Effect of Bed Rest Upon Urinary Estriol Excretion

A selected series of 83 women in the high-risk pregnancy category were followed by metabolic urinary estriol determinations during their last trimester. Twenty-five were carefully controlled by prescribed bed rest, whenever indicated clinically or by decreased estriol level as determined by serial assays. Absolute bed rest almost always resulted in increased urine volume and urinary estriol output. All of these women were delivered of apparently healthy infants. In comparison, estriol-determination data are presented from 41 women who also delivered viable babies and 17 whose babies died; strict bed rest was not an integral part of their prenatal care. Their estriol output varied and was not predictable.