Childbirth is a major event in the lives of mothers and their families. Critical illness in pregnancy is uncommon but may arise from conditions unique to pregnancy, conditions exacerbated by pregnancy and coincidental conditions. According to the latest Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in the UK, haemorrhage remains a leading direct cause of mortality; however, there has been an increa...

Canadian findings suggest that health care providers require further training and education to support their work preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). However, the knowledge and training of health care students in relation to FASD remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to understand the attitudes and beliefs of health care students about alcohol use during pregn...

background physical activity (pa) patterns during pregnancy have not been explored in depth and most previous studies lack assessment of variables such as type, frequency, duration and intensity of activity. objectives this study had two goals: 1) to analyze pa patterns during pregnancy according to weekly time spent on different types of activity; and 2) to determine women’s perception about h...

The goal of reducing unintended pregnancy was identified in Healthy People 2000 [1], but the measures and objectives created to reach this goal have often focused solely on increasing access to contraception. While increasing access to contraception is a vitally important tool, it does not sufficiently address the problem of unintended pregnancy. Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of pri...

QUESTION Many of my patients have asked me if they should defer dental treatment until after they have given birth. Is there any risk associated with performing dental treatments during pregnancy? ANSWER Appropriate and timely dental care can lead to improved pregnancy outcomes as well as greater comfort for the woman. The treatment of periodontitis, as well as the use of local anesthetics, a...

OBJECTIVES To review the standard of care in cases of maternal mortality due to hypertensive diseases in pregnancy and to make recommendations for its improvement. DESIGN Care given to women with hypertensive disease in pregnancy was audited and substandard care factors identified. SETTING Confidential enquiry by the Dutch Maternal Mortality Committee (MMC) from the Netherlands Society of O...

CONTEXT Women's behaviors before and during pregnancy can affect their infants' health. Particularly because many births in the United States are unintended, it is important to understand women's health behaviors and pregnancy planning status before they become pregnant. METHODS A telephone survey of nonpregnant women of childbearing age who belonged to a Southern California managed care plan...

BACKGROUND A woman's health seeking behaviour during pregnancy has been found to have significant repercussions on her wellbeing and that of her unborn child. For example, the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes and maternal death is higher among women who do not receive antenatal care. METHODS The study described the characteristics of women who reported wanted, unwanted and mistimed pregnancies...

BACKGROUND In contrast to other pregnancy complications the economic impact of stillbirth is poorly understood. We aimed to carry out a preliminary exploration of the healthcare costs of stillbirth from the time of pregnancy loss and the period afterwards; also to explore and include the impact of a previous stillbirth on the healthcare costs of the next pregnancy. METHODS A structured review...

In this paper, I argue that pregnant women confront a "double-bind" in complying with medical directives to report pregnancy symptoms: the combination of the routinization of prenatal care, understandings of fetal subjectivity, and the cultural discourse of maternal sacrifice create a situation in which women are at risk of failing as either as good patients, good mothers, or both. Longitudinal...