Knowledge of medical abortion among Brazilian medical students.

Objective: To assess the knowledge of Brazilian medical students regarding medical abortion (MA) and the use of misoprostol for MA, and to investigate factors influencing their knowledge.

Methods: All students from 3 medical schools in São Paulo State were invited to complete a pretested structured questionnaire with precoded response categories. A set of 12 statements on the use and effects of misoprostol for MA assessed their level of knowledge.

[Combined spinal-epidural block versus continuous epidural block in labor analgesia for primiparous women: newborns and women outcomes].

Purpose: To compare maternal and perinatal results, after the use of continuous peridural versus combined rachidian and peridural analgesia in primiparous parturients.

Methods: Randomized clinical trial with 128 primiparous pregnant women in labor, divided into two groups: peridural analgesia (CPA) with 65 women, and combined continuous rachidian and peridural analgesia (CRPA) with 63, all of them admitted in the pre-labor period at two maternities in Jundiai, in the state of São Paulo. The variables studied were: latency of analgesia onset, pain intensity, total time until complete dilation, Apgar index at the first and fifth minutes, labor duration, degree of motor blockade, adverse effects such as vomiting, pruritus, arterial hypotension and degree of maternal fulfillment.