Abstracts » Health

Lack of relationship between diurnal rhythms in fetal heart rate and maternal cortisol concentration

Article Abstract:

The daily fluctuation in cortisol levels in pregnant women is not responsible for regulating fetal heart rate. This was the conclusion of researchers who gave 9 pregnant women betamethasone, which prevents cortisol levels from changing. But the fetal heart rate was still synchronized with the mother's heart rate.

Fetal heart rate

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Twenty-four-hour pattern of cortisol in the human fetus at term

Article Abstract:

Fetuses appear to have biological rhythms just as adults do, as demonstrated by a 24-hour variation in cortisol secretion in cord blood samples taken from 57 babies at birth. Cortisol is the major hormone produced by the adrenal glands.

Fetus, Biological rhythms, Biorhythms

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Relationship of circadian rhythms of uterine activity with term and preterm delivery

Article Abstract:

Circadian rhythms in uterine activity may be different in pregnant women who deliver prematurely than in those who deliver at term. Women who deliver at term usually experience surges of uterine activity at night, but those who deliver preterm may not experience these surges. Uterine activity was measured in 19 pregnant women at 26 weeks and every two weeks thereafter until delivery. Seven had a low risk of preterm labor and delivered at term, six had a high risk of preterm labor but delivered at term and six had a high risk of preterm labor and delivered preterm. Women who delivered at term experienced a surge of uterine activity between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. during the 80 days preceding their delivery. Women who delivered preterm initially experienced a surge in nocturnal uterine activity, but this activity stopped during the last 24 days of the pregnancy.

Labor (Obstetrics), Premature labor, Uterus

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