Staff in maternity-care facilities are seeing an increase in doulas, nonmedical childbirth assistants, who are trained to provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational labor support. The long-term medical and psychosocial benefits are well documented. In this article, misconceptions about the doula's role are corrected, and suggestions are offered on ways to improve communication be...

BACKGROUND Variations in care for pregnant women have been reported to affect pregnancy outcomes. METHODS This study examined data for all 3136 Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled at American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Strong Start sites who gave birth between 2012 and 2014. Using the AABC Perinatal Data Registry, descriptive statistics were us...

The periviable period is defined as delivery between 20 0/7 weeks and 25 6/7 of gestation. It has long been considered a “gray area,” there are still no clear guidelines on initial resuscitation subsequent treatment the newborn. This lack guidance compounds uncertainty in decision-making low- middle-income countries with limited resources. decision to treat or not far-reaching economic, social,...

BACKGROUND While a growing body of research has addressed pregnancy and postpartum impacts on female sexuality, relatively little work has been focused upon men. A few studies suggest that a fraction of men report decreases in libido during a partner's pregnancy and/or postpartum, with alterations in men's sexual behavior also commonly aligning with those of a partner. Here, we investigate sexu...

BACKGROUND Numerous study results vary when analyzing the relationship between labor induction and the likelihood of cesarean delivery; and few have accounted for the multiple influences of maternal sociodemographic characteristics combined with the provider and hospital in subsequent birth outcomes such as cesarean section. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the likelihood of cesarean birth foll...