Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Quality metric on the rate of postpartum diabetes screening after pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus.

As many as 1 in 3 patients with gestational diabetes mellitus have impaired glucose metabolism when screened postpartum. These patients have a 40% to 70% lifetime risk of progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus, but progression can be delayed or prevented by lifestyle interventions or medication. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Diabetes Association recommend a glucose tolerance test at 4 to 12 weeks postpartum for all patients with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Postpartum visit checklists for normal pregnancy and complicated pregnancy.

Rising maternal morbidity and mortality rates, widening healthcare disparities, and increasing focus on cardiometabolic risk modification in at-risk patients have together catalyzed a shift in the postpartum care paradigm. What was once a single office visit in the 6 weeks after delivery is now being reimagined as a continuum of care that transitions patients from pregnancy to lifelong health optimization. However, this shift in postpartum care also comes with increased visit complexity and additional provider burden, particularly when patients have had significant pregnancy complications or have chronic diseases.

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Quality metric for timely postpartum follow-up after severe hypertension.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Because postpartum exacerbation of severe hypertension is common, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that patients with severe hypertension during the childbirth hospitalization be seen within 72 hours after discharge. In this statement, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine proposes a uniform metric reflecting the rate of timely postpartum follow-up of patients with severe hypertension.

Relationship of plasma volume to sympathetic tone in nulliparous women.

Objective: We sought to determine whether resting supine plasma volume is related to sympathetic tone in healthy young nulligravid normotensive women.

Study Design: Forty women were examined in the midfollicular phase. Alpha-adrenergic tone was estimated by an examination of the late phase II blood pressure response to the Valsalva maneuver.

An in ovo chicken model to study the systemic and localized teratogenic effects of valproic acid.

Background: The antiepileptic valproic acid (VPA) is a teratogen whose embryopathic mechanism(s) remain uncertain. Elucidating potential cellular and molecular effects of VPA is complicated by systemic application paradigms. We developed an in ovo model to reproduce the teratogenic effects of VPA and a localized VPA application procedure to determine whether VPA can selectively effect abnormal development in one region of the embryo.

Adjustment for case mix in comparisons of cesarean delivery rates: university versus community hospitals in Vermont.

Objective: Our objective was to determine whether case mix model adjustment would help to explain differences in cesarean delivery rates between community and university hospitals. We also wished to define a patient population in which the cesarean delivery rate would be more reflective of individual practice patterns than of obstetric or medical risk.

Study Design: Established risk factors for cesarean delivery were identified by retrospective chart review at two community hospitals (designated A and B) and a university hospital.