How Acculturation Shapes Sleep in Thai Women in the United States During Menopausal Transition: A Mediation and Moderation Analysis.

Introduction: This study examines acculturation's impact on sleep quality, efficiency, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) risk among Thai women in the United States transitioning through menopause.

Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive study recruited 120 Thai women aged 40 to 65. Questionnaires assessed sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), OSA risk (Berlin), menopausal symptoms (Menopause Rating), acculturation (Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Scale), and anxiety (Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System).

Perinatal Care Provider Perspectives on Integrating Clinical Research Into the Clinical Infrastructure.

Introduction: This study explored perinatal health care providers' perspectives on the recruitment of pregnant participants and integrating clinical research into their practice, with a particular emphasis on the complexities introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: From May to September 2021, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 perinatal health care providers from an urban US health center. The interview transcripts were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis framework, a rigorous method for analyzing qualitative data by identifying, coding, and reporting themes.

Midwives' and Obstetric Physicians' Practices Related to Pregnancy Nutrition Counseling: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: Dietary intake during pregnancy impacts short- and long-term maternal and fetal health outcomes. Dietary habits are highly individualized and influenced by contextual factors and social determinants of health within each person's lived environment. Midwives and other health care providers are well positioned to facilitate nutrition conversations and interventions with patients related to recommendations and modifications before and during pregnancy.

Structural Violence and Stress Experiences of Young Pregnant Black People.

Introduction: Approximately 10-20% of individuals suffer from mental health concerns during the prenatal period due to their vulnerability and emotional responses to stressful events. Mental health disorders are more likely to be disabling and persistent for people of color, and they are less likely to seek treatment due to stigma. Young pregnant Black people report experiencing stress due to isolation, feelings of conflict, lack of material and emotional resources, and support from significant others.

Obstetric experiences of young black mothers: An intersectional perspective.

Background: In Chicago, maternal morbidity and mortality is six times more likely among Black birthing people than white, despite policy initiatives to promote maternal health equity. Disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality reflect experiences of structural inequities - including limited quality obstetric care, implicit bias, and racism resulting patient mistrust in the health care system, inadequate social support, and financial insecurity. Although there is published literature on Black women's experiences with obstetric care, including experiences with individual and structural racism, little is known about the intersection of age and race and experiences with health care.

Barriers to labor after cesarean: A survey of United States midwives.

Introduction: Despite calls for increased vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), <14% of candidates have VBAC. Requirements for documentation of scar type, and prohibitions on induction or augmentation of labor are not supported by evidence but may be widespread. The purpose of this study was to document midwives' perceptions of barriers to labor after cesarean (LAC) and their effects on midwives' ability to accommodate patient desires for LAC.

Textbook typologies: Challenging the myth of the perfect obstetric pelvis.

Medical education's treatment of obstetric-related anatomy exemplifies historical sex bias in medical curricula. Foundational obstetric and midwifery textbooks teach that clinical pelvimetry and the Caldwell-Moloy classification system are used to assess the pelvic capacity of a pregnant patient. We describe the history of these techniques-ostensibly developed to manage arrested labors-and offer the following criticisms.

Obstetric iatrogenesis in the United States: the spectrum of unintentional harm, disrespect, violence, and abuse.

'Medical iatrogenesis' was first defined by Illich as injuries 'done to patients by ineffective, unsafe, and erroneous treatments'. Following Lokumage's original usage of the term, this paper explores 'obstetric iatrogenesis' along a spectrum ranging from unintentional harm (UH) to overt disrespect, violence, and abuse (DVA), employing the acronym 'UHDVA' for this spectrum. This paper draws attention to the systemic maltreatment rooted in the technocratic model of birth, which includes UH normalized forms of mistreatment that childbearers and providers may not recognize as abusive.

Impact of group prenatal care on key prenatal services and educational topics in Malawi and Tanzania.

Objective: To examine whether group prenatal care (PNC) increased key services and educational topics women reported receiving, compared with individual PNC in Malawi and Tanzania.

Methods: Data come from a previously published randomized trial (n=218) and were collected using self-report surveys. Late pregnancy surveys asked whether women received all seven services and all 13 topics during PNC.

Calculators Estimating the Likelihood of Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: Uses and Perceptions.

Introduction: A calculator estimating likelihood of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) has been promoted by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, but little is known about how it is used and perceived in practice. Cutoffs for prohibiting labor after cesarean are discouraged by the calculator's developers, but such uses may be widespread. The purpose of this study was to determine how calculators predicting VBAC are used and perceived in midwifery practices.

Framework Development for an Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Program.

Background: With the high rates of unintended pregnancy and associated maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, particularly among poor and minority women, it is imperative that all individuals have information about and access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods in the immediate postpartum period.

Objective: The creation of a framework to provide guidance, address barriers, and dispel myths associated with the implementation of an immediate postpartum LARC program.

Methods: A multistep approach to develop a framework to guide planning and implementation of an immediate postpartum LARC program.

Inpatient Maternal Mortality in the United States, 2002-2014.

Background: Although prior studies of inpatient maternal mortality in the United States provide data on the overall rate and trend in inpatient maternal mortality, there are no published reports of maternal mortality data stratified by timing of its occurrence across the pregnancy continuum (antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum).

Objective: The study objective was to determine whether the maternal mortality rate, trends over time, self-reported race/ethnicity, and associated factors vary based on the timing of the occurrence of death during pregnancy.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database to identify pregnancy-related inpatient stays stratified by timing.

Estimating Maternal Mortality in Remote Rural Regions: an Application of the Sisterhood Method in Tajikistan.

Introduction: The sisterhood method of maternal mortality data collection and analysis provides a validated framework for estimating maternal mortality ratios in situations of limited infrastructure. The aim of this study is to assess sub-national maternal mortality in the Badakhshan region of Tajikistan using the sisterhood method as part of a larger ethnographic study on maternal risk.

Methods: In 2006-2007, 1004 married women of reproductive age in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, Tajikistan were surveyed using the sisterhood method.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States.

Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is 50 to 100 times more common than maternal death, and has increased disproportionately among ethnic/racial minority women in the United States. However, specific knowledge about how the types and timing of severe maternal morbidities deferentially affect ethnic/racial minority women is poorly understood. This study examines racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity during antepartum (AP), intrapartum (IP), and postpartum (PP) hospital admissions in the United States (US) for 2002-2014.

Heart Failure in Pregnant Women: A Concern Across the Pregnancy Continuum.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, but prevalence, correlates, and outcomes of HF-related hospitalization during antepartum, delivery, and postpartum periods remain unknown. The objective was to examine HF prevalence, correlates, and outcomes among pregnancy-related hospitalizations among women 13 to 49 years of age.

Methods And Results: We used the 2001 to 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Safer Muslim motherhood: Social conditions and maternal mortality in the Muslim world.

The greatest variation in maternal mortality is among poor countries and wealthy countries that rely on emergency obstetric technology to save a woman's life during childbirth. However, substantial variation in maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) exists within and among poor countries with uneven access to advanced obstetric services. This article examines MMRs across the Muslim world and compares the impact of national wealth, female education, and skilled birth attendants on maternal mortality.