Mobile phone application use in pregnant women: does it make a difference? Usage and perinatal outcomes in China (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puhong Zhang ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Jie Shang ◽  
Jun Ge ◽  
Huichen Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcome ◽  
Perinatal Outcomes ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Mobile Phone Application ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
And Child Health

BACKGROUND Maternal and child health (MCH) related mobile applications (apps) are becoming increasingly popular amongst pregnant women, however, few have demonstrated they lead to improvements in pregnancy outcomes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the use of MCH apps amongst pregnant women and explore associations with pregnancy outcomes in China. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in six maternal and child health hospitals in Northern China. Women who delivered a singleton baby greater than 28 weeks gestation in the study hospitals were sequentially recruited from postnatal wards during October 2017 to January 2018. Information was collected on self-reported MCH app use during their pregnancy, with clinical outcomes. Women were categorized as non-users of MCH apps, and users (further divided into intermittent users and continuous users). The primary outcome was a composite adverse pregnancy outcome (CAPO) comprising preterm birth, birth weight <2500 grams, birth defects, stillbirth and neonatal asphyxia. The association between app use and CAPO was explored using multivariable logistic analysis. RESULTS The 1850 participants reported using 127 different MCH apps during pregnancy. App use frequency was reported as never, 457 (24.7%); intermittent 876 (47.4%); and continuous 517 (27.9%). Amongst app users, the most common reasons for app use were for health education (100.0%), self-monitoring (54.2%) and antenatal appointment reminders (43.2%). Non-users were older, with fewer years of education, lower incomes, and higher parity (P<0.01). No association was found between “any app” use and the CAPO (6.8% in non-users compared to 6.3% in any users, OR 0.77, 95% CI: 0.48-1.25). CONCLUSIONS Women in China access a large number of different MCH apps, with social disparities in access and frequency of use. “Any app” use was not found associated with improved pregnancy outcomes, highlighting the needs for rigorous development and testing of apps before recommendation for use in clinical settings.

scholarly journals Development of a Blueprint for Integrated Care for Vulnerable Pregnant Women

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Harmsen van der Vliet-Torij ◽  
A. A. Venekamp ◽  
H. J. M. van Heijningen-Tousain ◽  
E. Wingelaar-Loomans ◽  
J. Scheele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Integrated Care ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Perinatal Outcomes ◽  
Child Health Care ◽  
And Child Health

Abstract Purpose There has been increasing awareness of perinatal health and organisation of maternal and child health care in the Netherlands as a result of poor perinatal outcomes. Vulnerable women have a higher risk of these poor perinatal outcomes and also have a higher chance of receiving less adequate care. Therefore, within a consortium, embracing 100 organisations among professionals, educators, researchers, and policymakers, a joint aim was defined to support maternal and child health care professionals and social care professionals in providing adequate, integrated care for vulnerable pregnant women. Description Within the consortium, vulnerability is defined as the presence of psychopathology, psychosocial problems, and/or substance use, combined with a lack of individual and/or social resources. Three studies focussing on population characteristics, organisation of care and knowledge, skills, and attitudes of professionals regarding vulnerable pregnant women, were carried out. Outcomes were discussed in three field consultations. Assessment The outcomes of the studies, followed by the field consultations, resulted in a blueprint that was subsequently adapted to local operational care pathways in seven obstetric collaborations (organisational structures that consist of obstetricians of a single hospital and collaborating midwifery practices) and their collaborative partners. We conducted 12 interviews to evaluate the adaptation of the blueprint to local operational care pathways and its’ embedding into the obstetric collaborations. Conclusion Practice-based research resulted in a blueprint tailored to the needs of maternal and child health care professionals and social care professionals and providing structure and uniformity to integrated care provision for vulnerable pregnant women.

scholarly journals Quality of Maternity Care and Client Satisfaction

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
Saraswoti Kumari Gautam Bhattarai ◽  
Kanchan Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Client Satisfaction ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Postnatal Period ◽  
And Child Health

Health service provided to pregnant women during antenatal, childbirth and postnatal period is essential for maternal and child health. Proper care during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period are important for the health of mother and baby. High maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality demand improved healthcare which does not concern to coverage of health services alone. The health issues of pregnant women, mothers, infants and children need to be addressed with the attention to the quality of care (QoC).  The Nepal Health Sector Strategy (NHSS) also identifies equity and quality of care gaps as areas of concern for achieving the maternal health sustainable development goal (SDG) target. So this review aims to sensitize and draw attention to the quality of maternity care and client satisfaction to improve maternal and child health. For this article, different studies related to the quality of maternity care and satisfaction from care service received on maternity care are reviewed.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome: A Systematic Review of 104 Cases

