Abuse during pregnancy in Mexico City.

OBJECTIVE: Measure the prevalence of physical and sexual abuse during pregnancy, determine the nature and severity of abuse, and assess correlates with abuse. METHOD: A total of 1314 women seeking prenatal care between July 2000 and January 2003 were approached at three public hospitals in Mexico City. An original composite case record form was created to measure physical and sexual abuse before and during pregnancy. RESULT: Forty-one percent of respondents had a history of physical or sexual abuse, with current abuse reported by 11.1%, and abuse during pregnancy by 7.6%. Among abused women, 71% reported an increase in the severity of abuse since becoming pregnant. Logistic regression revealed physically fighting with a partner and a history of abuse best predict violence during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The severity of abuse among abused women appears to increase during pregnancy. Prenatal care visits in Mexico are an important opportunity for violence screening and intervention.

[Association between gestational age, weight, and Apgar score in newborns extracted in pelvic presentation]. / Asociación entre edad gestacional, peso y valor de apgar en recién nacidos extraídos en presentación pélvica.

The analysis for the present study was derived from 343 singleton pregnancies with a breech presentation. The variables associated with Apgar score at 5 minutes were, gestational age and birth weight. This association was observed in all patients and when they were analyzed separately according to route of delivery. The intrapartum and early neonatal mortality was absent in both groups. The perinatal outcome among the vaginally delivered frank breech infants at term was not statistically different compared with the group delivered by caesarean section.

[Sexual aggression in adolescents. Epidemiologic study]. / Agresión sexual en adolescentes. Estudio epidemiológico.

Sexual assault is an enormous social and public health problem. Most victims are young women. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of this crime in adolescents. The study involved 213 patients separated in two subgroups: adolescents and non adolescents. In adolescents, much of this violence is perpetrated by an acquaintance or relative. Th frequency of sexually transmitted diseases was 20% and rape-related pregnancy was identified in 10% of victims. All victims of sexual assault must be encouraged for both medical and psychological evaluation.

[Obstetric characteristics of adolescent pregnancy]. / Características obstétricas de la adolescente embarazada.

Obstetrical characteristics of pregnant adolescents. The aim of the present study was to determine the obstetrical characteristics of pregnant adolescents and to evaluate if the high risk comes from biological factors associate to their age or not. The obstetrical complications and the perinatal results were not different in relation from other groups, with exception of the minors of fifteen years in which the age constitutes an important risk. Nevertheless, the adolescent has other risks to the health such as the risk of acquiring sexual transmission diseases including HIV/AIDS. The child of a teen mother are also more likely to die in infancy, between the first month and the first year of life. Adolescents need information and services to protect their sexual and reproductive health.

Possible role of interleukin-10 in autoantibody production and in the fate of human cord blood CD5+ B lymphocytes.

Mononuclear cell subsets in 25 human umbilical cord blood samples and 10 healthy adults were studied. We found a decreased percentage of CD3+ cells, CD8+ cells and gammadelta T cells in cord blood compared with blood from healthy adults. The CD16+56+ and CD19+CD5+ phenotypes were overexpressed in cord blood. We then measured spontaneous gene expression and the production of interleukin-10 in mononuclear cells from cord blood and adult subjects. Although we found no difference between cord blood cells and those from healthy adults, a tendency towards spontaneous interleukin-10 production was observed in cord blood. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate stimulation revealed that, among lymphocytes, cord blood B cells are the main cellular source of interleukin-10. Finally, we found no evidence of augmented spontaneous apoptosis but an increased bcl-2 gene expression in non-T cells from cord blood. Interleukin-10 might protect CD19+CD5+ B cells from apoptosis by inducing bcl-2 and promoting autoantibody production in this B-cell subpopulation.

[Drug consumption during pregnancy]. / Consumo de fármacos en el embarazo.

The pregnant women receive different types of medications many of whose safety has not been clearly demonstrated. The drug use profiles vary from community to community which justify to make local studies. Two hundred obstetrical patients were interviewed throughout the prenatal control to obtain data on maternal drug consumption. The patients were interrogated with respect to names of drug products, routes of administration, dosage regimens and prenatal consumption or underlying disease states during pregnancy. The interval between administration of a drug and the time of delivery were also noted. In the prenatal period 79% received at least one product. The average number of drug products was 2 with a range from 0 to 6 different drugs. The principal drugs ingested were: vitamins (32%), antibiotics (24%), iron (9%), antiemetics (7%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic (6%) and acetaminophen (5%). The only variable related to drug consumption was the presence of prenatal complications. This study represent an approach for monitoring the medical quality of prenatal care.