Pregnancy wastage in rural Varanasi: relationship with maternal nutrition and sociodemographic characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between pregnancy wastage and matrnal undernutrition and other sociodemographic factors in rural Indian women. SETTING: Rural community of Varanasi. DESIGN: Longitudinal observation. METHOD: In 49 villages during 1988-92, 8111 pregnancies were registered to observe for wastage. The pregnancy outcome was correlated with various factors. RESULTS: There were 1321 abortions and 141 still births. Women's income < Rs. 250 per month, education < 10th class and protein intake < 50 g/day had significantly higher relative risks (RR) (4.1, 2.9 and 2.8, respectively) for abortions. Poor maternal nutrition was in additional important risk factor, for still births (RR 5.1 and 4.2 for maternal weight and height, respectively). A pregnancy interval over 2 years reduced both. CONCLUSION: Low socioeconomic status, chronic undernutrition and illiteracy in rural India are associated with high pregnancy wastage.

Weight gain during pregnancy--a key factor in perinatal and infant mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for high perinatal (PMR) and infant (IMR) mortality in a rural area. DESIGN: In 49 randomly selected villages from two adjoining blocks of rural Varanasi, all pregnant women and live births were followed for perinatal and infant mortality, during the years 1988-1992. SUBJECTS: 6790 births and their 6649 live births. RESULTS: The PMR was 90.7 per thousand births and IMR was 98.6/1000 live births. These mortalities were significantly higher if weight gain during pregnancy was less than 7.0 kg. Low weight gain during pregnancy was also associated with significantly higher low birth weight deliveries and to some extent increased still birth rate. PMR and IMR decreased with higher levels of hemoglobin in third trimester and socioeconomic index; however, the calculated RR were not significant. CONCLUSION: Low weight gain during pregnancy is an important risk factor for PMR and IMR.

Motor nerve conduction velocity & Hoffman's reflex latency in newborns.

A total of 72 newborns and their mothers were studied to assess the influence of various variables on the motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and Hoffman's reflex latency (H-RL) of the babies with a view to differentiate fullterm and preterm low birth weight babies. MNCV were significantly lower and H-RL significantly higher in preterm appropriate for gestational (PT-AGA) age babies compared to fullterm appropriate for gestational age (FT-AGA) and fullterm intrauterine growth retarded babies (FT-IUGR). In FT-IUGR babies, only MNCV was significantly reduced as compared to FT-AGA babies.

Cellular immunity status in anaemia in pregnancy.

Fifty pregnant women (25 anaemic and 25 non-anaemic) and 20 non pregnant women (10 anaemic and 10 non-anaemic) were studied. All pregnant women delivered full term (37-41 wk) singleton babies. Maternal blood lymphocyte stimulation indices (SI) at 0 and 24 h were lower in anaemic and non-anaemic pregnant women, compared to anaemic and non-anaemic non-pregnant women. This difference was more marked in anaemic pregnant women, as compared to non pregnant anaemic women at 0 and 24 h respectively. The SI of maternal and cord blood lymphocytes were significantly lower in severely anaemic mothers both at 0 and 24 h and in those with maternal serum iron levels below 50 micrograms/dl or maternal per cent transferrin saturation was below 15 per cent. The anaemic mothers and their offspring were found to have significantly lower blastogenic response to PHA added at 24 h indicating depression of T-suppressor cell function.

Comparative evaluation of two maternal weight-height indices during pregnancy.

Three hundred forty one primiparous women and their offsprings were the subjects of the study. Mothers were subjected to weight and height measurement as well as hemoglobin estimation. The weight for height ratio index (WHRI) and weight-height product index (WHPI) were calculated. Both WHRI and WHPI were studied in relation to birth weight (BW). WHPI was found to be superior over WHRI as it explained greater per cent variation in birth weight. The means for BW increased and incidence of low birth weight babies decreased significantly with increase of WHPI in each WHRI group.