title: Cardiff puerperal mood and hormone study. 1. Saliva steroid hormone profiles in late pregnancy and the puerperium: endocrine factors and parturition.
abstract: Participants were 120 primiparous women who had vaginal delivery of a non-handicapped child. Saliva was collected twice daily through parturition to day 35 post-partum. In the prepartum, a highly significant circadian rhythm was seen in cortisol, with a lower-amplitude rhythm in progesterone (AM/PM = 1.12). Evening samples showed a rise in cortisol, with a highly significant rise on day -1. The rise was small. The fall in progesterone in the 3 days before parturition was also small (approximately 6%). Neither change provides an obvious trigger for parturition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lovett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Riad-Fahmy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone