Gabapentin for the Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women (GaPP1): A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial.

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects 2.1-24% of women. Frequently, no underlying pathology is identified, and the pain is difficult to manage.

What women want from women's reproductive health research: a qualitative study.

Background: Researchers are being urged to involve patients in the design and conduct of studies in health care with limited insight at present into their needs, abilities or interests. This is particularly true in the field of reproductive health care where many conditions such as pregnancy, menopause and fertility problems involve women who are otherwise healthy.

Objective: To ascertain the feasibility of involving patients and members of the public in research on women's reproductive health care (WRH).

Counselling in the context of fertility and cancer: some sociological insights.

Guidelines issued by a number of bodies highlight the importance of providing information on fertility for young adults receiving a cancer diagnosis. However, previous research has established that provision is uneven and even when information is available, counselling may not be offered. This paper draws on interviews with 15 professionals and 30 younger adults (17-39 years) following a diagnosis of cancer at one tertiary referral centre.

GaPP: a pilot randomised controlled trial of the efficacy of action of gabapentin for the management of chronic pelvic pain in women: study protocol.

Introduction: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects >1 million UK women. Annual healthcare costs are estimated at >£150 million. Proven interventions for CPP are limited, and treatment is often unsatisfactory.

The role of mothers-in-law in antenatal care decision-making in Nepal: a qualitative study.

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) has been recognised as a way to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their babies. However, only 29% of pregnant women receive the recommended four antenatal visits in Nepal but reasons for such low utilisation are poorly understood. As in many countries of South Asia, mothers-in-law play a crucial role in the decisions around accessing health care facilities and providers.

Caesarean section and tubal infertility: is there an association?

Rising Caesarean section (CS) rates have fuelled concerns about the effect of abdominal delivery on female fertility due to post-surgical complications affecting the Fallopian tubes. The association between exposure to CS and subsequent tubal infertility was explored by means of a case-control study. This study compared 220 women with secondary infertility due to tubal factor with 1244 women with secondary infertility due to non-tubal causes and 18,376 fertile women (women with a previous live birth followed by another live birth during the time period when the infertile cases were trying to conceive) in terms of exposure to CS.

Factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care in developing countries: systematic review of the literature.

Aim: This paper is a report of a systematic review to identify and analyse the main factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care in developing countries.

Background: Antenatal care is a key strategy for reducing maternal mortality, but millions of women in developing countries do not receive it.

Data Sources: A range of electronic databases was searched for studies conducted in developing countries and published between 1990 and 2006.

Helping themselves to get pregnant: a qualitative longitudinal study on the information-seeking behaviour of infertile couples.

Background: Couples seeking infertility treatment are generally hungry for information about available therapeutic options and how to help themselves achieve pregnancy. This study examined couples' perceptions of the information available from various sources in the context of achieved pregnancy or continuing treatment.

Methods: A 3 year prospective interview study started in April 2004, following couples undergoing infertility treatment at a tertiary fertility clinic at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.

Women's awareness and perceptions of delay in childbearing.

Objective: To explore women's awareness of issues associated with delayed childbearing, including its social and medical implications and the limitations of available treatment.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University-based tertiary care clinics.

Debate: do upper age limits need to be imposed on women receiving assisted reproduction treatment?

The inability of local National Health Service trusts to uniformly provide assisted reproduction technology (ART) services has resulted in what has come to be known as a 'postcode lottery'. Older women and those with responsibility for children at home, often have to fund their own treatment. Recently, with the birth of babies to much older women, the mass media have debated whether those past menopausal age should be helped to achieve a pregnancy in this way.

Satisfaction with cesarean section: qualitative analysis of open-ended questions in a large postal survey.

Background: Cesarean section rates throughout the developed world continue to rise. Although satisfaction with cesarean section has been widely studied, relatively little is known about the causes of "distress" that may contribute to dissatisfaction. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that women identified as "distressing" so as to understand their responses to standard questions on satisfaction.

Research as a therapeutic experience? An investigation of women's participation in research on ending IVF treatment.

Background: Women participate in research for many reasons, some of them therapeutic. This paper retrospectively analyses women's motivations for participating in a study on decision making at the end of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

Methods: A mixed methods study conducted by a practising midwife had focused on women's experiences of stopping IVF treatment after one or more unsuccessful attempts, and raised awareness of women's motivations for participating.

Unfulfilled expectations: how circumstances impinge on women's reproductive choices.

Throughout Europe women are having fewer babies, but more of them are being delivered by caesarean section. There is some evidence that this major surgical procedure discourages women and/or their partners from having further children. This study is aimed at ascertaining the extent to which mode of delivery in first confinement affected women's decision-making about having another child.

Investigation of staff and patients' opinions of a proposed trial of elective single embryo transfer.

Background: In the context of mounting concern about the risks of twin pregnancies resulting from IVF, this study aimed to assess staff and patients' attitudes towards a proposed randomized controlled trial (RCT) of elective single embryo transfer (SET) in a Scottish fertility centre.

Methods: The views of 10 members of IVF clinic staff were assessed by means of a focus group and those of 12 couples by semi-structured interviews.

Results: Staff were aware of the risks of twin pregnancies to mothers and babies and the need for evidence of success in SET, but had reservations about the proposed RCT.

Does Caesarean section cause infertility?

The global rise in the rate of Caesarean sections (CS) during the last 20 years has coincided with an increase in the number of couples seeking help for infertility. There have been attempts to examine the link between these two conditions, and available data confirm an association between CS and infertility. The relationship is complex, however, involving more than a simple patho-physiological association.