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Objective: To develop a Postnatal Perceived Stress Inventory (PNPSI) and assess its psychometric properties., Design: Cross-sectional quantitative study., Setting: One nurse-managed labor and delivery unit in a university hospital in a major metropolitan area., Participants: One hundred seventy-nine (179) primiparous French speaking women who gave birth at term., Methods: The PNPSI was validated at 6 weeks postpartum. Its predictive validity for depression and anxiety was assessed at the same time., Results: The exploratory analysis revealed a 19-item structure divided into six factors. This inventory has good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .815). The predictive validity shows that the PNPSI significantly predicts depression and anxiety at 6 weeks postpartum, and that certain factors are particularly prominent., Conclusion: The PNPSI's psychometric properties make it a useful tool for future research to evaluate interventions for perceived stress during the postnatal period. Its predictive power for depression indicates that it is also a promising tool for clinical settings., (© 2013 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.)

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pathology of pregnancy which represents the main cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Defective placentation is the first event of this pathology. The purpose of this study was to identify the proteins secreted by cytotrophoblastic cells (CTB) using proteomic approach that are associated with PE. Comparison of secreted proteins by mass spectrometry allowed us to identify 21 proteins which were significantly differentially secreted by control and PE CTB. One protein has been detected exclusively in supernatant of control CTB and was identified as factor XIII chain A. To determine if this observation is due to a difference of protein secretion or gene expression, its mRNA was quantified in all CTB. We found that it was significantly decreased in PE CTB compared to control. Collectively, these data suggest that decrease of factor XIII chain A might be associated with development of PE., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: D-dimer (DD) measurement has proved to be very useful to exclude venous thromboembolism (VTE) in outpatients. However, during pregnancy, the progressive increase as well as the interindividual variations of DD means that in this instance they are of poor value to rule out VTE. Only a few studies have reported measurements of DD levels in the postpartum., Objectives: To measure DD sequentially in the puerperium in order to determine when DD levels return to values obtained in non-pregnant women and can again be used in the exclusion of VTE., Patients and Methods: After uncomplicated pregnancies, 150 women delivering at term either vaginally (n = 100) or by cesarean section (n = 50) were included. DD levels were measured immediately following delivery and next at days 1, 3, 10, 30 and 45., Results: There was a marked elevation of DD at delivery, especially when instrumental. All DD measurements were above 500 ng mL(-1) at delivery, at day 1 and at day 3 postpartum. A sharp decrease in DD was observed between day 1 and day 3, followed by a slight increase at day 10. At day 30 and day 45, respectively, 79% and 93% of women in the vaginal delivery group and 70% and 83% in the cesarean group had levels below 500 ng mL(-1). Bleeding, breastfeeding and heparin prophylaxis did not modify DD levels significantly., Conclusion: Using the Vidas DD new assay, our study provides reference intervals for DD in the postpartum period. Using a cut-off at 500 ng mL(-1), DD measurement for ruling out VTE was found to be useful again 4 weeks after delivery.