Challenges in collecting clinical samples for research from pregnant women of South Asian origin: evidence from a UK study.

Objective: To recruit South Asian pregnant women, living in the UK, into a clinicoepidemiological study for the collection of lifestyle survey data and antenatal blood and to retain the women for the later collection of cord blood and meconium samples from their babies for biochemical analysis.

Design: A longitudinal study recruiting pregnant women of South Asian and Caucasian origin living in the UK.

Setting: Recruitment of the participants, collection of clinical samples and survey data took place at the 2 sites within a single UK Northern Hospital Trust.

Maternal alcohol intake prior to and during pregnancy and risk of adverse birth outcomes: evidence from a British cohort.

Background: Evidence is conflicting regarding the relationship between low maternal alcohol consumption and birth outcomes. This paper aimed to investigate the association between alcohol intake before and during pregnancy with birth weight and gestational age and to examine the effect of timing of exposure.

Methods: A prospective cohort in Leeds, UK, of 1303 pregnant women aged 18-45 years.

Assessing caffeine exposure in pregnant women.

Studies on the effects of caffeine on health, while numerous, have produced inconsistent results. One of the most uncertain and controversial effects is on pregnancy outcome. Studies have produced conflicting results due to a number of methodological variations.

Smoking and female fecundity: the effect and importance of study design.

This review evaluates the evidence for a link between smoking and female fertility. Twenty-two primary papers and two reviews were found. All but three indicated a detrimental effect of smoking on reproduction despite varying considerably in their approach, definitions used and populations studied.

Organochlorine pesticide residues in breastmilk: difficulties in sample collection and in assessing intakes.

Organochlorine pesticides are highly lipophilic and stable resulting both in their persistence in the environment and their tendency to pass up the food chain. Residues of these compounds are detectable in breastmilk and have been monitored since the 1950s. Samples can be collected using non-invasive techniques and the results are frequently used to assess degradation in the environment as well as risks to recipient infants.