Preventive Care in Nursing and Midwifery Journal

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Background: Worldwide, half of women suffer from nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy which generally continues to the 20^th week of pregnancy. Although pathogeneses of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy as well as hyperemesis gravid arum are still unknown, some believe that  nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is likely related to maternal serum leptin level.
Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between leptin and pregnancy nausea and vomiting.
Methods: In this case-control study, 45 pregnant women at first and second trimesters were selected through convenient sampling. Mothers’ blood samples were taken in the 6^th, 12^th, 15^th, and 20^th weeks of pregnancy. The participants were devised into healthy, without nausea, (24) and with nausea and vomiting groups (21). The relationship among the variables was analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson correlation, regression tests, and Lambda statistic (P value <0.05).
Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.47±5.55 years, and Body Mass Index (BMI) was found to be 5.458±26.57. There was no significant difference between groups in this regard. Based on results, changes in maternal serum leptin had significant correlation with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (p<0.04), meaning that the mean of leptin changes in patients with nausea and vomiting was significantly lower. Moreover, serum leptin at first and second trimesters of pregnancy did not have significant correlation with nausea and vomiting (p=0.5 and 0.3, respectively).
Conclusion: With regard to leptin peak level at second trimester of pregnancy, leptin changes at first and second trimesters can be a good index to predict the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Thus, further domestic studies are required in this respect.
 

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Background: It seems that in vaginal delivery, serum leptin level increases as a cortisol-dependent factor due to the stress of the embryo. Studies have shown that if the level of serum leptin is low, the risk of chronic metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and obesity in the mother and the baby will increase.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between serum leptin levels in pregnancy and the type of delivery.
Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytic study which adopted a longitudinal approach to examine 45 mothers in the first and second trimester of pregnancy in Tehran in 2015. The participants were selected by means of cluster random sampling. After obtaining consent from the mothers, their blood samples were collected at 6-12 and 15-20 weeks of pregnancy and their serum leptin levels were determined. The mothers’ examination continued after their delivery. Finally, the mothers were divided into two groups including the vaginal delivery group (24 participants) and the cesarean group (21 participants). Independent-Samples t-test, Pearson test, regression test, and Lambda test were used to analyze the data. SPSS was employed to carry out analyses at P value<0/05 level.
Results: The mean values of the serum leptin level in the first trimester and second trimester were higher in the normal delivery group in comparison with the cesarean group. Nonetheless, there was not a significant relationship between the serum leptin level and the type of delivery despite the fact that there was a statistically significant relationship between the type of delivery and the changes in leptin levels during pregnancy and these changes were reported more frequently in the normal delivery group in comparison with in the cesarean group (P value=0.021).
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, leptin level changes during pregnancy can have a predictive role in the mothers’ type of delivery. However, further studies with larger samples are required to confirm the extent and type of this role.