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 3441
Author(s):  
Ramy Abou Ghayda ◽  
Han Li ◽  
Keum Hwa Lee ◽  
Hee Won Lee ◽  
Sung Hwi Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcome ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Maternal Mortality Ratio ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Neonatal Outcomes ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy

(1) Background: Until now, several reports about pregnant women with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been published. However, there are no comprehensive systematic reviews collecting all case series studies on data regarding adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially association with treatment modalities. (2) Objective: We aimed to synthesize the most up-to-date and relevant available evidence on the outcomes of pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed infection with COVID-19. (3) Methods: PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, Google scholar, and Embase were explored for studies and papers regarding pregnant women with COVID-19, including obstetrical, perinatal, and neonatal outcomes and complications published from 1 January 2020 to 4 May 2020. Systematic review and search of the published literature was done using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). (4) Results: In total, 11 case series studies comprising 104 pregnant women with COVID-19 were included in our review. Fever (58.6%) and cough (30.7%) were the most common symptoms. Other symptoms included dyspnea (14.4%), chest discomfort (3.9%), sputum production (1.0%), sore throat (2.9%), and nasal obstruction (1.0%). Fifty-two patients (50.0%) eventually demonstrated abnormal chest CT, and of those with ground glass opacity (GGO), 23 (22.1%) were bilateral and 10 (9.6%) were unilateral. The most common treatment for COVID-19 was administration of antibiotics (25.9%) followed by antivirals (17.3%). Cesarean section was the mode of delivery for half of the women (50.0%), although no information was available for 28.8% of the cases. Regarding obstetrical and neonatal outcomes, fetal distress (13.5%), pre-labor rupture of membranes (9.6%), prematurity (8.7%), fetal death (4.8%), and abortion (2.9%) were reported. There are no positive results of neonatal infection by RT-PCR. (5) Conclusions: Although we have found that pregnancy with COVID-19 has significantly higher maternal mortality ratio compared to that of pregnancy without the disease, the evidence is too weak to state that COVID-19 results in poorer maternal outcome due to multiple factors. The number of COVID-19 pregnancy outcomes was not large enough to draw a conclusion and long-term outcomes are yet to be determined as the pandemic is still unfolding. Active and intensive follow-up is needed in order to provide robust data for future studies.

Ambient Formaldehyde Levels and Allergic Disorders Among Japanese Pregnant Women: Baseline Data From the Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ichiro Matsunaga ◽  
Yoshihiro Miyake ◽  
Toshiaki Yoshida ◽  
Shoichi Miyamoto ◽  
Yukihiro Ohya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Baseline Data ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Japanese Pregnant Women ◽  
Allergic Disorders ◽  
And Child Health

Task shifting in maternal and child health care: An evidence brief for Uganda

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Nabudere ◽  
Delius Asiimwe ◽  
Rhona Mijumbi
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Perinatal Outcomes ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Task Shifting ◽  
Care Seeking ◽  
And Child Health

The Problem: There is a shortage and maldistribution of medically trained health professionals to deliver cost-effective maternal and child health (MCH) services. Hence, cost-effective MCH services are not available to over half the population of Uganda and progress toward the Millennium Development Goals for MCH is slow. Optimizing the roles of less specialized health workers (“task shifting”) is one strategy to address the shortage and maldistribution of more specialized health professionals.Policy Options: (i) Lay health workers (community health workers) may reduce morbidity and mortality in children under five and neonates; and training for traditional birth attendants may improve perinatal outcomes and appropriate referrals. (ii) Nursing assistants in facilities might increase the time available from nurses, midwives, and doctors to provide care that requires more training. (iii) Nurses and midwives to deliver cost-effective MCH interventions in areas where there is a shortage of doctors. (iv) Drug dispensers to promote and deliver cost-effective MCH interventions and improve the quality of the services they provide. The costs and cost-effectiveness of all four options are uncertain. Given the limitations of the currently available evidence, rigorous evaluation and monitoring of resource use and activities is warranted for all four options.Implementation Strategies: A clear policy on optimizing health worker roles. Community mobilization and reduction of out-of-pocket costs to improve mothers’ knowledge and care-seeking behaviors, continuing education, and incentives to ensure health workers are competent and motivated, and community referral and transport schemes for MCH care are needed.

