A study was made of the changes in weight during pregnancy and puerperium of 600 Malaysian women of 3 ethnic groups.The average total weight gain throughout pregnancy was about 11 kg. (24 lb.), the figure being higher for primigravidae (about 11.7 kg.) and lower for multigravidae (10.7 kg.).The average total weight gain throughout pregnancy was about 1-2 kg. (2-4 lb.) less than that for European and American women, but about 5-6 kg. (11-13 lb.) more than that reported for Indian and Nigerian women.The net weight gain of 4.5 kg. (10 lb.) at the end of the puerperiwn in Malaysian women is higher than that reported in Western studies. This is probably a reflection of the cultural, dietary, and physical habits of Malaysian women in the puerperium.

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Summary The characteristics of normal labour in 977 Malay, Chinese and Indian parturients were established from a retrospective study. Indian babies were found to be significantly smaller than Malay babies which were significantly smaller than Chinese babies (P≤0·05, P≤0·05). The mean duration of the first stage of labour taken from the time of admission to the labour ward was 3·4 hours in primiparae and 2·7 hours in multiparae. The mean durations of the second stage of labour were 23·7 minutes and 13·1 minutes respectively. Curves of mean dilatation of cervix and probit analysis at 80 per cent revealed significant differences in the progress of normal labour in primiparae among the three racial groups. The Indian primiparae not only had a slower rate of cervical dilatation but seemed to reach the accelerated phase of dilatation later. No significant differences were noticed in the labours of multiparae.

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Activation of Notch signaling by the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α contributes to endothelial cell dysfunction in diabetes.