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Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are structurally diverse unconjugated glycans, and play crucial roles in protecting infants from infections. Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality, and preterm infants are particularly vulnerable and are in need of improved outcomes from breast-feeding due to the presence of bioactive HMOs. However, studies on specific difference in HMOs as a function of gestation time have been very limited. We established an approach to extract and analyze HMOs based on 96-well plate extraction and mass spectrometry, and determined maternal phenotypes through distinctive fragments in product-ion spectra. We enrolled 85 women delivering at different gestation times (25–41 weeks), and observed different HMOs correlating with gestation time based on 233 samples from the 85 donors. With the increase of postpartum age, we observed a regular changing trajectory of HMOs in composition and relative abundance, and found significant differences in HMOs secreted at different postpartum times. Preterm delivery induced more variations between participants with different phenotypes compared with term delivery, and more HMOs varied with postpartum age in the population of secretors. The sialylation level in mature milk decreased for women delivering preterm while such decrease was not observed for women delivering on term. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longer gestation at term and post-term age is associated with increased perinatal mortality. Nonetheless, recent neuroimaging studies indicated that longer gestation is also associated with better functioning of the child's brain. to assess whether longer gestation in term and post-term (in short: term) singletons is associated with better infant neurodevelopment. cross-sectional observational study. Participants were all singleton term infants (n = 1563) aged 2–18 months of the IMP-SINDA project that collected normative data for the Infant Motor Profile (IMP) and Standardized Infant NeuroDevelopmental Assessment (SINDA). The group was representative of the Dutch population. Total IMP score was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were atypical total IMP scores (scores <15th percentile) and SINDA's neurological and developmental scores. Duration of gestation had a quadratic relationship with IMP and SINDA developmental scores. IMP scores were lowest at a gestation of 38·5 weeks, SINDA developmental scores at 38·7 weeks. Next, both scores increased with increasing duration of gestation. Infants born at 41–42 weeks had significantly less often atypical IMP scores (adjusted OR [95 % CI]: 0·571 [0·341–0·957] and atypical SINDA developmental scores (adjusted OR: 0·366 [0·195–0·688]) than infants born at 39–40 weeks. Duration of gestation was not associated with SINDA's neurological score. In term singleton infants representative of the Dutch population longer gestation is associated with better infant neurodevelopment scores suggesting better neural network efficiency. Longer gestation in term infants is not associated with atypical neurological scores. • Longer gestation at term is associated with better Infant Motor Profile scores. • Longer gestation at term is associated with better SINDA developmental scores. • Longer gestation at term is not associated with SINDA neurological scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We related perinatal outcome and quality of prenatal care between 1972 and 1980 to WIC benefits to pregnant women among 11 154 673 births in 1392 counties in 19 states and the District of Columbia, adjusted for time change and between-county variability. WIC was associated with increased first trimester prenatal care (4.1%, p < 0.001), decreased inadequate prenatal care (-5.0%, p < 0.001), longer duration of gestation (0.20 d, p < 0.05), decreased preterm delivery (-0.92%, p < 0.05) and increased birth weight (23 g, p < 0.01). After autocorrelation was accounted for, significance levels for birth weight and frequency of preterm delivery were 0.05 < p < 0. 10. Including counties with incomplete time series data, the estimated effect on birth weight was 23.9 g (p = 0.004) and on decreased fetal mortality was -2.3/1000 (p = 0.04). Among those with < 12 y schooling, whites had a 1.8% reduction in preterm birth (p < 0.05) and blacks a 2.0% reduction (p < 0.05). The estimated effect on birth weight for less-educated whites was 46.6 g (p < 0.001). The predominant effects of WIC were on improved physiologic status of the mother and fetus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effects of day of mating and litter size on gestation length in dogs were studied in 36 beagle bitches (age 2–10 yr). The day that plasma progesterone concentrations exceeded 2ng/mL was considered the day of ovulation; dogs were randomly assigned to be bred once, 1–5 days after the estimated day of ovulation. The interval from mating to parturition was negatively correlated with the number of days from estimated ovulation to mating (P <0.01). Gestation length (interval from ovulation to parturition) was almost constant at 63.9±0.2 days (mean±S.E.M.), with no significant relationship between the number of fetuses and the duration of gestation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]