Diversifying Doulas Initiative: Improving Maternal Health Outcomes in People of Color Through Doula Care.

The Diversifying Doulas Initiative (DDI) aims to improve maternal health outcomes in Black and Brown people through doula care in Lancaster County. DDI trained 28 Black and Brown doulas and provided fully subsidized doula care to over 200 patients of color giving birth in Lancaster County. The perinatal workforce comprises community birth workers, doulas, midwives, nurses, students, and physicians.

Sexual health during pregnancy and the postpartum.

Introduction: Pregnancy and childbirth is a special period in a woman's life, which involves significant physical, hormonal, psychological, social, and cultural changes that may influence her own sexuality as well as the health of a couple's sexual relationship.

Aim: To comprehensively review the literature on the effects of pregnancy and the postpartum period on a couple's sexual health and well-being.

Main Outcome Measures:   Evidence from the published literature of the impact of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period on sexual function.

Building community-based participatory research partnerships with a Somali refugee community.

Background: The U.S. has become home to growing numbers of immigrants and refugees from countries where the traditional practice of female genital cutting (FGC) is prevalent.

Cervical cancer screening among immigrants and ethnic minorities: a systematic review using the Health Belief Model.

Objective: To systematically review all studies examining sociocultural factors influencing cervical cancer screening among immigrant and ethnic minorities in the United States along the theoretical framework of the Health Belief Model.

Materials And Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE, and Cochrane database searches were conducted searching for English language, US-based studies to examine minority and immigrant populations within the theoretical framework of the Health Belief Model. Fifty-five of more than 3,381 potentially relevant articles were included in the final analysis.

Is elective vulvar plastic surgery ever warranted, and what screening should be conducted preoperatively?

Introduction: Elective vulvar plastic surgery was the topic of a heated discussion on the list-serve of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Medicine. At the suggestion of a board member, it was determined that this discussion might of interest to journal readers in the form of a published controversy.

Methods: Six people with expertise and/or strong opinions in the area of vulvar health, several of whom had been involved in the earlier online discussion, were invited to submit evidence-based opinions on the topic.

Surgical treatment of vulvar vestibulitis syndrome: outcome assessment derived from a postoperative questionnaire.

Introduction: Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS) is the most common pathology in women with sexual pain. Surgery for VVS was first described in 1981. Despite apparently high surgical success rates, most review articles suggest that surgery should be used only "as a last resort.

The role of androgens in hormone replacement therapy.

In recent years, increased attention to women's sexual health has propelled basic scientific research and clinical trials investigating treatment paradigms for improving sexual well-being. As the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction has become manifest, knowledge of the intricate pathophysiological role of androgens in maintaining sexual function has fostered a clearer understanding of the effect of age on androgen status, the role of androgens in the postmenopausal ovary, and aetiological mechanisms of androgen insufficiency in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Understanding the long-term safety and efficacy of physiological androgen replacement and the development of sensitive testosterone assays for specific use in women will better characterise women who are most likely to respond to androgen therapy and, thereby, optimise their quality of life.