persisted greater than 6 months. PPT occurred in successive pregnancies with normal intervening platelet counts. Nine of 34 newborns of mothers with PPT were thrombocytopenic; there was no correlation between mother's and baby's platelet counts. In no case of PPT was there excessive bleeding in mother or infant. Positive indirect platelet radioactive antiglobulin tests (PRAT) were seen in 11% of normal postpartum women and in 90% of 22 women with PPT; 65% of the positive tests in PPT were due to reactions with anti-C3 only. In contrast, pregnant women with autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (AITP) had positive PRAT primarily because of anti-IgG (+/- anti-C3); only 10% were positive only with anti-C3. Results were concordant in all of eight women with PPT tested by both indirect and direct PRAT. Amount of C3 bound per platelet in direct or indirect PRAT was not predictive of degree of thrombocytopenia, but there was correlation of fg C3 per platelet detected by the two assays in individual patients (r = 0.8). Mean levels of serum C3, C4, and factor B in women with PPT did not differ from normal; individual patients had abnormal serum complements but no characteristic pattern was observed. Increased immune complexes were observed in 6% of normal subjects and 33% of women with PPT. Etiology and mechanism of PPT is unclear. Despite lack of clinical evidence in women with PPT of syndromes associated with increased platelet destruction, the presence of preeclampsia cannot be absolutely excluded. Similarly, although the pattern of antiglobulin sensitization in PPT differed markedly from that seen in AITP, autoimmune disorder cannot be excluded. Alloantibodies did not appear to be responsible for PPT. While PPT is usually benign, some patients had a markedly reduced platelet count. Recognition of the phenomenon may be important in obstetrics.

Prenatal screening for risk of major parenting problems: Further results from the Queen Mary Maternity Hospital Child Care Unit

This research revealed in Stage I the ability to identify during the prenatal period women at risk for possible child abuse and in Stage II an intervention program which when introduced resulted in fewer high-risk mothers relinquishing the care of their infants. The research had two main aims: (1) to use the data from Stages I and II to reassess the criteria for identifying “at risk” mothers, and to develop a brief, easily administered screening questionnaire which could be standardized for widespread prenatal use: and (2) to collect data on a random sample of prenatal patients, to use these data for confirming the validity and stability of the screening procedures, and to estimate the incidence of potentially high-risk mothers in an urban population.

Depressed mood during pregnancy and the puerperium: clinical recognition and implications for clinical practice.

Mild to moderate depression is common among women during the first 3 months postpartum. The authors studied 20 normal pregnant women in the hope of finding valid predictors of postpartum mood disorder. The subjects rated their level of emotions and various depressive symptoms at 26 and 36 weeks of pregnancy and filled out a brief questionnaire about the emotional circumstances of their pregnancy. The mood scales were repeated at 2 days and 6 weeks postpartum, along with a clinical interview. The antepartum mood scale identified women with postpartum depression and differentiated this condition from the more common, transient postpartum blues. Certain psychosocial variables also predicted postpartum distress. The authors discuss the implications of these findings, emphasizing the feasibility and necessity of routine screening for mood disturbances in prenatal and puerperal women.