Adequate prenatal care reduces the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with history of infertility: a nationwide population-based study

Investigating the relationship between social support and self-compassion by improving the adequacy of prenatal care

INTRODUCTION

Getting pregnant care is different due to the psychological problems of pregnant mothers. Self-compassion and social support are the important components of mental health. Women with higher self-compassion and social support can take full care of their pregnancies. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between social support and self-compassion with adequate prenatal care.

METHODS

The present study is a cross-sectional descriptive study that was performed in 2018 using the available sampling method on 500 pregnant mothers referred to Isfahan health centers. Individuals entered the study if they had entry criteria and no exit criteria, and completed social support, self-compassion, and adequacy of pregnancy care questionnaires. The data were coded and analyzed by SPSS software version 22 and Pearson's correlation statistical test.

RESULTS

The results of data analysis with Pearson's correlation test showed a positive and statistically significant relationship with pregnancy care between the overall score of social support (P < 0.001) and the dimensions of social support such as family support (P < 0.002), support of friends (P < 0.004), and the support of other people (P < 0.001). The results also showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between self-compassion and prenatal care (P < 0.001). There was a significant positive relationship between the subscales of the self-empathy questionnaire, including kindness to oneself, human commonalities, mindfulness and increasing replication, and pregnancy care, but there was a significant negative relationship between subscales of isolation and self-judgment with pregnancy care.

CONCLUSION

According to the results of the present study, social support and self-compassion as two components of mental health can affect the quality of services during pregnancy. For this reason, it is recommended that health-care providers pay attention to these two issues in order to increase the level of care during pregnancy and thus ensure maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth and the health of the fetus and baby.

[Maternal and fetal outcomes of unattended pregnancies in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo]

Introduction

Unattended pregnancies are characterized by significant morbidity maternal and morbidity and mortality fetal. This study aims to determine the frequency of unattended pregnancies, to describe the socio-demographic profile and to assess the maternal and fetal outcomes during childbirth among women who did not attend antenatal care (ANC) in the city of Lubumbashi.

Methods

It was an analytical cross-sectional study of maternal pregnancy from December 2013 to May 2014 in 10 maternity hospitals in Lubumbashi. Women who did not receive ANC were compared to women who had followed them (ANC≥4). Maternal socio-demographic parameters, maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality were analyzed.

Results

We found that the frequency of no pregnancy monitoring was 21.23% and the mean number of antenatal visits was 2.6 ± 1.9. An analysis of the relationship between ANC and socio-demographic characteristics of women who were delivered shows that the lack of follow-up was 2.29 times higher for adolescent girls than for adult women (OR=2.29 [1.54-3.41]), 4 times higher for women living alone than for women living in unions (OR=4.00 [2.05-7.79]) and 4.08 times higher for women with low levels of education (illiterate or primary) than among those with a high level of education (OR=4.08 [3.08-5.40]). Compared to those who followed them well, we did not find that women who did not attend ANC had a high risk of obstetric emergency (OR = 1.90 [1.26-2.95]), rupture of membranes fetal admission (OR=1.31 [1.02-1.68]), fetal mal presentation (OR=1.89 [1.03-3.44]), caesarean delivery (OR=1.78 [1.21-2.63]), eclampsia (OR=3.00 [1.09-8.70]), uterine rupture (OR=4.76 [1.00-47.19]) and anemia (OR=2.33 [1.06-5.13]). Rates of preterm birth (OR = 1.93 [1.33-2.80]), post-maturity (OR=1.47 [1.00-2.30]), low birth weight (OR=2.33 [1.56-3.46]), neonatal depression (OR=3.89 [2.52-6.02]), neonatal transfer (OR=1.60 [1.11-2.32]) and perinatal mortality (OR=2.70 [1.59-4.57]) were significantly higher in neonates from women with prenatal consultations than in those with well followed.

Conclusion

Our study shows that the lack of follow-up of ANC is associated with high maternal morbidity and high perinatal morbidity and mortality in our environment.

DELAY on first antenatal care visit and its associated factors among pregnant women in public health facilities of Debre Markos town, North West Ethiopia

Background

Delay on timely initiation of antenatal care has a great impact on adverse pregnancy out comes. However, evidences in Ethiopia revealed that majority of pregnant mothers did not start their first visit as recommrnded by WHO. The aim of this study was to assess delay and associated factors of first antenatal care visit among pregnant mothers at public health facilities of Debremarkos town, North West Ethiopia.

