Factors influencing delivery mode for nulliparous women with a singleton pregnancy and cephalic presentation during a 17-year period.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of maternal age, induction of labour, epidural analgesia and birth weight on mode of delivery in nulliparous women with a singleton pregnancy and cephalic presentation at > or =36 weeks gestation, and to describe how these factors and their influence have changed over a 17-year period from 1989 to 2005.

Study Design: The study was conducted in the obstetric department of a university teaching hospital in Ireland. Of 45,647 women delivered, 14,867 were nulliparous with a singleton pregnancy and cephalic presentation and undergoing labour at > or =36 weeks gestation, and were included in the study.

Evaluation of a novel real-time PCR test based on the ssrA gene for the identification of group B streptococci in vaginal swabs.

Background: Despite the implementation of prevention guidelines, early-onset group B streptococci (GBS) disease remains a cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Strategies to identify women who are at risk of transmitting GBS to their infant and the administration of intrapartum antibiotics have greatly reduced the incidence of neonatal GBS disease. However, there is a requirement for a rapid diagnostic test for GBS that can be carried out in a labour ward setting especially for women whose GBS colonisation status is unknown at the time of delivery.