A feasibility study of the use of UmbiFlow™ to assess the impact of heat stress on fetoplacental blood flow in field studies.

Bonell, Ana; Vannevel, Valerie; Sonko, Bakary; Mohammed, Nuredin; Vicedo-Cabrera, Ana M; Haines, Andy; Maxwell, Neil S; Hirst, Jane; Prentice, Andrew M (2023). A feasibility study of the use of UmbiFlow™ to assess the impact of heat stress on fetoplacental blood flow in field studies. International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics, 160(2), pp. 430-436. Elsevier 10.1002/ijgo.14480

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OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the use of UmbiFlow™ in field settings to assess the impact of heat stress on umbilical artery resistance index (RI).

METHODS

This feasibility study was conducted in West Kiang, The Gambia, West Africa; a rural area with increasing exposure to extreme heat. We recruited women with singleton fetuses who performed manual tasks (such as farming) during pregnancy to an observational cohort study. The umbilical artery RI was measured at rest, during and at the end of a typical working shift in women ≥ 28 weeks' gestation. Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO) were classified as stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, or small for gestational age, and all other outcomes as normal.

RESULTS

A total of 40 participants were included; 23 normal births and 17 APO. Umbilical artery RI demonstrated a nonlinear relationship to heat stress, with indication of a potential threshold value for placental insufficiency at 32°C by Universal Thermal Climate Index and 30°C by Wet Bulb Globe Temperature.

CONCLUSIONS

The Umbiflow™ device proved to be an effective field method for assessing placental function. Dynamic changes in RI may begin to explain the association between extreme heat and APO with an identified threshold of effect.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)

UniBE Contributor:

Vicedo Cabrera, Ana Maria

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

0020-7292

Publisher:

Elsevier

Funders:

[207] Wellcome Trust

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

29 Sep 2022 10:44

Last Modified:

29 Sep 2023 00:25

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/ijgo.14480

PubMed ID:

36165637

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Africa climate change fetoplacental circulation heat pregnancy

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/173352

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/173352

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