Histological examination of term and postdates myometrium.

<p>Typical examples of Haematoxylin and Eosin stained myometrial sections from term (n = 11, left) and postdates (n = 8, right) women are shown in (<b>A</b>). The percentage of field occupied by muscle cells (mean tissue density) for the two groups showed no significant difference (<b>B</b>), <i>P</i>>0.05. Sections of term and postdates myometrium stained with Masson's Trichrome are shown in (<b>C</b>, term top; postdates bottom). There was no difference in the mean densities of smooth muscle (<b>D</b>) or collagen (<b>E</b>) between gestational age groups. Scale bar represents 100 µm.</p

Myometrial contractility in relation to gestational age.

<p>Plot of spontaneous contractile activity (quantified as integral force of contraction/area under the contraction curve, AUC) of strips of myometrium obtained from women (n = 58) undergoing Caesarean section (CS) delivery against gestational age. Spearman's rank test found a significant negative correlation between force integral and gestational age (<i>r</i> = −0.478, <i>P</i><0.01). Pre-labour CS women are denoted by open squares and CS in labour women are denoted by open triangles. Dotted vertical line indicates postdates delivery (≥41weeks⁺³ days).</p

The effect of oxytocin and high K⁺ on myometrial contractility according to gestational age group.

<p>Data are represented by mean (± S.E.M.).</p>*<p>denotes significance found by Student's unpaired t-test (<i>P</i><0.05).</p

Contractile activity in term and postdates labouring myometrium.

<p>Representative isometric recordings of spontaneously contracting myometrial strips obtained from women undergoing Caesarean section in labour at term (39–41 weeks) and postdates (≥41weeks⁺³). Strips were placed under a resting tension of 2 mN and superfused continually with physiological saline solution (pH 7.4) at 37°C.</p

The response to oxytocin and high K⁺ in term and postdates myometrium.

<p>After establishing stable spontaneous myometrial contractions, 10 nM oxytocin (OT) (<b>A</b>) or high K⁺ (<b>B</b>) was added for 20 min and 2 min respectively. Response to OT was compared between term and postdates myometrium by measuring both the force amplitude and the percentage increase in force amplitude of contraction under OT where control activity equalled 100% (as shown in <b>A</b>). The response to high K⁺ (mean force amplitude of contraction) was compared between groups and was found to be significantly reduced in postdates myometrium compared to term.</p

Maternal demographics of women delivering by CS <i>not in labour</i> according to gestational age group.

<p>Gestational age refers to the gestational age at delivery and is based upon ultrasound scan taken during pregnancy booking within the first semester of pregnancy. Maternal age is age at delivery. Maternal BMI was calculated from height and weight measurements taken at pregnancy booking.</p>*<p>Denotes statistical difference by students unpaired t-test, Mann-Whitney U test or Chi Square (χ²) test.</p

Contractile activity and Ca signalling in term and postdates non-labouring myometrium.

<p>Simultaneous recordings of spontaneous contractile activity (top, black trace) and intracellular Ca transients (Indo-1, ratio of fluorescence at 400∶500 nm, bottom, red trace) of myometrial strips obtained from women undergoing planned pre-labour CS at (<b>A</b>) term (39–41 weeks) and (<b>B</b>) postdates (≥41weeks+3). This example shows a term sample contracting particularly strongly to emphasize the difference in Ca signals. Inset (<b>C</b>) below on expanded time scale shows an overlay of Ca transients normalised by amplitude showing significantly reduced transient duration in postdates myometrium (solid black line) compared to term myometrium (dotted black line).</p

Calcium transient data.

<p>Transient amplitude reflects change in relative Indo-1 fluorescence ratio (F400∶F500) and is indicative of change in intracellular Ca concentration. Duration refers to duration of Ca transient and integral reflects area under the transient curve for 20 minutes of stable spontaneous activity. Data are represented by mean (± S.E.M.).</p>*<p>denotes significance found by Student's unpaired t-test (<i>P</i><0.05).</p

Characteristics of all studies examining the effect of stillbirth in long-term maternal morbidity and mortality included in the systematic review.

Characteristics of all studies examining the effect of stillbirth in long-term maternal morbidity and mortality included in the systematic review.</p

Forest plots with pooled RR and 95% CIs for oncological morbidity outcomes in women with and without history of miscarriage or stillbirth.

(a) Breast cancer in women with miscarriage vs. no miscarriage, (b) breast cancer in women with stillbirth vs. no stillbirth, (c) ovarian cancer in women with miscarriage vs. no miscarriage, (d) uterine malignancies in women miscarriage vs. no miscarriage, (e) all cancer-related mortality in women with stillbirth vs. no stillbirth. CI, confidence interval; RR, risk ratio.</p