BACKGROUND Prenatal maternal intent to breastfeed can indicate postnatal breastfeeding practices and may serve to indicate potential barriers to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding rates in West Virginia, a primarily rural state, are among the lowest in the United States, and minimal research has been published to date on population-based prenatal intent to breastfeed among rural women. METHODS Seco...

BACKGROUND Depression is the leading cause of disability for childbearing women. We examined three specific research questions among Punjabi-speaking women residing in the Fraser Health Authority: 1) What are the prevalence rates of prenatal depressive symptoms? 2) Do Punjabi-speaking women have a higher likelihood of reporting depressive symptoms compared to English-speaking women after contro...

OBJECTIVE To assess rates of offering and uptake of HIV testing and their predictors among women who attended prenatal care. METHODS A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among postpartum women (N=2,234) who attended at least one prenatal care visit in 12 cities. Independent and probabilistic samples were selected in the cities studied. Sociodemographic data, information abou...

Objective To determine patient perception of residual risk after receiving a negative non-invasive prenatal testing result. Introduction Recent technological advances have yielded a new method of prenatal screening, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), which uses cell-free fetal DNA from the mother's blood to assess for aneuploidy. NIPT has much higher detection rates and positive predictive v...

Hot yoga establishments have been increasing in popularity in local communities. Studios may support participation among pregnant women though no clinical studies currently exist that examine prenatal hot yoga effects. The pilot study described in this article aimed to assess the spread of prenatal hot yoga and to provide information on the environmental conditions and practices of those who en...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the association between physical violence by an intimate partner (PVIP) and the inappropriate use of prenatal care services. METHODS A nested cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,026 women, based on data from a prospective cohort study designed to investigate intimate partner violence among pregnant women enrolled in the Family Health Program (PSF) in Recife, Northe...

BACKGROUND The model of volunteer community health workers (CHWs) is a common approach to serving the poor communities in developing countries. BRAC, a large NGO in Bangladesh, is a pioneer in this area, has been using female CHWs as core workers in its community-based health programs since 1977. After 25 years of implementing of the CHW model in rural areas, BRAC has begun using female CHWs in...

Introduction: Quality of life is individuals’ perception of their status in life in the context of the culture and value systems they live in. Pregnancy has a great impact on mothers and their quality of life. Prenatal classes provide mothers with information about pregnancy, labor process and newborn care. Objective:The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of prenata...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether group prenatal care improves pregnancy outcomes, psychosocial function, and patient satisfaction and to examine potential cost differences. METHODS A multisite randomized controlled trial was conducted at two university-affiliated hospital prenatal clinics. Pregnant women aged 14-25 years (n=1,047) were randomly assigned to either standard or group care. Women w...