Objective: To explore the perspectives of pregnant women on broadening the scope of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) from screening for foetal aneuploidies to prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Methods: Four online focus groups (n = 23 participants) and 14 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Participants included pregnant women with and without a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Results: Both women at low and high risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes had a positive attitude towards using NIPT to predict adverse pregnancy outcomes. Perceived benefits included the possibility to potentially improve maternal and foetal outcomes by taking risk-reducing measures and/or intensified monitoring during pregnancy and the ability to mentally prepare for the potential adverse outcome. Perceived concerns included anxiety and stress caused by a high-risk test result, a false sense of control over pregnancy, and potential false reassurance. Additionally, women reasoned that broadening the scope of NIPT could increase the complexity of prenatal screening and raised concerns on the combined screening aims in one test (prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes to improve foetal and maternal health vs. screening for foetal aneuploidies to increase reproductive autonomy). On a societal level, considerations on the risk of medicalising pregnancy and overall pressure to opt for NIPT were mentioned.
Conclusion: In general, pregnant women have a positive attitude towards broadening the scope of NIPT to the prediction of pregnancy outcomes, although some concerns are acknowledged.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pd.6621 | DOI Listing |
Background: Medication-related adverse events are common in pregnant women, and most are due to misunderstanding medication information. The identification of appropriate medication information sources requires adequate medical information literacy (MIL). It is important for pregnant women to comprehensively evaluate the risk of medication treatment, self-monitor their medication response, and actively participate in decision-making to reduce medication-related adverse events.
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Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Toxicol
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Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Pregnancy is a vulnerable time with significant cardiovascular changes that can lead to adverse outcomes, which can extend into the postpartum window. Exposure to emissions from electronic cigarettes (Ecig), commonly known as "vaping," has an adverse impact on cardiovascular function during pregnancy and post-natal life of offspring, but the postpartum effects on maternal health are poorly understood. We used a Sprague Dawley rat model, where pregnant dams are exposed to Ecigs between gestational day (GD)2-GD21 to examine postpartum consequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Immunopathol
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Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Overweight and obesity (OWO) are linked to dyslipidemia and low-grade chronic inflammation, which is fueled by lipotoxicity and oxidative stress. In the context of pregnancy, maternal OWO has long been known to negatively impact on pregnancy outcomes and maternal health, as well as to imprint a higher risk for diseases in offspring later in life. Emerging research suggests that individual lipid metabolites, which collectively form the lipidome, may play a causal role in the pathogenesis of OWO-related diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Immun
January 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) is a superantigen produced by and is the determinant of menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS); however, the impact of TSST-1 on the vaginal environment beyond mTSS is not understood. Herein, we assessed how TSST-1 affects vaginal colonization by , host inflammatory responses, and changes in microbial communities within the murine vagina. We demonstrated that TSST-1 induced a CD8 T-cell-dependent inflammatory response in 24 h that correlated with persistence within the vaginal tract.
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