Pregnancy out of wedlock and abandoned babies: is adoption able to save the babies?

This article discusses the issue of pregnancy out of wedlock which has become a great social challenge that needs to be tackled immediately. Getting pregnant out of wedlock leads to the risk of babies being abandoned or left to die which will affect our generation. The purpose of this article is to discuss pragmatic steps that can be taken so that the babies have the rights to live. One of the steps is the creation of baby hatch, shelter for affected teenagers, and adoption. Adoption seems like an appropriate solution to let the illegitimate child grow within a family but there are challenges that need to be tackled such as legal issues, psychological issues, Islamic rules and breast feeding of adopted children

The role of antenatal vitamin e supplementation in the prevention of neonatal jaundice.

Objective: To determine the effect of maternal antenatal vitamin E supplementation on neonatal jaundice. Methods: A randomized double blind controlled trial assessing the role of vitamin E in the prevention of preeclampsia was conducted in a tertiary hospital over two years. From 12-16 weeks gestation until delivery, primigravida mothers with singleton pregnancies received either 100 mg daily vitamin E in the form of tocotrienol rich fraction, or placebo. The newborns were assessed for jaundice. Results: Among 262 infants, 136 were in the vitamin E group and 126 in the placebo group. The incidence of neonatal jaundice was similar: 38% (54/136) in the vitamin E group and 36% (45/126) in the placebo group (p= 0.10). Nevertheless, the vitamin E group had a tendency for lower peak serum bilirubin, although not significantly so. Conclusion: Maternal antenatal vitamin E supplementation had no effect on the incidence of neonatal jaundice

An analysis of targeted single nucleotide polymorphisms for the risk prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus in a cohort of Malaysian patients

Recent association studies have described genetic variants among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and their related traits. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is pathophysiologically similar to T2DM and may share genetic susceptibility.However, genetic susceptibility within GDM in our own population is still not yet explored. This study was to determine the association of GDM genetic variants in the Malaysian population.We genotyped 384 T2DM related SNPs among 174 cases of GDM and 114 controls of pregnant women using Illumina’s Golden Gate genotyping assay. In this case-control study, a custom of 384-SNP plex of 236 candidate genes was designed using the Illumina’s Assay Design Tool. The data analysis showed 12 SNPs had a significant association with GDM among Malaysians with p values 0.002 to 0.048 with their respective odd ratios. The SNPs rs7754840, rs10946398, rs9465871, rs7756992, rs6823091, rs7935082,rs237889, rs7903146, rs7961581 were significant under additive model while rs10811661, rs1016472, rs2270031 were associated with GDM under recessive model. Three SNPs namely rs7935082, rs1016472 and rs2270031 had reduced risk towards GDM while another nine SNPs which were rs7754840, rs10946398, rs9465871, rs7756992,rs10811661, rs6823091, rs237889, rs7903146 and rs7961581 had increased risk as much 1.75 to 2.62 times. Twelve genetic variants of T2DM were replicated in the SNP profiling among Malaysians GDM. Thus with a more significant result in a bigger sample, SNP screening is potentially a useful method in predicting the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

DOES PALM OIL VITAMIN E REDUCE THE RISK OF PREGNANCY INDUCED HYPERTENSION?

In view of the high anti-oxidative potential of tocotrienol, the role of the tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) of palm oil in preventing pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) was explored in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in an urban teaching hospital. Healthy primigravidae were randomized to receive either oral TRF 100mg daily or placebo, from early second trimester until delivery. Out of 299 women, 151 were randomized into the TRF arm and 148 into the placebo arm. A total of 15 (5.0%) developed PIH. Although there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of PIH (4/151 or 2.6% in the TRF arm vs 11/148 or 7.4% in the placebo arm, p = 0.058) between the two arms, there was a tendency towards a lower incidence of PIH in the TRF arm compared to the placebo arm. With TRF supplementation, the relative risk (RR) of PIH was 0.36 (95% CI 0.12–1.09). In conclusion, although TRF from palm oil does not statistically significantly reduce the risk of development of PIH in the population studied, the 64% reduction in incidence of PIH is substantial. The findings warrant further clinical trials, particularly in high risk populations