Pregnancy-induced gene expression changes in vivo among women with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study.

Background: Little is known about gene expression changes induced by pregnancy in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy women because the few studies previously conducted did not have pre-pregnancy samples available as baseline. We have established a cohort of women with RA and healthy women followed prospectively from a pre-pregnancy baseline. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that pregnancy-induced changes in gene expression among women with RA who improve during pregnancy (pregDAS) overlap substantially with changes observed among healthy women and differ from changes observed among women with RA who worsen during pregnancy (pregDAS).

Pregnancy-Induced Changes in Systemic Gene Expression among Healthy Women and Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: Pregnancy induces drastic biological changes systemically, and has a beneficial effect on some autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, specific systemic changes that occur as a result of pregnancy have not been thoroughly examined in healthy women or women with RA. The goal of this study was to identify genes with expression patterns associated with pregnancy, compared to pre-pregnancy as baseline and determine whether those associations are modified by presence of RA.

Clarifying the learning experiences of healthcare professionals with in situ and off-site simulation-based medical education: a qualitative study.

Objective: To examine how the setting in in situ simulation (ISS) and off-site simulation (OSS) in simulation-based medical education affects the perceptions and learning experience of healthcare professionals.

Design: Qualitative study using focus groups and content analysis.

Participants: Twenty-five healthcare professionals (obstetricians, midwives, auxiliary nurses, anaesthesiologists, a nurse anaesthetist and operating theatre nurse) participated in four focus groups and were recruited due to their exposure to either ISS or OSS in multidisciplinary obstetric emergencies in a randomised trial.

Fetal growth and preterm birth in children exposed to maternal or paternal rheumatoid arthritis: a nationwide cohort study.

Objective: To assess indicators of fetal growth and risk of preterm birth in children of parents with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Through linkage of Danish national registries, we identified all children born in Denmark between 1977 and 2008. We used general linear regression models to estimate mean differences in indicators of fetal growth among children with a parent with RA compared to unexposed children.

Fear of childbirth and emergency caesarean section in low-risk nulliparous women: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the association between fear of childbirth (FOC) and emergency caesarean section.

Design: A prospective cohort study of low-risk nulliparous women at term.

Setting: Nine obstetric departments in Denmark, May 2004-July 2005.

Transfer to hospital in planned home births: a systematic review.

Background: There is concern about the safety of homebirths, especially in women transferred to hospital during or after labour. The scope of transfer in planned home births has not been assessed in a systematic review. This review aimed to describe the proportions and indications for transfer from home to hospital during or after labour in planned home births.

Fathers' experience of childbirth when non-progressive labour occurs and augmentation is established. A qualitative study.

Objective: Augmentation with oxytocin during labour has increased in Western obstetrics over the last few decades. The aim of this study was to describe how fathers experienced childbirth when non-progressive labour occurred and augmentation was established.

Method: A qualitative descriptive design.

Praxis and guidelines for planned homebirths in the Nordic countries - an overview.

Objective: The objective of this overview was to investigate the current situation regarding guidelines and praxis for planned homebirths and also to investigate possibilities for comparative studies on planned homebirths in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden).

Design And Setting: National documents on homebirth and midwifery and recommendations regarding management and registration of planned homebirths in the included countries were investigated.

Findings: Guidelines regarding planned home birth were found in four of the included countries.

Effect of smoking cessation on gestational and postpartum weight gain and neonatal birth weight.

Objective: To examine the association among smoking cessation, gestational and postpartum weight gain, and neonatal birth weight.

Methods: We analyzed prospectively collected data from 1,774 women with term singleton pregnancies. Smoking status during pregnancy was categorized as nonsmokers, smokers, and quitters; and smoking status 1 year postpartum as nonsmokers, smokers, relapsed quitters, and sustained quitters.

'In situ simulation' versus 'off site simulation' in obstetric emergencies and their effect on knowledge, safety attitudes, team performance, stress, and motivation: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Unexpected obstetric emergencies threaten the safety of pregnant women. As emergencies are rare, they are difficult to learn. Therefore, simulation-based medical education (SBME) seems relevant.

Encountering abuse in health care; lifetime experiences in postnatal women - a qualitative study.

Background: Abuse in health care (AHC) has been associated with potential severe health consequences, and has further been related to maternal morbidity and mortality in childbirth. To improve our understanding of what qualifies as AHC and to support and optimise the health of women with these experiences, the objective of this study was to describe how women, who had previously endured AHC, gave meaning to and managed their experience during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the early postnatal period.

Method: Women, who had reported substantial suffering as a result of a previous experience of abuse within the healthcare system, were purposefully selected from a Danish sample of a multinational cohort study on negative life events among pregnant women (the BIDENS Study).

Hospital-based home care for children with cancer: feasibility and psychosocial impact on children and their families.

Background: To assess the feasibility and psychosocial impact of a hospital-based home care (HBHC) program for children with cancer.

