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Summary Immediately after delivery of a rhesus positive child, a dose of 100 to 125 μg. of anti-D immunoglobulin was given to 838 rhesus negative mothers in whom a Kleihauer test showed either no fetal cells or suggested a transplacental haemorrhage (TPH) of less than 0.25 ml. Out of 523 patients tested at six months after delivery only one (0.19 per cent) was found to have anti-D antibodies. Sixty women had a further pregnancy and delivered a rhesus positive child. None developed anti-D antibodies and all children were unaffected by rhesus isoimmunization. A dose of 100 to 125 μg. of anti-D immunoglobulin proved effective in reducing rhesus isoimmunization in rhesus negative women with minimal TPH but since a large TPH is rare, such a dose is probably sufficient in 98 per cent of cases.

We compared the effects of two treatment strategies (diet alone versus a combination of insulin and diet) on neonatal anthropometric measurements and the outcome of a full-term white infant sample born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Study subjects included 217 consecutive nonrandomized women with GDM with term singleton pregnancies. Insulin therapy was administered on the basis of anamnestic and maternal-fetal criteria. One hundred and twenty-one patients (group 1) received a combination of insulin and diet, and 96 (group 2) underwent diet alone. All 1,052 white patients with term singleton pregnancies without GDM, screened at the same time as the study group, formed the control group. The incidence of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants was significantly higher in group 2(18.8%) compared with group 1 (9.9%) and the control group (8.3%). Male and female infants born to diabetic mothers of group 2 had significantly greater mean birth weights, ponderal indices, thoracic circumferences, weight/length ratios and significantly smaller mean cranial/thoracic circumference ratios than male and female infants in group 1 and the control group (p < 0.05, Scheffe test). Treatment of GDM mothers with insulin and diet has been shown to be able not only to normalize the incidence of LGA infants but also to influence the anthropometric characteristics of the infants born to these mothers to such an extent that they showed no significant differences compared to infants born to non-diabetic mothers.

Activated protein C resistance (APCR) is a common cause of familial thrombophilia and venous thrombosis. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of APCR associated with factor V Leiden mutation and its relevance in comparison to other risk factors for thromboembolic disorders in women with a history of previous complicated pregnancies (history of fetal loss in the second and third trimester n = 34, preeclampsia n = 46). The frequency of APCR was significantly higher in women with a history of fetal loss and preeclampsia (23.5 and 26.1%, respectively) compared with a control group (3.8%). The prevalence of antithrombin, protein C and protein S deficiencies and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies were also investigated: the prevalence of at least one disorder was 41.2% in the group with previous fetal loss, 37.0% in the group with previous preeclampsia and 7.5% in the control group.