A 31-year-old multiparous lady, gravida 3, para 2, live 1, 1 early neonatal death with second degree consanguineous marriage, presented to us at eight weeks for routine antenatal checkup.In her first pregnancy, she had delivered a preterm, male baby at 36 weeks gestation, which died after 4 days of life. At birth, baby was found to have dry, scaly skin all over the body, wide open mouth with protruding lip, hypoplastic ears and nose and contractures of fingers and toes. A clinical diagnosis of harlequin ichthyosis was made. The couple underwent genetic counseling, where they were explained about the genetic etiology of the problem and the risk of recurrence in subsequent pregnancies. Option of fetal DNA banking for prenatal diagnosis in next pregnancy was offered to the parents but was not done due to financial constraints in the family.Her second pregnancy was unremarkable and she delivered a healthy male baby at term with no stigmata of HI.

To study obstetric and perinatal outcomes among pregnant women with Takayasu arteritis (TA), attending our hospital for pregnancy and childbirth between January 2011 to December 2016. Material and Methods: Retrospective study was carried out by abstracting clinical charts on all pregnant women with TA who underwent antenatal care and/or delivery in our hospital during this period. American College of Rheumatology criteria was used for diagnosis of TA. Sixteen women with TA were included in the study. Maternal demographic data, stage of disease, complications related to disease, details of treatment taken prior to pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and neonatal outcomes were studied. Results: Forty-four percentage (7/16) belonged to type 5 angiographic type, however the same proportion (7/16) had undergone surgical corrections prior to pregnancy and the majority (15/16) were on medical management. Only three women (19%) were diagnosed during pregnancy. Most did not have active disease measured by Kerr's criteria (n=12; 75%), and Indıan Takayasu clinical activity scores A. Chronic hypertension was the commonest antenatal complication (56.2%), nearly one-third had growth restricted babies and 25% had preterm labour. There were no cardiovascular events, no maternal deaths, nor fetal or neonatal deaths. Two-thirds of our women were delivered by caesarean section. Conclusion: Preconceptional counselling is of paramount importance in women with TA. Good maternal and fetal outcomes are observed with close antenatal surveillance and multidisciplinary care. Pregnancy should be planned during disease remission, with good antenatal care, close monitoring of clinical symptoms, early diagnosis and treatment of complications.

Objective: To determine the stillbirth rate in 2017 at Christian Medical College, a tertiary care perinatal center in South India, and to identify causes for the various stillbirths that occurred using the Relevant Condition at Death (ReCoDe) classification. Material and Methods: Medical records of the women with stillbirths between January 1 st , to December 31 st , 2017, were retrieved and analyzed using the SPSS software (IBM, version 23). The study was approved by the institutional review board (minute no: 11273, retro dated: 28/3/2018). Results: Of the total 14696 deliveries between January 1 st , 2017, to December 31 st , 2017, there were 247 stillbirths, a rate of 16.8 per 1000 births. Maternal factors: 156 (64.2%) women were booked and the rest were un-booked. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were detected in 27.5% (n=67). A greater number of un-booked women had gestational hypertension as compared with booked women (41% vs 24%, p=0.005). Fetal characteristics: still births secondary to lethal congenital anomalies were seen in 18.2% (n=45). Lethal congenital anomalies were diagnosed 10 times more in the booked patients than un-booked ones (24.7% vs 2.3%, p=0.001). Obstetric factors: one or two previous miscarriages were seen in 29.5% cases. Seventeen women (6.9%) had a prior stillbirth. ReCoDe Classification: we were able to successfully classify 84.2% of the stillbirths, leaving 15.78% unclassified. Fetal growth restriction secondary to uteroplacental insufficiency was found in 25.9% cases. Of the placental causes, abruption accounted for 10.9% of cases. Medical co-morbidities were seen in 46.5% pregnancies. Conclusion: The ReCoDe method of classifying stillbirths is useful in the developing world. It helped to elucidate the cause for stillbirths in 84.2% of cases. The majority of cases in our set were due to fetal growth restriction, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and uteroplacental insufficiency. Stillbirths can be prevented by a comprehensive antenatal care system, early recognition, and close monitoring of high-risk pregnancies.

