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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrasound observations of subtle movements
T2 - A pilot study comparing foetuses of smoking and nonsmoking mothers
AU - Reissland, Nadja
AU - Francis, Brian
AU - Kumarendran, Kumar
AU - Mason, James
N1 - Publisher Copyright: ©2015 The Authors. Acta Pædiatrica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation Acta Pædiatrica.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Aim One way to assess foetal health of smokers is to ask mothers to count perceived movements, an unreliable method hiding differences in prenatal development. The aim of this pilot study was to assess subtle foetal movements in ultrasound scans and establish whether they differ in foetuses of mothers who smoked and nonsmoking mothers. Methods This longitudinal pilot study recruited twenty mothers (16 nonsmoking; 4 smoking) scanned four times from 24 to 36 weeks gestation (80 ultrasound scans). Two types of fine-grained movements were coded offline and analysed using a Poisson log-linear mixed model. Results Foetuses of smoking mothers showed a significantly higher rate of mouth movements compared to foetuses of nonsmoking mothers (p = 0.02), after controlling for maternal stress and depression. As pregnancy progressed, these differences between the smoking and nonsmoking groups widened. Differences between the two groups in the rate of foetal facial self-touch remained constant as pregnancy progressed and were borderline significant (p = 0.07). Conclusion Rates of foetal mouth movement and facial self-touch differ significantly between smokers and nonsmokers. A larger study is needed to confirm these results and to investigate specific effects, including the interaction of maternal stress and smoking. Additionally, the feasibility of this technique for clinical practice should be assessed.
AB - Aim One way to assess foetal health of smokers is to ask mothers to count perceived movements, an unreliable method hiding differences in prenatal development. The aim of this pilot study was to assess subtle foetal movements in ultrasound scans and establish whether they differ in foetuses of mothers who smoked and nonsmoking mothers. Methods This longitudinal pilot study recruited twenty mothers (16 nonsmoking; 4 smoking) scanned four times from 24 to 36 weeks gestation (80 ultrasound scans). Two types of fine-grained movements were coded offline and analysed using a Poisson log-linear mixed model. Results Foetuses of smoking mothers showed a significantly higher rate of mouth movements compared to foetuses of nonsmoking mothers (p = 0.02), after controlling for maternal stress and depression. As pregnancy progressed, these differences between the smoking and nonsmoking groups widened. Differences between the two groups in the rate of foetal facial self-touch remained constant as pregnancy progressed and were borderline significant (p = 0.07). Conclusion Rates of foetal mouth movement and facial self-touch differ significantly between smokers and nonsmokers. A larger study is needed to confirm these results and to investigate specific effects, including the interaction of maternal stress and smoking. Additionally, the feasibility of this technique for clinical practice should be assessed.
KW - Fine-grained foetal movements
KW - Foetal 4D ultrasound
KW - Maternal stress
KW - Smoking
U2 - 10.1111/apa.13001
DO - 10.1111/apa.13001
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25761436
AN - SCOPUS:84929519011
VL - 104
SP - 596
EP - 603
JO - Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics
JF - Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics
SN - 0803-5253
IS - 6
ER -