Methods

An institutional based crosss-sectional study was conducted from February to March, 2014 in public health facilities of Debremarkos town North west Ethiopia. A total of 320 pregnant mothers who were sure of their last menstrual periods were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Data entry was done using Epi data 3.1 and analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the magnitude and factors associated with delay on timely initiation of the first antenatal care visit.

Results

The proportion of respondents who made their first antenatal care visit after 16 weeks of gestation was found to be 33.4%. Mothers residing in rural settings (AOR = 2.8 [95% CI:1.54–5.44]), not attained formal education(AOR = 2.2 [95% CI:1.10–4.68]),with unintended pregnancy (AOR = 3.6 [95% CI:2.00–6.80]) and who perceived that the right initiation time of the first antenatal care visit is beyond 16 weeks of gestation (AOR = 3.9 [95% CI:1.61–9.76]) were more likely delayed on their first antenatal care visit .

Conclusion

Residence, educational status, intention of pregnancy and perception on the right time of first antenatal care visit initiation were found to be predictors of delay on timely initiatin of first antenatal care visit. Therefore, the Zonal health department should strengthen awareness creation about timely initiation of first antenatal care visit and family planning to prevent unintended pregnancy in the community especially in the rural settings.

Risk of adverse pregnancy and perinatal outcomes after high technology infertility treatment: a comprehensive systematic review

In the literature, there is growing evidence that subfertile patients who conceived after infertility treatments have an increased risk of pregnancy and perinatal complications and this is particularly true for patients who conceived through use of high technology infertility treatments. Moreover, high technology infertility treatments include many concomitant clinical and biological risk factors. This review aims to summarize in a systematic fashion the current evidence regarding the relative effect of the different procedures for high technology infertility treatments on the risk of adverse pregnancy and perinatal outcome. A literature search up to August 2016 was performed in IBSS, SocINDEX, Institute for Scientific Information, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar and an evidence-based hierarchy was used to determine which articles to include and analyze. Data on prepregnancy maternal factors, low technology interventions, specific procedures for male factor, ovarian tissue/ovary and uterus transplantation, and chromosomal abnormalities and malformations of the offspring were excluded. The available evidences were analyzed assessing the level and the quality of evidence according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine guidelines and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system, respectively. Current review highlights that every single procedure of high technology infertility treatments can play a crucial role in increasing the risk of pregnancy and perinatal complications. Due to the suboptimal level and quality of the current evidence, further well-designed studies are needed.

Prenatal care in combination with maternal educational level has a synergetic effect on the risk of neonatal low birth weight: new findings in a retrospective cohort study in Kunshan City, China

Objectives

To investigate the dose-response relationship and synergetic effect of the maternal educational level and two measures of prenatal care on neonatal low birth weight (LBW) risk.

Methods

Data were derived from the Perinatal Health Care Surveillance System (PHCSS) from January 2001 to September 2009 in Kunshan City, Jiangsu province, eastern China, which included data on 31412 women with a normal birth weight delivery and 640 women with a LBW delivery. Logistic modelling was performed to estimate the association including the joint effects with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between the prenatal care measures and LBW risk after adjusting for the potential confounders. The dose-response relationship between the number of prenatal care visits and the risk of LBW was investigated by modeling the quantitative exposure with restricted cubic splines (RCS).

Results

There was a significant synergetic effect on the LBW risk between maternal educational attainment and the number of prenatal care visits (χ² = 4.98, P = 0.0257), whereas no significant maternal educational attainment interaction was found with the week of initiation of prenatal care after adjusting for relevant confounding factors (χ² = 2.04, P = 0.1530), and the LBW risk displayed a ‘U-shape’ curve tendency among the different number of prenatal care visits (P for nonlinearity = 0.0002) using RCS. In particular, the ORs were approaching the curve’s bottom when the women had 9 or 10 prenatal care visits. Comparing with 5 prenatal care visits, the ORs and 95%CI of LBW risk for 7, 9, 11 and ≥13 visits were 0.92 (0.82–1.03), 0.50 (0.38–0.66), 0.62 (0.47–0.82), and 0.99 (0.61–1.60), respectively.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that appropriate prenatal care, in combination with a higher maternal educational level, can produce a protective interaction effect on LBW risk. Reasonable health resource assignment for different social statuses should be taken into account by policy-makers in developing countries.