Implementation of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria: Not always a cause for concern

Background: Controversy surrounds the decision to adopt the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as fears that disease prevalence rates will soar have been raised. Aims: To investigate the prevalence of pregnancy complicated with GDM before and after the introduction of the IADPSG 2010 diagnostic criteria. Materials and Methods: A prospective audit of all women who delivered from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2014, in a predefined geographic region within the North Metropolitan Health Service of Western Australia. Women were diagnosed with GDM according to Australian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS 1991) criteria until December 31, 2011, and by the IADPSG 2010 criteria after this date. Incidence of GDM and predefined pregnancy outcomes were audited. Results: Of 10,296 women, antenatal oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) results and follow-up data were obtained for 10,103 women (98%), of whom 349 (3.5%) were diagnosed with GDM. The rate of GDM utilising ADIPS criteria was 3.4% and the rate of utilising IADPSG criteria was 3.5% ( = 0.92). Conclusion: IADPSG diagnostic criteria did not significantly increase the incidence of GDM in this low prevalence region

Survey of Australian father\u27s attitudes towards infant vaccination: Findings from the Australian Father\u27s Study

Objective: To investigate the attitudes of expectant Australian fathers towards vaccination, and to identify factors which may influence these attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study of 407 Australian men with expectant partners, mean age 30.4 (SD 6.7). Self reported attitude, level of knowledge and information resources accessed regarding pregnancy related issues. Participant demographics collected included: Age, number of children, relationship status, level of education, employment information and smoking status. Results: Majority (89%) of participants had a positive attitude towards infant vaccination, 9% felt neutral and 2% had negative attitudes. Positive attitudes towards vaccination were associated with lower self-reported knowledge of pregnancy issues but a higher likelihood of discussing pregnancy issues with health care providers rather than sourcing information from the internet (both p\u3c0.001). Conclusion: A majority of Australian expectant fathers have a positive attitude towards infant vaccination. Fathers with negative attitudes to vaccination self-reported higher levels of knowledge. They were more likely to obtain information from the Internet instead of healthcare staff. Implication for public health: Including fathers in health discussion with knowledgeable health care providers may result in increased vaccine uptake

New techniques to characterise the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy

Understanding of the vaginal microbiome in health and disease is essential to screen, detect and manage complications in pregnancy. One of the major complications of pregnancy is preterm birth, which is the leading world-wide cause of death and disability in children under five years of age. The aetiology of preterm birth is multifactorial, but a causal link has been established with infection. Despite the importance of understanding the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy in order to evaluate strategies to prevent and manage PTB, currently used culture based techniques provide limited information as not all pathogens are able to be cultured. The implementation of culture-independent high-throughput techniques and bioinformatics tools are advancing our understanding of the vaginal microbiome. New methods employing 16S rRNA and metagenomics analyses make possible a more comprehensive description of the bacteria of the human microbiome. Several studies on the vaginal microbiota of pregnant women have identified a large number of taxa. Studies also suggest reduced diversity of the microbiota in pregnancy compared to non-pregnant women, with a relative enrichment of the overall abundance of Lactobacillus species, and significant differences in the diversity of Lactobacillus spp. A number of advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are discussed briefly. The potential clinical importance of the new techniques is illustrated through recent reports where traditional culture-based techniques failed to identify pathogens in high risk complicated pregnancies whose presence subsequently was established using culture-independent, high-throughput analyses

Pasture seed production in Western Australia

Pasture seed production in Western Australia is an industry with a somewhat turbulent past. Booms and slumps have been the rule rather than the exception. However, during the past few years there has been some degree of stability —if not in price, at least in terms of total production

The naturalised and cultivated annual medics of Western Australia

IT is not many years since the term pasture improvement in Western Australia was synonymous with one species only, subterranean clover. The amazing adaptability of this species to the environment enabled it to be grown in a wide range of rainfall conditions and in many different districts

Pasture seeds : 1965 statistics and comments

A KNOWLEDGE of market conditions and procedures is not of direct importance to some primary producers. For example, cereal growers as individuals are neither in a position to negotiate prices nor does their production have any direct effect on prices

Annual pasture and weed plant ecology

The purpose of this article is to outline a few basic principles of pasture and weed ecology with particular reference to seed dormancy mechanisms. These principles apply to many pasture plants and weeds, although their relative importance varies with the particular plants under study

Pasture seeds : production techniques and the future market situation

Like other farming and grazing industries, pasture seed production has its share of booms and slumps —perhaps more than its share. In Western Australia, the industry reached a high point during the mid-1960\u27s when land development along the south and west coastal districts was at its height. The drought year of 1969 and the subsequent rural depression saw pasture seed production fall to its lowest level for ten years and it is only in the last 12 months that there has been a revival. With the sudden upsurge of interest last summer there will be many potential seed producers now wondering about the future, and it is therefore an appropriate time to attempt some predictions

The production of pasture seeds : facts and figures

THE production of grass and legume pasture seeds in Western Australia has expanded noticeably in the last two or three years With this expansion has come some publicity, at times accurate at other times not so accurate

Correct common names of herbage plants

NEARLY all plants have both a scientific name and a common name. Some, unfortunately, have two, three, four or more common names, and this causes a great deal of confusion, particularly in the buying and selling of pasture seeds