Changes to provision of childbirth education during COVID-19 and its implications for ongoing service delivery - An Australian Survey.

Background: Childbirth and parenting education (CBPE) programs provide participants with information about pregnancy and labour and have a multitude of positive health impacts. During COVID-19, many CBPE classes ceased or transitioned to an online format, significantly impacting pregnant women across Australia. Little is known about the provision and delivery of CBPE in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of CBPE educators and hospital managers, regarding its impact on staff and implications for ongoing service delivery.

Do women have a choice when it comes to fetal monitoring? Perceptions of information provided and choice of fetal monitoring in Australia: A national survey.

Intro: In Australia, little research has examined how women and people participate in decision-making about types of fetal monitoring, or their perceptions of information provided by caregivers.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey, the 'Women's experiences Of Monitoring Baby' (WOMB) Study, explored women's experiences of intrapartum fetal monitoring. This study reports on selected results.

Identifying common conditions of pregnancy for women, including women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, at an Australian hospital: A survey.

Problem: Research that explores the prevalence and range of treatments sought for common conditions of pregnancy is limited, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women.

Background: During pregnancy, physical and psychological conditions affect participation in the home, workplace, and community. However, treatment options may be limited, particularly for CALD women.

Humanising childbirth - Maternity acupressure training for healthcare providers at the Fernandez Foundation Hospitals, Hyderabad, India. Evaluation of program delivery in one region of India.

Background: Internationally, traditional medicine approaches are used to support humanised childbirth practices. Labour support issues in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), include limited resources, staffing, and escalating pharmaceutical interventions. There is a strong interest in evidence-based acupressure programs, however, training and experience to implement them is limited.

The First Baby Study: What women would like to have known about first childbirth. A mixed-methods study.

Background: Although prenatal care providers aim to prepare women for first childbirth, little research has explored retrospectively what birthing people would like to have known before first childbirth.

Aim: To describe women's reports of what they would like to have known before first childbirth but feel they were not told.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the First Baby Study, a large prospective cohort study conducted in Pennsylvania, USA.

Tending to the machine: The impact of intrapartum fetal surveillance on women in Australia.

Qualitative research about women and birthing people's experiences of fetal monitoring during labour and birth is scant. Labour and birth is often impacted by wearable or invasive monitoring devices, however, most published research about fetal monitoring is focused on the wellbeing of the fetus. This manuscript is derived from a larger mixed methods study, 'WOmen's Experiences of Monitoring Baby (The WOMB Study)', aiming to increase understanding of the experiences of women and birthing people in Australia, of being monitored; and about the information they received about fetal monitoring devices during pregnancy.

Antenatal education - Putting research into practice: A guideline review.

Problem: Antenatal care guidelines used in Australia are inconsistent in their recommendations for childbirth and parenting education (CBPE) classes for preparation of women and parents for pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines in maternity care are developed to assist healthcare practitioners and consumers to make decisions about appropriate care. The benefit of such guidelines relies on the translation and quality of the evidence contained within them.

Women's experiences of changes to childbirth and parenting education in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: The birth in the time of COVID-19 (BITTOC) study.

Objective: As changes to Childbirth and Parenting Education (CBPE) classes during the COVID-19 pandemic remain unexplored in Australia, our objective was to understand how changes to CBPE in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on women's birth and postnatal experiences.

Methods: Survey responses were received from 3172 women (1343 pregnant and 1829 postnatal) for the 'Birth In The Time Of Covid-19 (BITTOC)' survey (August 2020 to February 2021) in Australia. One of the survey questions asked women if they had experienced changes to CBPE class schedules or format during the pandemic, with a follow up open ended text box inviting women to comment on the impact of these changes.

The associations between women who are immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers, access to universal healthcare, and the timely uptake of antenatal care: A systematic review.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that antenatal care (ANC) commence before 12 weeks' gestation to reduce the risk of obstetric and perinatal complications. Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are at higher risk for late or non-initiation of ANC, and exclusion from universal healthcare (UHC) may be a contributing factor.

Aims: The aims were to synthesise evidence regarding uptake of ANC and to examine if this is associated with inadequate access to UHC and to evaluate the link between ANC and the risk of pregnancy outcomes in the immigrant, refugee and asylum seeker population.

The AEDUCATE Collaboration. Comprehensive antenatal education birth preparation programmes to reduce the rates of caesarean section in nulliparous women. Protocol for an individual participant data prospective meta-analysis.

