Racial and Ethnic and Rural Variations in the Use of Hybrid Prenatal Care in the US.

Importance: Understanding whether there are racial and ethnic and residential disparities in prenatal telehealth uptake is necessary for ensuring equitable access and guiding implementation of future hybrid (ie, both telehealth and in-person) prenatal care.

Objective: To assess temporal changes in individuals using hybrid prenatal care before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) by race and ethnicity and residence location in the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study analyzed electronic health record data of prenatal care visits from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative Data Enclave, comprising data from 75 health systems and freestanding institutes in all 50 US states.

Artificial Intelligence-Augmented Clinical Decision Support Systems for Pregnancy Care: Systematic Review.

Background: Despite the emerging application of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in pregnancy care and the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) over the last decade, it remains understudied regarding the role of AI in CDSS specialized for pregnancy care.

Objective: To identify and synthesize AI-augmented CDSS in pregnancy care, CDSS functionality, AI methodologies, and clinical implementation, we reported a systematic review based on empirical studies that examined AI-augmented CDSS in pregnancy care.

Methods: We retrieved studies that examined AI-augmented CDSS in pregnancy care using database queries involved with titles, abstracts, keywords, and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms.

Employing digital PCR for enhanced detection of perinatal Toxoplasma gondii infection: A cross-sectional surveillance and maternal-infant outcomes study in El Salvador.

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic infection that can be transmitted in utero, resulting in fetal chorioretinitis and other long-term neurological outcomes. If diagnosed early, pregnancy-safe chemotherapeutics can prevent vertical transmission. Unfortunately, diagnosis of acute, primary infection among pregnant women remains neglected, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries.

Perinatal dengue and Zika virus cross-sectional seroprevalence and maternal-fetal outcomes among El Salvadoran women presenting for labor-and-delivery.

Background: Despite maternal flavivirus infections' linkage to severe maternal and fetal outcomes, surveillance during pregnancy remains limited globally. Further complicating maternal screening for these potentially teratogenic pathogens is the overwhelming subclinical nature of acute infection. This study aimed to understand perinatal and neonatal risk for poor health outcomes associated with flaviviral infection during pregnancy in El Salvador.

Severe maternal morbidity by race and ethnicity before vs. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To examine the change in racial disparity in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection and SMM.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used linked databases of all livebirths delivered between 2018 and 2021 in South Carolina (n = 162,576). Exposures were 1) pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (before vs.

Dual Barriers: Examining Digital Access and Travel Burdens to Hospital Maternity Care Access in the United States, 2020.

Unlabelled: Policy Points The White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis report released in June 2022 highlighted the need to enhance equitable access to maternity care. Nationwide hospital maternity unit closures have worsened the maternal health crisis in underserved communities, leaving many birthing people with few options and with long travel times to reach essential care. Ensuring equitable access to maternity care requires addressing travel burdens to care and inadequate digital access.

Chagas Disease Maternal Seroprevalence and Maternal-Fetal Health Outcomes in a Parturition Cohort in Western El Salvador.

Congenital Chagas disease is a growing concern, prioritized by the World Health Organization for public health action. El Salvador is home to some of the highest Chagas disease ( infection) burdens in the Americas, yet pregnancy screening remains neglected. This pilot investigation performed a maternal surveillance study in Western El Salvador among women presenting for labor and delivery.

Risk for stillbirth among pregnant individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection varied by gestational age.

Background: Despite previous research findings on higher risks of stillbirth among pregnant individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection, it is unclear whether the gestational timing of viral infection modulates this risk.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between timing of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and risk of stillbirth.

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study used multilevel logistic regression analyses of nationwide electronic health records in the United States.

TORCH Congenital Syndrome Infections in Central America's Northern Triangle.

TORCH pathogens are a group of globally prevalent infectious agents that may cross the placental barrier, causing severe negative sequalae in neonates, including fetal death and lifelong morbidity. TORCH infections are classically defined by , other infectious causes of concern (e.g.

Temporal Events Detector for Pregnancy Care (TED-PC): A rule-based algorithm to infer gestational age and delivery date from electronic health records of pregnant women with and without COVID-19.

Objective: Identifying the time of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection relative to specific gestational weeks is critical for delineating the role of viral infection timing in adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, this task is difficult when it comes to Electronic Health Records (EHR). In combating the COVID-19 pandemic for maternal health, we sought to develop and validate a clinical information extraction algorithm to detect the time of clinical events relative to gestational weeks.

Analysis of Residential Segregation and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Persistent racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in the US remain a public health concern. Structural racism leaves women of color in a disadvantaged situation especially during COVID-19, leading to disproportionate pandemic afflictions among racial and ethnic minority women.

Objective: To examine racial and ethnic disparities in SMM rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the disparities varied with level of Black residential segregation.

Multilevel determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: protocol for a concurrent triangulation, mixed-methods study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected communities of colour the hardest. Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic pregnant women appear to have disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 infection and death rates.

Methods And Analysis: We will use the socioecological framework and employ a concurrent triangulation, mixed-methods study design to achieve three specific aims: (1) examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMMM); (2) explore how social contexts (eg, racial/ethnic residential segregation) have contributed to the widening of racial/ethnic disparities in SMMM during the pandemic and identify distinct mediating pathways through maternity care and mental health; and (3) determine the role of social contextual factors on racial/ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related morbidities using machine learning algorithms.