Prenatal stress (PS) and early postnatal environment may alter maternal care. Infant rats learn to identify their mother through the association between maternal care and familiar odors. Female Wistar rats were exposed to restraint stress for 30 min, 4 sessions per day, in the last 7 days of pregnancy. At birth, pups were cross-fostered and assigned to the following groups: prenatal non-stresse...

BACKGROUND There is significant evidence to support the importance of prenatal care in preventing adverse outcomes such as preterm birth and low infant birth weight. Previous studies have indicated that the benefits of prenatal care are not evenly distributed throughout the social strata. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that among particular populations, rates of preterm birth are uncha...

BACKGROUND Prenatal care reduces perinatal morbidity. However, there are no population-based studies examining the adequacy of prenatal care among women living with HIV. Accordingly, we compared the prevalence of adequate prenatal care among women living with and without HIV infection in Ontario, Canada. METHODS Using administrative data in a universal single-payer setting, we determined the ...

BACKGROUND Pregnant women are a vulnerable population. Although regular follow-ups are recommended during pregnancy, not all pregnant women seek care. This pilot study wanted to assess whether the integration of data from administrative health information systems and socio-economic features allows identifying disparities in prenatal care trajectories. METHODS Prenatal care trajectories were e...

The paper investigates the effect of adequate use of prenatal care on birth weight in Kenya using data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2008-2009 together with additional administrative data. Both a single-level model and a multi-level model are estimated. The estimation strategy controls for potential sample selection bias, potential endogeneity of prenatal care, and potential u...

BACKGROUND Evidence about the best methods with which to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals is urgently needed. We assessed the effect of performance-based payment of health-care providers (payment for performance; P4P) on use and quality of child and maternal care services in health-care facilities in Rwanda. METHODS 166 facilities were randomly assigned a...

Aims: Paying attention to the health of pregnant women leads to the newborn’s health and ultimately, the health of society. Health literacy and knowledge of antenatal care reduce neonatal and maternal fatality, increase maternal and neonatal health. The current research, therefore, aims to investigate the association of health literacy, antenatal care adequacy indicators, and delivery outcomes....

OBJECTIVES This study asked the following questions: 1) Does HIV testing in pregnancy identify women who previously were not known to be HIV positive? 2) When in pregnancy are women identified as HIV infected? 3) Does HIV seroconversion occur during the prenatal care period? METHODS Medical records of 97 women from two primarily indigent care hospitals in Houston, TX who were found to be HIV ...

Objectives: This study asked the following questions: 1) Does HIV testing in pregnancy identify women who previously were not known to be HIV positive? 2) When in pregnancy are women identified as HIV infected? 3) Does HIV seroconversion occur during the prenatal care period? Methods: Medical records of 97 women from two primarily indigent care hospitals in Houston, TX who were found to be HIV ...