Objective To determine whether prophylactic, low dose controlled-release aspirin improves outcome for Design Randomised placebo-controlled trial.Setting The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados.Population All women attending antenatal clinics between 12 and 32 weeks of gestation were eligible, if without specific contraindications to aspirin and unlikely to deliver immediately.Methods Randomisation was computer-generated in the antenatal clinic; 1822 women were allocated to receive 75 mg controlled-release aspirin and 1825 matching placebo.Main outcome measures Proteinuric pre-eclampsia, other pregnancy-induced hypertension, pregnancy duration, birthweight, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, major neonatal events.Results All but three women from each group were followed up successfully. Forty-four percent were primigravid, and 8% had previous obstetric complications. There were no significant differences between the allocated treatment groups in the incidence of proteinuric pre-eclampsia ( ConclusionsThe results of this study in Barbados do not support the routine use of low dose aspirin for prevention of pre-eclampsia or its complications, confirming results of previous large trials in other pregnant women and their babies in Barbados.settings.

SummaryThe normal range and trends of the ratio between lecithin and sphingomyelin in the amniotic fluid, estimated on thin-layer chromatograms, have been established for the last trimester. The accuracy of the ratio as an index of fetal lung development and of the risk of neonatal respiratory distress has been confirmed. The usual increase in the ratio towards term was not found in some pregnancies complicated by diabetes or severe rhesus incompatibility. Determination of the ratio may prove a valuable guide in the management of pregnancies with these complications.

No abstract

No abstract