Background: Poor mental health of the mother affects her physical health and the neonate's health and development. Studies from Southern India place different estimates of perinatal mental ill-health. Cultural variables affect health-seeking behaviour and are thus important to study in perinatal women with psychiatric morbidity. Methods: A total of 281 perinatal women were screened on Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview version 6.0 (MINI), assisted with a clinical interview to identify psychiatric illnesses. The cultural formulation interview (CFI) of DSM-5 was applied on perinatal women having psychiatric illnesses and their caregivers. Results: A psychiatric diagnosis was present in 10.3% of perinatal women. Depression and anxiety disorders were seen in 7.12% and 1.41%, respectively. Marital discord (P < 0.0001), psychosocial stressors (P < 0.0001), and past history of psychiatric disorder (P < 0.001) were significantly higher in perinatal women with a current psychiatric diagnosis. On CFI work-related stress, the gender of the infant, low education and conflict across generations were identified as the negative aspects of the culture associated with psychiatric illness during and after pregnancy. Religion and social support were the major coping strategies, while stigma and financial problems were the major barriers to help-seeking. Conclusion: The high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and the strikingly low help-seeking are noteworthy. These findings can help in planning treatment and prevention programs for timely detection and intervention for perinatal psychiatric disorders.

Objective:Currently, there is controversy regarding the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as per the newer International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) criteria. We studied the prevalence and associations of GDM in North Indians, diagnosed by the IADPSG criteria.Patients and Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional study on 332 pregnant women, predominantly belonging to lower and middle socioeconomic strata. The women were screened for GDM between 24 weeks and 28 weeks of gestation by 75g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and GDM diagnosed by the IADPSG criteria.Results:The prevalence of GDM was 41.9% [95% Confidence interval (CI) 36.6-47.2%]. Amongst the women diagnosed to have GDM, 91.4% had abnormal fasting plasma glucose (FPG), while 1-h and 2-h post-glucose (PG) levels were abnormal in 18.7% and 17.3% of women, respectively. No maternal factors were significantly associated with GDM. Birth weight of the neonates was similar in women with GDM as compared to those with normal glucose tolerance. In the entire group, fasting glucose levels were associated with the weight of the patient while 1-h PG levels were associated with weight, height, socioeconomic score, and parity.Conclusions:There is a very high prevalence rate of GDM using the IADPSG criteria in North Indian women of low and middle socioeconomic strata. Further studies are needed to assess the utility of applying these criteria in settings with limited resources.

Aims:This study was undertaken to estimate the incidence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and other vaginal infections during pregnancy and its association with urinary tract infections (UTI) and its consequences on pregnancy outcome, maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.Settings and Design:Prospective cohort study.Materials and Methods:The present prospective cohort study was conducted on 200 women attending the antenatal clinic (ANC) of a tertiary hospital. All pertinent obstetric and neonatal data covering antenatal events during the course of pregnancy, delivery, puerperium and condition of each newborn at the time of birth were collected. BV was detected by both Gram stain and gold standard clinical criteria (Amsel’s composite criteria).Statistical analysis used:Data were analyzed using SPSS version 9. Fischer’s exact test, chi square tests and Student’s’ test has been used for analysis. The probability of 5% was considered as significant for continuous variables such as age, period of gestation and birth weight. Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) with 95% probability were determined.Results:The incidence of bacterial vaginosis was 41 in 200 patients. Adverse outcomes such as preterm labor, PROM and fetal complications were found more in pregnant women who had bacterial vaginosis (N=41), bacterial vaginosis with UTI (N=14) as compared to those without bacterial vaginosis (N=118).Conclusions:The incidence of poor pregnancy outcome was higher in bacterial vaginosis with UTI. Prevention of BV and UTI is cost effective to minimize the pregnancy-related complications and preterm labor to decrease in perinatal and maternal mortality and morbidity. We recommend all antenatal patients should be screened for the presence of bacterial vaginosis, other infections and UTI.

The international standard decision-to-delivery interval (DDI) for emergency Caesarean sections (CSs) is ≤ 30 minutes but there is little evidence to support this recommendation. The aim of this study was to evaluate DDI for emergency CS and its relationship to perinatal outcome. We undertook a prospective observational study of consecutive cases of emergency CS. Perinatal outcomes were recorded as: Apgar score; neonates requiring admission; and perinatal deaths. The relation between DDI and perinatal outcome was analysed using chi-square and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Of 204 pregnancies observed, 19% of deliveries were achieved in ≤ 30 minutes. The mean DDI was 42.5 ± 19.4 minutes. There was no difference between the perinatal outcome for babies with DDI of ≤ 30 versus 31-60 minutes. There was a significantly higher risk of poor perinatal outcome for babies with DDI > 60 minutes. The perinatal outcome between DDI of ≤ 30 and 31-60 minutes was statistically not different. However, the ≤ 30 minutes DDI should remain the gold standard.

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