Perception of safety and consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.

This cross-sectional study of antenatal clinic attendees aimed to determine the proportions of pregnant women that consider different alcoholic beverages safe for their babies; and the proportions that took them in the index pregnancy. Five hundred and six women completed the questionnaires. Mean age was 30.07 ± 5.13 years. Mean parity was 1.44 ± 1.32. 478 (94.5%) were married. Three hundred and eighty-three (75.69%) had tertiary education. These proportions did not consider these alcoholic beverages harmful in pregnancy: palm wine 35.77%, stout 17.03%, beer 14.03%, alcoholic wine 13.83%, ogogoro (distilled fermented palm wine) 13.04% and gin/spirits 9.88%. The proportion that consumed different alcoholic beverages during pregnancy were: palm wine 17.20%, beer 5.33%, alcoholic wine 4.35%, stout 4.15%, ogogoro 1.58% and gin/spirits 0.59%. Pregnant women who considered various alcoholic beverages safe in pregnancy were significantly more likely to consume them during pregnancy. Healthcare providers should assess women's perception of the safety of different alcoholic beverages and offer counselling to discourage their consumption during pregnancy.Impact StatementWhat is already known on this subject? Babies exposed to alcohol in pregnancy are at increased risk of developing foetal alcohol spectrum disorders. No safe level of alcohol has been established for pregnancy. The level of alcohol consumption by pregnant women is still high in our practice environment.What do the results of this study add? The perception that a specific alcoholic beverage is safe and not harmful to the foetus, significantly increases the likelihood of the consumption of that alcoholic beverage by a pregnant woman.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Healthcare workers will need to enquire about specific alcoholic beverages especially those common within their practice environment. An enquiry should be made on the perception of safety and their consumption during pregnancy. Women who perceive certain alcoholic beverages are more likely to consume them during pregnancy and hence should receive specific counselling on the alcoholic content of these beverages and the risk to their babies to discourage the consumption of that alcoholic beverage during pregnancy.

Vulvovaginal candidiasis in reproductive age women in Enugu Nigeria, clinical versus laboratory-assisted diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Clinical diagnosis of acute vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) depends on evidence of clinical symptoms, but symptomatic treatment widely practiced in low-resource area may lead to overdiagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of VVC among women attending gynecological clinic in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu and the accuracy of clinical-based diagnosis versus laboratory test supported diagnosis and patients' characteristics that affect accuracy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study surveyed patients seen in a gynecologic clinic for VVC using a semi-structured, pretested, and interviewer-administered questionnaire. Vaginal examination was done on each patient and findings documented. A pair of swabs was taken from the vagina and cervical os and cultured for Candida species using Sabouraud Dexttose Agar. Data were analyzed using statistical software, SPSS version 15 (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL, USA). P ≤ 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean age of 209 women surveyed was 35.9 (standard deviation [SD] ±9.0) years. Their mean parity was 2 (SD ± 3). The prevalence of VVC was 17.7% based on symptoms and laboratory test. Clinically based diagnosis had a sensitivity of 70.3% and specificity of 83.7%. Forty-one (19.6%) of the study population had good knowledge of VVC. More than 44% of the women had self-reported and treated VVC within the year. Young women of 24 years or less (54.5%) and those who had reported other episodes of VVC within the past year (41.1%) were most commonly associated with inaccurate clinical diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Clinically based diagnosis of VVC has an unacceptably high false-positive rate which may encourage continued presumptive treatment with its attendant risks. Clinical evaluation and laboratory culture of vulvovaginal specimen should be the standard diagnostic method.

