STUDIES ON THE CIRCULATION IN PREGNANCY. I. THE VELOCITY OF BLOOD FLOW AND RELATED ASPECTS OF THE CIRCULATION IN NORMAL PREGNANT WOMEN 1

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Abstract
As part of a general study on the circulation in pregnancy, circulation time studies were made on 37 normal pregnant women, according to the cyanide method of Robb and Weiss, at monthly intervals ante partum and at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. The values for the arm to carotid, pulmonary and venous circulation times fall within the normal non-pregnant range. However, within these limits there was a decrease in the average arm to carotid circulation time from the 17th through the 36th week of pregnancy, a probable increase relative to this period in the 37-40th week period and a decrease postpartum which persists until the 7th week, followed by a return to normal. Since the average pulmonary circulation time remained almost constant, the decrease in the arm to carotid circulation time occurred chiefly in the peripheral circulation. Various determined factors such as pulse rate, basal metabolic rate, hemoglobin, hematocrit and viscosity of the blood were considered as possible causes of the changes in the circulation time. Blood viscosity values, calculated by the method of Nygaard, Wilder and Berkson corresponded most closely to the average changes in the circulation time.

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