Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production, increases throughout pregnancy and reaches approximately 150 percent of their pregnancy levels at term. [24] The slight drop in hematocrit or hemoglobin is most pronounced at the end of the second trimester and slowly improves when reaching term.
Maternal serum AFP (MSAFP) varies by orders of magnitude during the course of a normal pregnancy. MSAFP increases rapidly until about 32 weeks gestation, then decreases gradually. After the pregnancy ends it decreases rapidly, with a half-life of about 5 days. Typically, MSAFP is measured in the beginning of the second trimester (14–16 weeks).
The most common abnormality the test can screen is trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).In addition to Down syndrome, the triple and quadruple screens assess risk for fetal trisomy 18 also known as Edwards syndrome, open neural tube defects, and may also detect an increased risk of Turner syndrome, triploidy, trisomy 16 mosaicism, fetal death, Smith–Lemli–Opitz syndrome, and steroid sulfatase ...
Pregnancy increases the clearance of ampicillin by up to 50%, and a higher dose is thus needed to reach therapeutic levels. [25] [27] Ampicillin crosses the placenta and remains in the amniotic fluid at 50–100% of the concentration in maternal plasma; this can lead to high concentrations of ampicillin in the newborn. [27]
Mothers who are negative for the Kell 1 antigen develop antibodies after being exposed to red blood cells that are positive for Kell 1.Over half of the cases of hemolytic disease of the newborn owing the anti-Kell antibodies are caused by multiple blood transfusions, with the remainder due to a previous pregnancy with a Kell 1 positive baby.
Neonatal sepsis of the newborn is an infection that has spread through the entire body. The inflammatory response to this systematic infection can be as serious as the infection itself. [ 26 ] In infants that weigh under 1500 g, sepsis is the most common cause of death.
Neonatal sepsis is the single most common cause of neonatal death in hospital as well as community in developing country. It is difficult to clinically exclude sepsis in newborns less than 90 days old that have fever (defined as a temperature > 38 °C (100.4 °F).
Heartburn is a common symptom of late term pregnancy during which up to 80% of pregnant women have experienced it by the end of their third trimester. [12] Heartburn often indicates the development of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), where the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes due to elevated progesterone levels causing increased ...