Sleep duration and quality in healthy nulliparous and multiparous women across pregnancy and post-partum.

Background: Longitudinal studies of sleep during normal pregnancy and post-partum are rare, and interpretation of the findings is often hampered by methodological issues. Consequentially, there is still limited information on what constitutes normal sleep quality and quantity across pregnancy and early post-partum, for both nulliparous and multiparous women.

Aims: To quantify the change and variability in sleep duration and quality across pregnancy and post-partum for healthy nulliparous and multiparous women.

Women's health 18 years after rupture of the anal sphincter during childbirth: I. Fecal incontinence.

Objective: We studied the long-term outcome after an anal sphincter tear.

Study Design: From a cohort of 4569 women who gave birth in 1982 to 1983, we identified 445 (9.7%) who sustained a sphincter tear and 445 controls.

Women's health 18 years after rupture of the anal sphincter during childbirth: II. Urinary incontinence, sexual function, and physical and mental health.

Objective: We studied maternal health 18 years postpartum in women having sustained an anal sphincter tear and controls.

Study Design: We assessed symptoms with the short form of the urogenital distress inventory, the female sexual function index, and physical and mental health with the Short Form-12 summary scales.

Results: Women with a sphincter tear had no increased risk of urinary symptoms (54 of 251, 22%, versus 51 of 273, 19%, risk ratio 1.