Cash Transfers to Increase Antenatal Care Utilization in Kisoro, Uganda: A Pilot Study.

The World Health Organization recommends four antenatal visits for pregnant women in developing countries. Cash transfers have been used to incentivize participation in health services. We examined whether modest cash transfers for participation in antenatal care would increase antenatal care attendance and delivery in a health facility in Kisoro, Uganda.

Pathophysiology and medical management of systemic hypertension in preeclampsia.

Hypertension that complicates preeclampsia in pregnancy is a disorder that requires special consideration in both prevention and pharmacologic treatment. In recent years, few advances have been made regarding the pathophysiology and prevention of preeclampsia; however, there have been some promising results from studies on possible modes of screening women for preeclampsia before clinical signs and symptoms are apparent. The recommendations for first-line drug therapy for the hypertensive complications of preeclampsia have changed little, primarily because first-line medications have had the advantage of extensive research experience.

Evaluation of amniotic fluid cytokines in preterm labor and intact membranes.

Objective: To compare the amniotic fluid (AF) concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines between women with preterm labor and intact membranes that delivered within 7 days, with those that delivered after 7 days of the amniocentesis according to the result of the AF culture.

Methods: Fifty-two women with preterm labor and intact membranes between 21 and 35 weeks of gestation were included in the study. Transabdominal amniocentesis was performed to rule out intra-amniotic infection, and AF concentrations of interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were determined with sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Pathophysiology and medical management of systemic hypertension in pregnancy.

Hypertension in pregnancy includes a group of distinct disorders that require special consideration in both prevention and pharmacologic treatment. In recent years, there have been few advances regarding the pathophysiology and prevention of preeclampsia or in the recommendations for first-line drug therapy for its hypertensive complications. Similarly, the recommendations for pharmacologic treatment of women with chronic hypertension antedating pregnancy have changed little primarily because first-line medications have the advantage of having had more extensive research experience.