Procedure: A HBHC program was carried out with 51 children (0-18 years) with cancer to assess its feasibility in terms of satisfaction, care preferences, safety, and cost. A controlled trial was conducted to assess children's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) using the parent-reported and self-reported PedsQL generic core scale and PedsQL cancer module, and the psychosocial impact on the family by PedsQL family impact module comprising a subsample of 28 children and 43 parents in the home care group, and 47 children and 66 parents receiving standard hospital care.

Design and rationale for the PREVAIL study: effect of e-Health individually tailored encouragements to physical exercise on aerobic fitness among adolescents with congenital heart disease--a randomized clinical trial.

Intensive exercise may be an important part of rehabilitation in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, performing regular physical exercise is challenging for many adolescent patients. Consequently, effective exercise encouragements may be needed.

Mode of delivery after epidural analgesia in a cohort of low-risk nulliparas.

Background:   Although epidural analgesia is widespread and very effective for alleviating labor pain, its use is still controversial, as the literature is inconsistent about the risk of adverse birth outcome after administration of epidural analgesia. The aim of this study was to explore associations between epidural analgesia and mode of delivery.

Methods:   Data were obtained from a prospective cohort from nine Danish labor wards and comprised 2,721 term nulliparous women with spontaneous onset of labor and a singleton fetus in cephalic presentation.

[Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia].

Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) may lead to intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) resulting in neurological damage or death. In FNAIT, transplacental maternal antibodies cause destruction of fetal platelets. Maternal immunisation occurs to fetal human platelet antigens (HPAs) inherited from the father.

Hospital-based home care for children with cancer.

Hospital-based home care (HBHC) is widely applied in Pediatric Oncology. We reviewed the potential effect of HBHC on children's physical health and risk of adverse events, parental and child satisfaction, quality of life of children and their parents, and costs. A search of PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE led to identification of five studies that met the inclusion criteria.

Association between gestational weight gain according to body mass index and postpartum weight in a large cohort of Danish women.

Our aim was to investigate the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) and postpartum weight retention (PWR) in pre-pregnancy underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese women, with emphasis on the American Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations. We performed secondary analyses on data based on questionnaires from 1,898 women from the "Smoke-free Newborn Study" conducted 1996-1999 at Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark. Relationship between GWG and PWR was examined according to BMI as a continuous variable and in four groups.

Physical and sexual lifetime violence: prevalence and influence on fear of childbirth before, during and after delivery.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported lifetime violence and to assess whether women exposed to any physical violence or sexual violence (SEV) had a higher risk of having fear of childbirth (FOC) before, during or after delivery compared with women without such history.

Methods: FOC was measured at three time points in this Danish multicentre cohort study. Data were based on two self-administered questionnaires filled in by 2638 obstetrically low-risk nulliparous women together with data collected during labour.

Sports and leisure time physical activity during pregnancy in nulliparous women.

To describe patterns of leisure time physical activity during pregnancy in relation to pre-pregnancy leisure time physical activity, socio-demographic characteristics, fertility history, and lifestyle factors. 4,718 nulliparous with singleton pregnancy and intended spontaneous vaginal delivery were included in the study at gestational week 33 from May 2004 to July 2005. Information was provided by self-administered questionnaires.

Experiences of physical activity during pregnancy in Danish nulliparous women with a physically active life before pregnancy. A qualitative study.

Background: National guidelines recommend that healthy pregnant women take 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise a day. Most women reduce the level of physical activity during pregnancy but only a few studies of women's experiences of physical activity during pregnancy exist. The aim of the present study was to elucidate experiences and views of leisure time physical activity during pregnancy in nulliparous women who were physically active prior to their pregnancy.

Incidence and outcomes of dystocia in the active phase of labor in term nulliparous women with spontaneous labor onset.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of dystocia among nulliparous women without apparent co-morbidity and to examine maternal and fetal short-term outcomes after dystocia.

Design: A multi-center cohort study with prospectively collected data.

Setting: Nine obstetric departments with annual birth rates between 850 and 5,400.

Obstetric risk indicators for labour dystocia in nulliparous women: a multi-centre cohort study.

Background: In nulliparous women dystocia is the most common obstetric problem and its etiology is largely unknown. The frequency of augmentation and cesarean delivery related to dystocia is high although it is not clear if a slow progress justifies the interventions. Studies of risk factors for dystocia often do not provide diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis.

Experiences of non-progressive and augmented labour among nulliparous women: a qualitative interview study in a Grounded Theory approach.

Background: Non-progressive labour is the most common complication in nulliparas and is primarily treated by augmentation. Augmented labour is often terminated by instrumental delivery. Little qualitative research has addressed experiences of non-progressive and augmented deliveries.

Association between maternal weight gain and birth weight.

Objective: To investigate the association between maternal weight gain and birth weight less than 3,000 g and greater than or equal to 4,000 g in underweight (body mass index [BMI] less than 19.8 kg/m(2)), normal weight (BMI 19.8-26.

Determination of a saliva cotinine cut-off to distinguish pregnant smokers from pregnant non-smokers.

Background: Objective validation of smoking status is necessary. Earlier studies have used saliva cotinine concentrations between 14.2 and 30 ng/ml as cut-off values to distinguish pregnant smokers from non-smokers.