Perinatal outcome of preterm cesarean section in a resource-limited centre: a comparison between general anaesthesia and subarachnoid block.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between perinatal outcome and anesthetic technique for preterm cesarean sections has not been explored in South Eastern, Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the following study is to evaluate perinatal outcome in preterm cesarean sections conducted under general anesthesia (GA) and subarachnoid block (SAB) with the aim to ascertain any difference in outcome between the two methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study of consecutive preterm cesarean deliveries at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital from May 1999 to April 2008. Data entry and statistical analysis utilized the SPSS statistical package for the social sciences, 2008 version 15.0 for windows (SPSS Inc, Chicago IL, USA). Chi-square test was done to determine statistical significance and P ≤ 0.05 were considered to be significant at 95% confidence interval. The delivery characteristics were compared by logistic regression analysis to ascertain any associated confounding effect on perinatal outcome in those exposed to either anesthetic technique. RESULTS: There were 7568 deliveries and 1961 cesarean sections giving a cesarean section rate of 25.9%. A total of 236 cesarean sections were for preterm deliveries giving a preterm cesarean section rate of 3.1%. Of these, 151 women delivered under GA while SAB was used in 85 cases. The mean gestational ages for preterm cesarean sections were 33.2 ± 2.6 weeks and 33.8 ± 2.2 weeks for those who had GA and SAB respectively. The mean Apgar scores were 6.4 ± 3.1 and 7.6 ± 3.1 at 5 min for GA and SAB respectively. There were 24 stillbirths (15.9%) in cesarean deliveries done under GA and 7 stillbirths (8.2%) in women who had SAB ( P = 0.09). Twenty-two (14.6%) babies delivered through GA and 14 (16.4%) delivered under SAB, died within 1 week of delivery ( P = 0.7). There were more babies with low Apgar scores in parturient delivered under GA ( P = 0.0004). More preterm babies delivered under SAB were discharged from the New Born Special Care Unit within 10 days of delivery ( P = 0.006). Hypertensive disorders, though not statistically significant was the most common indication for preterm cesarean delivery among those with GA and SAB. No maternal death occurred during the study period. CONCLUSION: The study infers a strong association between anesthetic technique and immediate Apgar scores and outcome of resuscitation following preterm cesarean section. This however, failed to translate into higher differences in perinatal mortality.

Pregnancy outcome and factors affecting vaginal delivery of twins at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to determine the differences in maternal and perinatal outcomes between caesarean and vaginal deliveries and the factors affecting vaginal delivery in twin pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational study to audit twin pregnancies delivered at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital between 2002 and 2008. Clinical observations were entered into a questionnaire immediately after the delivery of the women and the mothers and their babies were followed up until the end of the puerperium. RESULTS: There were 5298 deliveries within the study period, out of which 117 were twin deliveries. This gives a twinning rate of 22 per 1000 deliveries. The mean age of the mothers was 30 ± 5.9 years. Twenty-five (21.4%) women were admitted into the hospital for preterm labor. The average gestational age of admission was 32 ± 5.8 weeks and the average duration of hospital stay for preterm labor was 12.6 ± 9.1 days. Other pregnancy complications observed were severe hypertension (14.5%, anemia (9.4%), postpartum hemorrhage (8.5%), puerperal fever (5.1%), abruptio placentae, and diabetic mellitus (2.7%). Fifty-nine women (50.4%) had vaginal deliveries, 5 (4.3%) had vaginal delivery of the leading twin and caesarean delivery of the retained second twin while 53 women (45.3%) were delivered by caesarean section. Forty-eight (41%) women had preterm delivery. Vaginal deliveries were more common than caesarean section among patients that were unbooked than booked P = 0.047 (OR 2.26, 95%CI:0.93-5.53) and those that had cephalic presentation of the leading twin, P = 0.0002 (OR = 4.7 95% CI:2.6-8.2). Vaginal delivery tended toward statistical significance when the fetal weight of the leading twin was 1.5 to 2.5 kg, P = 0.09. The commonest indications for caesarean section were abnormal lies and presentations and hypertension in pregnancy.Two-hundred and seventeen (92.7%) out of a total of 234 fetuses that were delivered in this study were live births and 17 (7.3%) still births. The rate of new born admissions in twin 1 was however higher in those delivered by Caesarean section (39.6%) than those delivered vaginally (29.7%). Indications for admissions into the special baby care units were; prematurity 33 (40.2%), birth asphyxia 15 (18.3%), low birth weight 12 (14.6%), neonatal jaundice 10 (12.2%), and twin-twin transfusion 4 (4.9%). There was a higher rate of early neonatal death in both vaginally delivered twin 1 (9.4%) and twin 2 (11.9%) than those delivered by Caesarean section, 3.8 and 3.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Cephalic presentation of the leading twin, birth weight less than 2.5 kg, and unbooked women presenting in advanced labor predisposed to vaginal delivery in twin pregnancies. There was however increased risk of still birth and early neonatal deaths especially for the leading twin in vaginal deliveries in unbooked women.