Material and Methods
The study was conducted between
October 2009 and March 2010, in the Indira
Gandhi Govt. Medical College, Nagpur,
India. Subjects were from Nagpur region, an
iodine sufficient area, based on data available
from Urinary Iodine Excretion studies,
conducted in the region15. The study group
(n=32) comprised of young healthy,
primigravida full term pregnant females,
aged 18-32 (23.46±3.07) years who were in
labor, admitted at the institution for delivery
and expected to have spontaneous full term
vaginal delivery. Thirty-two age matched
(23±2.8years), normal healthy pregnants,
primigrivida, attending ANC-OPD in the
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of
the institution, made up the control group.
The protocol was approved by the
institutional ethics committee and following
selection of subjects, informed consent was
obtained from them. Serum TT3, TT4 and
serum TSH levels were assessed in both
groups; to do this, 3ml of Blood was, in turn,
drawn from the antecubital vein. Samples
were collected with all aseptic precautions,
using sterile needles and syringes in plain
sterile bulb. In the controls, samples were
obtained during their routine ANC-OPD
visit, while in the study group, samples were
taken on three occasions: Phase A (during