scholarly journals Assessment of HCMV-encoded microRNAs in Plasma as Potential Biomarkers in Pregnant Women with Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiying Gao ◽  
Likun Zhou ◽  
Jing Bai ◽  
Meng Ding ◽  
Deshui Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcome ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Immunoglobulin M ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
Normal Controls

Abstract Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most frequent cause of congenital infections and can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO). HCMV encodes multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) that have been reported to be partially related to host immune responses, cell cycle regulation, viral replication and viral latency, and can be detected in human plasma. However, the relevance of HCMV-encoded miRNAs in maternal plasma as an indicator for APO has never been evaluated.Methods: The expression profiles of 25 HCMV-encoded miRNAs were first measured in plasma samples from 20 pregnant women with APO and 28 normal controls by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) technology. Next, markedly changed miRNAs were validated in another independent validation set consisting of 20 pregnant women with APO and 27 control subjects. HCMV DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) and anti-HCMV immunoglobulin M (IgM) and anti-HCMV immunoglobulin G (IgG) in plasma were also examined in both the training and validation sets. Diagnostic value and risk factors were compared between adverse pregnancy outcome cohorts and normal controls.Results: The analysis of training and validation data sets revealed that plasma concentrations of hcmv-miR-UL148D, hcmv-miR-US25-1-5p and hcmv-miR-US5-1 were obviously increased in pregnant women with APO compared with normal controls. Hcmv-miR-US25-1-5p presented the largest area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (0.735; 95% CI, 0.635–0.836), with a sensitivity of 68% and specificity of 71%. Furthermore, the plasma levels of hcmv-miR-US25-1-5p and hcmv-miR-US5-1 were obviously positively correlated with APO (P = 0.029 and 0.035, respectively). Nevertheless, neither the concentration of HCMV DNA in PBLs nor the positivity rates of anti-HCMV IgM and IgG in plasma showed statistically significant correlation with APO.Conclusion: We identified a unique signature of HCMV-encoded miRNAs in pregnant women with APO, which may be useful as a potential noninvasive biomarker for predicting and monitoring APO during HCMV infection.

scholarly journals Maternal Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Combined With Abnormal Glucose Metabolism Further Increases Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Chinese Pregnant Women

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Fang Li ◽  
Jiang-Feng Ke ◽  
Li Ma ◽  
Jun-Wei Wang ◽  
Zhi-Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Perinatal Outcomes ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Abnormal Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Induced Hypertension ◽  
Adverse Perinatal Outcomes ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy

AimsOur aim was to evaluate the separate and combined effects of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational abnormal glucose metabolism (GAGM) on adverse perinatal outcomes.MethodsA total of 2,796 Chinese pregnant women with singleton delivery were studied, including 257 women with pre-pregnancy obesity alone, 604 with GAGM alone, 190 with both two conditions, and 1,745 with neither pre-pregnancy obesity nor GAGM as control group. The prevalence and risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes were compared among the four groups.ResultsCompared with the normal group, pregnant women with maternal pre-pregnancy obesity alone, GAGM alone, and both two conditions faced significantly increased risks of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) (odds ratio (OR) 4.045, [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.286–7.156]; 1.993 [1.171–3.393]; 8.495 [4.982–14.485]), preeclampsia (2.649 [1.224–5.735]; 2.129 [1.128–4.017]; 4.643 [2.217–9.727]), cesarean delivery (1.589 [1.212–2.083]; 1.328 [1.095–1.611]; 2.627 [1.908–3.617]), preterm delivery (1.899 [1.205–2.993]; 1.358 [0.937–1.968]; 2.301 [1.423–3.720]), macrosomia (2.449 [1.517–3.954]; 1.966 [1.356–2.851]; 4.576 [2.895–7.233]), and total adverse maternal outcomes (1.762 [1.331–2.332]; 1.365 [1.122–1.659]; 3.228 [2.272–4.587]) and neonatal outcomes (1.951 [1.361–2.798]; 1.547 [1.170–2.046]; 3.557 [2.471–5.122]). Most importantly, there were no obvious risk differences in adverse pregnancy outcomes between maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and GAGM group except PIH, but pregnant women with both obesity and GAGM exhibited dramatically higher risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes than those with each condition alone.ConclusionsMaternal pre-pregnancy obesity and GAGM were independently associated with increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The combination of pre-pregnancy obesity and GAGM further worsens adverse pregnancy outcomes compared with each condition alone.

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