Advances in the Prevention of Low Birthweight. An International Symposium. Heldin Cape Cod, Massachusetts on May 8-11, 1988. Proceedings

摘要

The symposium was designed to bring together researchers conducting clinicaltrials or community-based interventions aimed at reducing the risk of low birthweight, in the belief that expanding knowledge through this state-of-the-art review of strategies for preventing low birthweight-the principal determinant of risk for poor survival and/or life-long morbidity-will greatly enhance the ability to provide quality health services to vulnerable populations and significantly contribute to the advancement of maternal and child health in the United States and worldwide. The papers presented in the volume cover a broad array of scientific investigations which includes biological exposures, clinical trials of the effect of social support during pregnancy on birth outcome, the use of antiplatelet therapy to prevent preeclampsia, and possible beneficial effects on the risk of preterm delivery through calcium supplementation or magnesium supplementation. A concluding discussion attempted to identify directions for future research. Considerable attention was devoted to a discussion of methodological issues and endpoints of interventions such as biological variables and/or proxies for mortality and mobidity.