The postnatal effects of perineal trauma on maternal psychological and emotional wellbeing: A longitudinal study.

Objective: To examine the postnatal psychological health and parenting adjustment of primiparous women experiencing perineal trauma.

Study Design: Longitudinal cohort study assessing body image, perceptions of traumatic birth, psychological distress, perineal pain, impact upon parental tasks and mother-infant bonding at 6-12 weeks (n = 103) and 6-10 months postnatally (n = 91). Primiparous women were recruited following vaginal birth and perineal suturing in a UK-based maternity hospital.

Follow up of women after obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI)-What is the role of anorectal testing?

Aims: To evaluate the benefit of performing anorectal studies on all women following primary obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) repair over performing them on symptomatic women only.

Methods: Women who attended perineal clinic between 2007 and 2020 underwent symptom assessment and anorectal studies at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. Anorectal studies including endo anal ultrasound (EAUS) and anal manometry (AM) were performed.

The role of anal manometry in the follow-up of women with obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI).

Introduction And Hypothesis: Mode of birth (MOB) following OASI is determined by choice, symptoms and anorectal study results in asymptomatic women. Endoanal ultrasound (EAUS) is the gold-standard imaging modality. EAUS use in MOB counselling is supported by strong evidence.

Use of strontium isotope ratios in geolocation of Guatemalan population: Potential role in identification of remains.

Within post-conflict communities, attempts to identify and repatriate unidentified and missing individuals poses a difficult task. As current forensic strategies commonly lack the capacity to provide region of origin assessments, forensic anthropologists/investigators are often unable to identify sources of DNA for kinship analysis. Using Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS), hair samples from 10 volunteers were used to assess the variation in strontium isotope ratios ( Sr/ Sr) between extant people in Guatemala City and Coban; with a leach (external) and digest (dietary) signal analyzed for each sample.

The effects of perineal trauma on immediate self-reported birth experience in first-time mothers.

Introduction: Childbirth can sometimes be stressful or traumatic, and previous research has considered how birth complications and interventions may contribute to a negative birth experience. One of the most frequent complications during birth is trauma to the perineum. The aim of this study was to investigate whether different levels of perineal trauma were associated with differences in women's evaluation of their birth experience.

Does water birth affect the risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury? Development of a prognostic model.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) is a significant complication of vaginal delivery. Water birth has become a popular preference for women giving birth in the UK, however, there is limited data on the risk of OASI following water birth. Our aim was to assess OASI risk in low-risk women giving birth in water without medical intervention compared with on land and to create a prognostic model for OASI prediction.

A systematic mixed studies review of women's experiences of perineal trauma sustained during childbirth.

Aim: To explore the quantitative/qualitative literature on women's experiences of perineal trauma sustained during childbirth and the impact it may have on psychological/emotional wellbeing BACKGROUND: Obstetric complications during childbirth can be a risk factor for postpartum psychological distress. Perineal trauma is one of the most frequent obstetric complications and it is important to understand any impact on psychological/emotional wellbeing.

Design: A convergent qualitative design using a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic synthesis approach to data transformation was used.

Development and Assessment of Postcranial Sex Estimation Methods for a Guatemalan Population.

This study tests whether postcranial sex estimation methods generated from Hispanic, and mainly Mexican samples, can be successfully applied to other increasingly common migrant populations from Central America. We use a sample of postcranial data from a modern (1980s) Guatemalan Maya sample (n = 219). Results indicate a decrease in classification accuracies for previously established univariate methods when applied to the Guatemalan study sample, specifically for males whose accuracies ranged from 30 to 84%.

A simulation for exploring the effects of the "trait list" method's subjectivity on consistency and accuracy of ancestry estimations.

The nonmetric "trait list" methodology is widely used for estimating ancestry of skeletal remains. However, the effects of the method's embedded subjectivity on subsequent accuracy and consistency are largely unknown. We develop a mathematical simulation to test whether variation in the application of the "trait list" method alters the ancestry estimation for a given case.

Differences in episiotomy technique between midwives and doctors.

Objectives: To examine the practice of making an episiotomy and to determine any differences in practice between professional groups.

Design: A prospective survey.

Setting: A large tertiary referral obstetric hospital and the obstetric department of a district general hospital.