Prevalence and factors associated with the consumption of folic acid and iron in pregnant women in the BRISA cohort

Nutritional Knowledge about Maternal and Newborn Health among Physiotherapists during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Adequate nutrition before and during pregnancy, as well as postpartum, is among the major contributors to maternal and newborn health. Physiotherapists' knowledge of this area is still scarce, although their clinical practice has been linked to newborns' neuropsychomotor development, which, in turn, is influenced by maternal health and nutritional status. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the nutritional knowledge of physiotherapists regarding maternal and newborn health. A total of 70 Brazilian physiotherapists (32.2 ± 6.0 years; 72.9% females) were evaluated between November 2019 and February 2020 for their sociodemographic characteristics, professional experience, and nutritional knowledge about maternal and newborn health through a validated questionnaire personally administered by the same trained researcher. Most of the physiotherapists had graduated but had no specialization in maternal and child physiotherapy (96.1% of the females and all the males). The nutritional knowledge about maternal and newborn health was significantly different between the female and male health professionals, as well as between the less and more experienced participants, i.e., female physiotherapists and the more experienced ones had more correct answers on the nutritional questionnaire than the male and less experienced physiotherapists, respectively (p < 0.05). Our results open an interesting window for the future education and training of Brazilian physiotherapists in nutrition.

Periconceptional folic acid usage and its associated factors in eastern Sudan: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Several countries poorly adhere to the World Health Organization's recommendation of folic acid supplementation in the periconceptional period, especially in limited-resource settings.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and the factors associated with folic acid usage in the periconceptional period among pregnant women at Gadarif Maternity Hospital in eastern Sudan.

STUDY DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

This study was conducted in eastern Sudan from April to September 2022. A total of 720 pregnant women in their first trimester were enrolled. The sociodemographic characteristics and clinical and obstetrical data of pregnant women in their first trimester were assessed using a face-to-face questionnaire. In addition, multivariate regression analysis was performed.

RESULTS

In this study, the median (interquartile range) of the age and gravidity of the enrolled women was 26.3 (24.14-29.52) years and 2 (1-4), respectively. Of these 720 women, 423 (58.8%) used folic acid during the periconceptional period, while 27 (3.7%) women used folic acid in the preconceptional period. None of the investigated factors (age, residence, education, employment, body mass index, or gravidity) were associated with periconceptional use of folic acid.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed a low prevalence of folic acid usage in preconceptional period among pregnant women in eastern Sudan. Additional efforts are needed to promote folic acid usage in the preconceptional period as well as in the first trimester.

Suplementação de sulfato ferroso entre gestantes: um estudo de série temporal no extremo Sul do Brasil

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito de algumas características maternas sobre o uso do sulfato ferroso entre puérperas pertencentes a cinco estudos perinatais do Município de Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Entre 1º de janeiro e 31 de dezembro dos anos 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 e 2019, entrevistadoras previamente treinadas aplicaram, em até 48 horas após o parto, ainda no hospital, questionário padronizado a todas as puérperas residentes nesse município e que tiveram parto nos dois únicos hospitais locais. Foram investigadas características demográficas, socioeconômicas e cuidados recebidos durante a gestação e o parto. Teste qui-quadrado foi utilizado para comparar proporções e regressão de Poisson com ajuste robusto da variância na análise multivariável. A medida de efeito utilizada foi razão de prevalências. Dentre as 12.645 participantes (98,1% do total), 74,5% (IC95%: 74,7-76,2) utilizaram o sulfato ferroso durante a gestação. Essa prevalência variou de 61,7% (IC95%: 59,7-63,6) em 2007 a 81,1% (IC95%: 79,5-82,7) em 2019 (valor de p para tendência < 0,001). Após ajuste, verificou-se que a suplementação de sulfato ferroso foi significativamente maior entre gestantes adolescentes, de menor escolaridade (0-8 anos), pertencentes ao menor quartil de renda, que realizaram pré-natal considerado adequado e no setor público de saúde (p < 0,05). Houve grande melhora na prevalência de uso de sulfato ferroso no período estudado, no entanto ainda falta atingir a equidade. Recomenda-se que os profissionais de saúde priorizem as mulheres com mais idade, com melhor nível socioeconômico e que utilizam o setor privado de saúde durante o pré-natal.