Our observational cross-sectional study looked at the risk factors, diagnosis, management and outcomes of placenta accrete spectrum at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, India, between January 2013 and December 2018. A total of 21 cases of placenta accrete spectrum are described among whom a preop diagnosis was available in 14 cases. A previous history of Caesarean section and placenta previa was present in 90%. Caesarean hysterectomy was carried out in 80%, but none of those managed conservatively required interval hysterectomy. Urinary tract injury was the most common surgical complication, seen in over 50%. The mean blood loss was 3.5 l and 14 patients required intensive care unit admission, but no maternal mortality ensued. Thus, we conclude that the conservative management in carefully selected cases is feasible.

We studied the indications, success rate, perinatal outcomes and maternal complications following mid-trimester emergency cervical cerclage. All women undergoing mid-trimester emergency cerclage at our centre during 2014–2019 were included in this retrospective study. There were 46 women in our cohort. Mean cervical length was 1.5 cm (SD ± 0.7), and 52.1% of them had bulging membranes. The mean gestational age at cerclage was 23.35 weeks (SD ± 3.341). Three were loss to follow up. Out of 43 pregnancies (23 singletons and 20 twins) analyzed, 37/43, 86.4% had livebirths. Success rate in the singletons and twins were 91.3% and 80% respectively. Maternal complications were seen in 56.5% of patients. Composite neonatal morbidity was significantly more in the twin group (p-value 0.04). Overall live birth rate was 86.4% with similar success rates in singleton and multiple pregnancies. Although, evidence for beneficial effect of prophylactic cerclage in multiple gestation is lacking, emergency cerclage may have a role in twin gestation.

Objectives: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common medical problem in both antenatal and postnatal women. Data from India on the demography of these women, microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of the causative bacteria, need elucidation. Material and Methods: We performed an observation study that collected data on UTI in antenatal and postnatal women between 2013 and 2017 at our tertiary care center in South India. Antenatally, urine dipstick-positive patients, high-risk, and symptomatic patients submitted urine cultures. Postnatally, all symptomatic patients had urine cultures. This was 20% of all antenatal and postnatal women resulting in 20,203 cultures. Results: Of 20,203 cultures, significant bacteriuria was seen in 9.48% of antenatal and 13.28% of postnatal women. A higher mean age was seen among those with UTI, antenatal 27 (SD 3.5) and postnatal 26.4 (SD 4.7) years versus 23.9 (SD 3.6) with no growth in culture. The mean BMI among antenatal was 28.2 (SD 3.5) and postnatal was 28 (SD 7.4). Most (60%) were primigravida. At delivery, 37% required cesarean sections while 21.2% required instrumental delivery. Recurrent UTI was seen in 25% antenatally and 10% in the postnatal period. Escherichia coli accounted for 66 and 60% of infections among antenatal and postnatal women, respectively. Enterococcus species accounted for 13% in both while Klebsiella species was 4.9 and 7.3%, respectively. Among E. coli, 68.3 and 59.2% of isolates in antenatal and postnatal period were cefpodoxime susceptible. Nearly 75% of ante- and postnatal isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin-clavulanate while 90.2% and 92.5% were susceptible to nitrofurantoin. Enterococci spp. up to 84.4 and 97.1% in ante- and postnatal isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, 64.4 and 77.4% susceptible to high-level gentamicin, and 84 and 95.5% susceptible to nitrofurantoin. Asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy was documented in 2.1% of antenatal outpatients and E. coli was isolated in 74% of these cultures. Conclusion: Importance of microbiological evidence prior to administration of antimicrobials is evidenced by 79% negative cultures in this 5-year cohort. Escherichia coli accounted for 60-66% of significant bacteriuria followed by Enterococcus and Klebsiella species with 30-40% E.coli probable ESBL producers. Nitrofurantoin followed by amoxicillin-clavulanate were found to be the best oral antimicrobial options.

Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) defines stillbirth as the delivery of a fetus after 22 completed weeks of gestation, weighing 500 grams or more, with the newborn showing no signs of life at delivery (1). According to the WHO, there were 2.6 million stillbirths in 2015. One out of every 45 babies was stillborn. Nearly three-quarters of them were from South Asia and sub Saharan Africa. The stillbirth rate in India was 23/1000 births in 2015, compared to a worldwide rate of 18.4/1000 births (2). Since then, the stillbirth rate in our country has declined by 10%, with an annual reduction rate of 2% between 2000-2015. This decline, however, is slow in comparison to the annual reduction in maternal mortality rate and under 5 infant mortality rate at 3% and 3.9%, respectively, during the same period (2). The WHO targets reducing the stillbirth rate to 12/1000 by 2030 by adopting the "Every newborn action plan" (2).

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