Single Mothers' Experiences with Pregnancy and Child Rearing in Korea: Discrepancy between Social Services/Policies and Single Mothers' Needs

Implications of a Reduced Length of Postpartum Hospital Stay on Maternal and Neonatal Readmissions, an Observational Study

INTRODUCTION

Reducing the Length Of postpartum Stay (LOS) is associated with lower hospital costs, a major reason for initiating federal projects in Belgium. Disadvantages following the reduction of LOS are the risks of maternal and neonatal readmissions. This study compares readmissions with or without reduced LOS, by introducing the KOZI&Home program in the university hospital Brussels.

METHODS

This is an observational study comparing the readmission rates of the length of postpartum hospital stay between two groups: the non-KOZI&Home group (> 2 days for vaginal birth and > 4 days for caesarean section) and KOZI&Home group (≤ 2 days for vaginal birth and ≤ 4 days for caesarean section). A follow-up period of 16 weeks was set up.

RESULTS

The maternal readmission rate was 4,8% for the non-KOZI&Home group (n = 332) and 3.3% for the KOZI&Home group (n = 253). Neonatal readmission rates were 7.2% and 15.9% respectively. After controlling influencing factors in a multivariate model for maternal and neonatal readmissions, there were no statistical significant differences. Factors negatively affecting neonatal readmissions are (1) dismissal period October-January (OR:3.22;95% CI 1.10-9.42) and (2) low education level (OR:3.44;95% CI 1.54-7.67), for maternal readmissions it concerns whether or not LOS is known (OR:3.26;95% CI 1.21-8.81).

DISCUSSION

There is no effect of the KOZI&Home program on maternal nor neonatal readmission rates. Systematically informing about postpartum LOS antenatally will enforce preparation and is important to reduce maternal readmissions. Personalized information should be given to women discharged in the period October-January and to those with a lower education level, in order to reduce neonatal readmissions.

A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of partner relationship breakup during pregnancy: Psychosocial effects, coping mechanisms, and the healthcare providers' role

Background

Pregnancy is a state of continuous changes in feelings and emotions, and highly stressful experiences such as a relationship breakup during this period may result in additional stress for the woman, making pregnancy and motherhood challenging. This study aimed to investigate pregnant women's lived experiences of partner relationship breakup during pregnancy, their coping mechanisms, and the role of healthcare providers in breakup cases during their Antenatal care visits.

Methods

A phenomenological study approach was followed to seek an understanding of the lived experiences of pregnant women who encountered partner relationship breakup. The study was carried out in Hawassa, Ethiopia, and eight pregnant women were involved in in-depth interviews. The data meanings found from participants' experiences were described in a meaningful text and organized into themes. Key themes were developed in reference to the research objectives, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results

Pregnant women in such situations faced serious psychological and emotional distress, feelings of shame/embarrassment, prejudice and discrimination, and severe economic struggles. To cope with this multifaceted situation, pregnant women sought social support from family/relatives or close friends, and if they had no other options, from supporting organizations. The participants also revealed that they received no counseling from healthcare providers during their Antenatal care visits, and there was no further discussion to address their psychosocial problems.

Conclusions

Community-level information, education, and communication should be initiated to aware communities about the psychosocial consequences of relationship breakup during pregnancy, address cultural norms and discrimination, and promote supportive environments. Women's empowerment activities and psychosocial support services should also be strengthened. In addition, the need for more comprehensive Antenatal care to address such unique risk conditions is indicated.

Accessibility of Urban Nonprofit Public Nursery Services Based on Big Data

In today's society, the pressure of family care is increasing and people's demand for childcare services is increasing. At the same time, the government also pays more attention to the problem of 0 ∼ 3-year-old infant care services which are desperately needed in every society throughout the world. General studies have been carried out in literature where results show that in families with only one child, long working hours and with more than two children, the three factors of children's age gap, attention to nursery facilities, attention to environment and food safety have a negative impact on people's demand for nursery services. From these studies, we have extracted three vital factors that have a positive impact on people's demand for childcare services: grandparents' help to take care of children, parents' age, and psychological tolerance of childcare service fees. In this paper, we have utilized one of the most commonly used methodology, i.e., big data, to smoothly resolve the accessibility issue of urban non-profit public nursery services. In order to verify and evaluate our claim, we have implemented the proposed scheme and compared the results which shows that exceptional performance of the propose scheme.

Using epidemiological data to identify needs for child-rearing support among Chinese parents: a cross-sectional survey of parents of children aged 6 to 35 months in 15 Chinese cities

Background

The quality of the family environment—in particular, the kind of parenting children receive in their early years—plays a critical role in influencing children’s growth and development. To facilitate the development and delivery of appropriate parenting and family interventions for Chinese parents, this study explores the prevalence of the difficulties that may arise in the course of child-rearing, the associated sociodemographic factors and parents’ help-seeking behavior.

Methods

A cross-sectional self-reporting survey was conducted with a sample of 2229 parents of children between 6 and 35 months of age. Using a stratified random-digit design, parents from 15 Chinese cities were surveyed to determine their child-rearing difficulties, support-seeking behavior and their preferences for service delivery. The sociodemographic factors that influenced major child-rearing difficulties were analyzed using bivariate and logistic analyses.

Results

The majority (87.5%) of Chinese parents of children aged 6–35 months reported experiencing child-rearing difficulties. Nearly one third (31.5%) of parents reported experiencing major difficulties. Feeding and sleep problems were most often reported. Regression analysis revealed that major child-rearing difficulties most often involved male children (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.11–1.64), single-child households (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.07–1.77), and households with financial problems (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.06–1.85). Just over one third of parents (33.44%) sought professional support, while 21.37% had attended a parenting course in the past year. Prefer ways of sourcing parental support included professional online platform (69.24%), self-help books (43.70%), face-to-face consultation (24.99%), and attending lectures (36.57%).

Conclusions

Child-rearing difficulties are common among parents of children between 6 and 35 months of age in Chinese cities. The family with boys, single-child, financial problems, and father not joining in child-rearing may face the high risk to major child-rearing difficulties. The national initiative to provide more guidance and support for child-rearing difficulties is worthwhile, as is the development of online parenting programs.