Background: Menstruation and menstrual practices are still clouded by taboos and socio-cultural restrictions resulting in adolescent girls remaining ignorant of the scientific facts and hygienic health practices, which sometimes result into adverse health outcomes. The reaction to menstruation depends upon awareness and knowledge about the subject. The manner in which a girl learns about menstruation and its associated changes may have an impact on her response to the event of menarche. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bhopal, India had always been keen to make aware of these facts and preventive measures to adolescent girls and to acknowledge the facts this study has been conducted.Methods: About 350 school girls between 10-18years of age with attainment of menarche were selected from two schools of Bhopal and interviewed during study period using predesigned questionnaire after obtaining informed consent from school in-charge and parents.Results: This study shows that majority of the girls preferred cloth pieces rather than sanitary pads as menstrual absorbent. Apparently, poverty, high cost of disposable sanitary pads and to some extent ignorance dissuaded the study population from using the menstrual absorbents available in the market. Universalized use of sanitary pads can be advocated to every girl only by making it available at affordable prices (social marketing). Thus, the above findings reinforce the need to encourage safe and hygienic practices among the adolescent girls and bring them out of traditional beliefs, misconceptions and restrictions regarding menstruation.Conclusions: This study highlighted the need of adolescent girls to have accurate and adequate information about menstruation and its appropriate management and healthy menstrual practices.

Background: The one-minute Apgar score, proven useful for rapid assessment of the neonate, is often poorly correlated with other indicators of intrauterine well-being. Fetal asphyxia is directly associated with neonatal acidosis. Umbilical cord pH is best indicator of fetal hypoxemia and hypoxemia leads to neonatal acidosis. In today scenario, fetal distress is the leading indication of emergency cesarean section.Methods: A observational cross-sectional study conducted of one year between march 2017 to February 2018; of full-term obstetric patients undergoing emergency cesarean section for fetal distress as an indication. All patients included are term gestation with low risk pregnancy excluding medical disorders and other complications of pregnancy. Immediately after delivery umbilical artertial cord blood from placental site collected and sent for pH determination and Apgar score calculated of newborn.Results: Emergency cesarean section was being done for fetal distress diagnosed based on guidelines for Intermittent auscultation; maximum patients had fetal bradycardia (240) followed by fetal tachycardia (12) and irregular rhythm (18). Relation between pH value and the fetal outcome babies who had low pH value. i.e. <7.1; had maximum referrals with poor Apgar score at 1 min (<3) and at 5 min (<3). Out of 270 babies 18 had Apgar score <3 at 1 min, out of which 10 continued to have Apgar score <3 at 5 mins. These babies were referred to department of pediatrics and were not alive beyond day 2-4.Conclusions: The values of mean Apgar score and cord blood pH decreases, which is inversely proportion to duration and severity of intrauterine/intra partum asphyxia. Umbilical arterial cord blood pH correlation was found to be significant with Apgar score in neonates delivered with indication as fetal distress.