Premium
Comparison of Plasma Volume Levels in Normal Pregnancy Between Two Ethnic Groups in Fiji
Author(s) -
Coleman R. J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1978.tb00029.x
Subject(s) - plasma volume , pregnancy , obstetrics , medicine , parity (physics) , incidence (geometry) , endocrinology , biology , mathematics , genetics , physics , geometry , particle physics
Summary: In the normal pregnancy Indian women have a lower plasma volume than Fijian women. Volume studies in the third trimester on the normal pregnancies of 191 Fijian women and 92 Indian women showed that the latter group also had lower red cell volumes and blood volumes. Consequently, both groups showed a similar distribution of haemoglobin concentration. The reduction in plasma volume is not related to parity and the plasma volumes of Indian women did not show the correlation with maternal height of the Fijian women. In view of the higher reported incidence of toxaemia in Indian women, these findings support the concept that a reduction in plasma volume occurs before the onset of clinical signs of toxaemia. Indian women also have a lower plasma volume for a given birth‐weight/ maternal size ratio. There is some evidence that they have smaller babies than Fijian women after allowing for the differences in maternal size but the results are statistically inconclusive.