Internet message boards for pregnancy loss: who's on-line and why?

Background: Pregnancy loss is common, but its significance is often minimized by family, friends, and the community, leaving bereaved parents with unmet need for support. This study sought to describe demographics, usage patterns, and perceived benefits for women participating in Internet pregnancy loss support groups.

Methods: We requested permission to post an anonymous Internet survey on large and active United States Internet message boards for women with miscarriages and stillbirths.

Reliability of a perinatal outcomes measure: the Optimality Index-US.

The Optimality Index-US, a recently developed perinatal clinimetric index, has been validated with both clinical and research databases. Documentation of the reliability of the instrument for medical record abstraction is needed. This paper reports outcomes of interrater reliability assessments conducted for two projects.