Tehran University Medical Journal

---

The rapid growth of population in the third world countries specially in recent decades has posed an important social problem. There have been some attempts to propose solutions for this problem by scientists from various disciplines. However, it seems that an integrated approach calling for collaboration of various efforts can be more fruitful. In this work, we study the relation of women fertility and socio-economical indices along with government's programmed efforts in the third world countries. Employing a statistical approach, we show that development indices such as gross national product, infant mortality rate, education enrolment, and access to mass media along with government's programmed efforts are effective in reducing the fertility rate, but more important is the interaction between these factors. Thus, an integrated approach emerges as a better solution to population control

---

Considering the incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) in newborns and its complications, and also based on indirect reports pointing out relationship between nucleated red blood cell (nRBC), as a marker of chronic hypoxia, and MSAF in term newborns, and in order to determine this relationship more accurately, this study was done on women with uncomplicated singleton term pregnancy that admitted for delivery at Shariati hospital in year 2000. After excluding confounding factors on nRBC, case group who includes infants with MSAF, and control group who have clear amniotic fluid were determined. Maternal age and parity, gestational age, birth weight, apgar score, neonatal out come, and FHR pattern as well as newborn hemoglobin values were evaluated. Venous cord blood was analyzed for nRBC counts per 100 WBC. Case and control groups were divided according to nRBC counts with cutoff point of 10 and then compared statistically. From the samples, 117 cases and 67 controls were evaluated. Maternal and neonatal factors were similar in two situations. Number of nRBC was 3.75±4.8 in control group and 12.04±11.7 in case group (P<0.01) and it was abnormal (>10) in 9 percent of newborns with clear fluid and 32 percent of MSAF (P<0.01). Cord blood nRBC count increased when meconium is passed intrauterine. This suggests that cases with MSAF may be at risk of chronic hypoxia. Cohort research is recommended to study the affect of delivery mode on the neonatal outcome in cases with MSAF and to evaluate the cause of fetal hypoxia in uncomplicated pregnancy with MSAF.

---

Introduction: Unwanted pregnancy is one of the most important problems in family planning programs especially in developing countries. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of unwanted pregnancy and factors that contributes to it's existence in ten cities in Islamic Republic of Iran.

Methods and Materials: From cases, 1548 subjects referring to the antenatal clinics of university hospitals in the following cities were included in the study: Fars, Systan and Balochestan, Hamedan, Kerman, West-Azarbayjan, Gillan, Khorasan, Khozestan, Isfahan. A face to face interview was conducted to fill out a questionnaire.

Results: The result suggests that the rate of unwanted pregnancy was reported around 34.96 percent. Familiarity with contraceptive methods was quite poor in some cities. Usage of contraceptive pills and condoms were also not correct and led to failure of the method by the rate of 12.5 percent and 8.8 percent respectively.

Conclusion: It is concluded that there is a need to plan a suitable educational plan in order to reduce the rate of the unwanted pregnancy.