Advanced maternal age and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

A wide range of adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with women of advanced maternal age (AMA). These include increased risks for miscarriage, chromosomal abnormalities, stillbirth, foetal growth restriction, preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus and caesarean section. While a wide body of literature has reported on these risks, varying definitions in both AMA and reported outcomes can make synthesizing the information difficult when counselling an individual women about her specific risks.

Contingent Screening for Small by Weight for Gestational Age Neonates.

Effective screening for small for gestational age neonates (SGA), in the absence of preeclampsia, can be accomplished using a contingent screening method. The basis for the contingent model is a combined assessment at 19-24 weeks gestation to stratify patients according to their risk. We can then identify prenatally over 90% of SGA neonates for a false positive rate of 10%.