Introduction: Rates of medical interventions in normal labour and birth are increasing. This prospective meta-analysis (PMA) proposes to assess whether the addition of a comprehensive multicomponent birth preparation programme reduces caesarean section (CS) in nulliparous women compared with standard hospital care. Additionally, do participant characteristics, intervention components or hospital characteristics modify the effectiveness of the programme? METHODS AND ANALYSIS: : women with singleton vertex pregnancies, no planned caesarean section (CS) or epidural.

Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management during labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour and this may contribute towards the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined evidence about the use of acupuncture and acupressure for pain management in labour. This is an update of a review last published in 2011.

Using Forbidden Points in Pregnancy: Adverse Outcomes and Quality of Evidence in Randomized Controlled Trials-A Systematic Narrative Review.

Pregnancy is a complex physical and hormonal condition. Many women experience back and pelvic pain, reflux, and headaches during pregnancy. There has been a significant rise in the popularity of acupuncture for pain conditions in pregnancy, wherein nonpharmacologic options are important.

Relaxation techniques for pain management in labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour and this may contribute to the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined currently available evidence on the use of relaxation therapies for pain management in labour. This is an update of a review first published in 2011.

Massage, reflexology and other manual methods for pain management in labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour, and this may contribute towards the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined the evidence currently available on manual methods, including massage and reflexology, for pain management in labour. This review is an update of the review first published in 2012.

Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, a multitherapy antenatal education programme to reduce routine interventions in labour.

Objective: To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education 'CTLB' (Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth) Study programme leads to net cost savings.

Design: Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, using analysis of outcomes and hospital funding data.

Methods: We take a payer perspective and use Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Group (AR-DRG) cost data to estimate the potential savings per woman to the payer (government or private insurer).

Planned early birth versus expectant management for women with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes prior to 37 weeks' gestation for improving pregnancy outcome.

Background: Current management of preterm prelabour rupture of the membranes (PPROM) involves either initiating birth soon after PPROM or, alternatively, adopting a 'wait and see' approach (expectant management). It is unclear which strategy is most beneficial for mothers and their babies. This is an update of a Cochrane review published in 2010 (Buchanan 2010).

Complementary therapies for labour and birth study: a randomised controlled trial of antenatal integrative medicine for pain management in labour.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of an antenatal integrative medicine education programme in addition to usual care for nulliparous women on intrapartum epidural use.

Design: Open-label, assessor blind, randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 2 public hospitals in Sydney, Australia.

Site-specific predictors of successful recruitment to a perinatal clinical trial.

Background: With large collaborations needed to reach sample size requirements for relatively rare events, a major challenge for multi-centre clinical trials is efficiency of recruitment at individual sites. We used data from an international, multi-centre, randomised trial of preterm prelabour rupture of membranes to assess any impact on recruitment following the introduction of a new Clinical Trial Agreement and to identify site-specific predictors of recruitment to the trial for the purpose of targeting future recruitment sites and strategies.

Methods: The outcome measure was recruitment rate per 10,000 births, and according to this, an average recruitment rate was determined.

Massage, reflexology and other manual methods for pain management in labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour, and this may contribute towards the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined currently available evidence supporting the use of manual healing methods including massage and reflexology for pain management in labour.

Objectives: To examine the effects of manual healing methods including massage and reflexology for pain management in labour on maternal and perinatal morbidity.

Relaxation techniques for pain management in labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour and this may contribute towards the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined currently available evidence supporting the use of relaxation therapies for pain management in labour.

Objectives: To examine the effects of relaxation methods for pain management in labour on maternal and perinatal morbidity.

Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management in labour.

Background: Many women would like to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods of pain management in labour and this may contribute towards the popularity of complementary methods of pain management. This review examined evidence supporting the use of acupuncture and acupressure for pain management in labour.

Objectives: To examine the effects of acupuncture and acupressure for pain management in labour.

Planned early birth versus expectant management for women with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes prior to 37 weeks' gestation for improving pregnancy outcome.

Background: Delivery after preterm prelabour rupture of the membranes (PPROM) may be initiated soon after PPROM or, alternatively, be delayed. It is unclear which strategy is most beneficial for mothers and their babies.

Objectives: To assess the effect of planned early birth compared with expectant management for pregnancies complicated with PPROM prior to 37 weeks' gestation.