METHODS::Maternal lifestyle affects both mother health and pregnancy outcome in humans. Several studies have demonstrated that interventions oriented towards reducing stress and anxiety have positive effects on pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, excessive gestational weight, gestational diabetes and preterm birth. In this work, we showed that the environmental enrichment (EE), defined as a noninvasive and biological significant stimulus of the sensory pathway combined with voluntary physical activity, prevented preterm birth (PTB) rate in a 41% in an inflammatory mouse model induced by the systemic administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Furthermore, we found that EE modulates maternal metabolism and produces an anti-inflammatory environment that contributes to pregnancy maintenance. In pregnant mice uterus, EE reduces the expression of TLR4 and CD14 (the LPS receptor and its coactivator protein), preventing the LPS-induced increase in PGE2 and PGF2α release and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity. In cervical tissue, EE inhibits cervical ripening events, such as PGE2 release, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 increased activity and neutrophil recruitment, therefore conserving cervical function. It seems that EE exposure could mimic the stress and anxiety-reducing techniques mentioned above, explaining, at least partially, the beneficial effects of having a healthy lifestyle before and during gestation. Furthermore, we propose that designing an EE protocol for humans could be a noninvasive and preventive therapy for pregnancy complications, averting pre-term birth occurrence and dreaded sequelae that are present in the offspring born to soon.

METHODS:PROBLEM:We aimed to investigate the main causes of recurrent miscarriage (RM) in patients with losses after spontaneous gestation (SG) and after in vitro fertilization (IVF). METHOD OF STUDY:A prospective case-control study was conducted. The eligible patients were women who had experienced two or more consecutive abortions after less than 12 weeks gestation, two consecutive losses after SG or two consecutive losses after IVF. All patients were subjected to the following evaluations: karyotyping of the aborted material, alloimmune and autoimmune marker testing, and acquired and hereditary thrombophilia marker testing. RESULTS:In total, 58 patients were eligible: 32 patients with RM after SG and 26 patients with RM after IVF. The factors associated with RM were genetic (29%), immune (14%), thrombophilic (21%), and thrombophilic and immune (24%), and only 12% of the cases were idiopathic. Comparing the two study groups (SG and IVF), all studied factors were similar, except for a higher ANA positivity observed in the SG group (SG 30.4% versus IVF 5.3%, OR 8.6 (CI 1.1 - 21.1, P 0.048). CONCLUSIONS:Our study identified the possibly factors associated with recurrent miscarriage in 86% of the cases, and these factors appear to be similar in patients with recurrent miscarriage after spontaneous gestation and IVF. This study demonstrates that IVF with PGT-A with euploid embryo transfer could reduce abortions by up to 29%, but other factors needs to be investigated even in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.

METHODS:OBJECTIVES:To evaluate the impact of pre-operative Music Therapy (MT) on pain in first-trimester abortion under local anaesthesia (ALA). DESIGN:Randomised controlled trial comparing patients undergoing a first-trimester ALA with or without a pre-operative MT session. SETTING:University hospital of Angers from November 2016 to August 2017. POPULATION:Patients who underwent first-trimester abortion under ALA. METHODS:Patients allocated to MT group underwent a pre-operative 20 minutes session of MT. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) just before the procedure, during the procedure, at the end of the procedure and upon returning to the ward. RESULTS:159 patients were randomised (80 in MT group, and 79 in the control group). 2 patients were excluded from the control group and 6 from the MT group. Therefore, 77 patients were analysed in the control group and 74 in the MT group. The intensity of pain were similar in both the MT group and the Control group just before the procedure (VAS: 4.0±2.9 vs. 3.6±2.5, p=0.78), during the procedure (VAS: 5.3±2.5 vs. 4.9±2.9, p=0.78), at the end of the procedure (VAS: 2.7±2.4 vs. 2.6±2.4, p=0.43) and upon returning to the ward (VAS:1.8±2.0 vs. 1.5±2.0, p=0.84). The difference in pain between entering the department and returning to the room after the procedure was similar between the MT and Control groups (0.3±2.5 vs. 0.3±2.4 VAS levels difference; p=0.92). CONCLUSION:Music therapy session before an ALA procedure resulted in no improvement in patient perception of pain during a first-trimester abortion.