Serum estrogen changes during pregnancy and lactation

Serum estrogens were determined in non-pregnant, non-lactating women at different periods of gestation and lactating mothers. The results showed that the mean serum free estriol levels were significantly higher than that of the controls throughout gestation and during lactation. The mean serum estradiol levels were significantly raised during the different periods of gestation as Compared to that of the controls, while the levels of the lactating mothers were not different from the controls. A highly significant correlation between weeks of gestation and each of free estriol and estradiol were observed. Also, the two estrogens were highly significantly correlated with each other