Normal birth rates before and after the merging of mixed-risk and low-risk maternity wards in Iceland: A retrospective cohort study on the impact of inter-professional preventative measures.

Background: In 2014, the National University Hospital of Iceland (NUHI) merged a mixed-risk birth unit and a midwifery-led low-risk unit into one mixed-risk unit. Interprofessional preventative and mitigating measures were implemented since there was a known threat of cultural contamination between mixed-risk and low-risk birth environments. The aim of the study was to assess whether the NUHI's goal of protecting the rates of birth without intervention had been achieved and to support further development of labor services.

[Visual field loss in eyes undergoing minimally invasive glaucoma surgery in Iceland].

Introduction: Glaucoma is a degenerative disease of the optic nerve and is marked by visual field defects (VFD). The only approved treatment is IOP lowering, either with eye drops, laser or surgery. Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) has become an appealing treatment modality, offering IOP lowering effect without the complication rates of trabeculectomy or the patient adherence required for pharmacologic therapy.

Implementation of a midwifery model of woman-centered care in practice: Impact on oxytocin use and childbirth experiences.

Introduction: Theoretical models for midwifery have been developed in different countries, but few have been evaluated. This study evaluated the implementation of a midwifery model of woman-centered care (MiMo) in practice.

Methods: A mixed method study based on an implementation of MiMo was carried out in a labor ward at a university hospital in Sweden, with another labor ward as a reference.

Topical noninvasive retinal drug delivery of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor: 3% cediranib maleate cyclodextrin nanoparticle eye drops in the rabbit eye.

Purpose: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors inhibit VEGF receptors. If delivered to the retina, they might inhibit oedema and neovascularization such as in age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study was to formulate cediranib maleate, a potent VEGF inhibitor, as γ-cyclodextrin nanoparticle eye drops and measure the retinal delivery and overall ocular pharmacokinetics after a single-dose administration in rabbits.

Automation improves repeatability of retinal oximetry measurements.

Purpose: Retinal oximetry is a technique based on spectrophotometry where images are analyzed with software capable of calculating vessel oxygen saturation and vessel diameter. In this study, the effect of automation of measurements of retinal vessel oxygen saturation and vessel diameter is explored.

Methods: Until now, operators have had to choose each vessel segment to be measured explicitly.

Automatic fundus image quality assessment on a continuous scale.

Fundus photography is commonly used for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of various diseases affecting the eye. In addition, it has shown promise in the diagnosis of brain diseases and evaluation of cardiovascular risk factors. Good image quality is important if diagnosis is to be accurate and timely.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers in cyclodextrin nanoparticle eye drops: Ocular pharmacokinetics and pharmacologic effect on intraocular pressure.

Purpose: Orally administered angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) decrease intraocular pressure (IOP). Topical administration may reduce systemic side effects and result in a useful glaucoma drug. The aim of this study is to test the ocular delivery and pharmacologic effect of nanoparticle eye drops containing ARBs (e.

Being in charge in an encounter with extremes. A survey study on how women experience and work with labour pain in a Nordic home birth setting.

Problem: There is a knowledge gap regarding women's experiences of coping with labour pain when not soliciting or not having access to pharmacological pain relief.

Background: How women manage labour pain is complex, multifaceted and only the woman giving birth can assess the experienced pain. Women in the Nordic countries planning for a homebirth have little or no access to pharmacologic pain relief during labour.

Retinal oximetry: Metabolic imaging for diseases of the retina and brain.

Retinal oximetry imaging of retinal blood vessels measures oxygen saturation of hemoglobin. The imaging technology is non-invasive and reproducible with remarkably low variability on test-retest studies and in healthy cohorts. Pathophysiological principles and novel biomarkers in several retinal diseases have been discovered, as well as possible applications for systemic and brain disease.

[Medical management of glaucoma and interaction between glaucoma and systemic medications].

Introduction: Glaucoma used to be the most common cause for blindness in Iceland. As the incidence of glaucoma increases with age, the patients often have numerous comorbidities and use various medications. It is important to keep in mind interactions and side effects of glaucoma medications when deciding systemic medical treatment for these patients to ensure their safety and comfort.

Midwives' care on a labour ward prior to the introduction of a midwifery model of care: a field of tension.

Purpose: There is a need to deepen knowledge about midwives' care in obstetric-led labour wards in which midwives are responsible for normal births. This ethnographic study explores the content and meaning of midwives' care of women in a hospital-based labour ward in Sweden prior to the introduction of a theoretical midwifery model of care.

Methods: Data were gathered through participant observation, analysed through interpretation grounded in reflexivity discussions and are presented in the form of ethnographic descriptions.

Health professionals' perceptions of a midwifery model of woman-centred care implemented on a hospital labour ward.

Background: Theoretical models as a basis for midwives' care have been developed over recent decades. Although there are similarities between these models, their usefulness in practice needs to be researched in specific cultural contexts.

Aim: To explore whether, when adopted by midwives on labour wards, a midwifery model of woman-centred care (MiMo) was useful in practice from the viewpoint of a variety of health professionals.

Midwifery in Iceland: From vocational training to university education.

Midwifery education is a foundation for health professionals' competence in providing quality healthcare for the benefit of women, their families and society. This paper describes midwifery and the development of midwifery education in Iceland. It examines policy and extensive reforms, from hospital-based vocational training in midwifery to an academic university education, and the impact on the scope of midwifery practice in Iceland.

Contraindications in planned home birth in Iceland: A retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: Icelandic national guidelines on place of birth list contraindications for home birth. Few studies have examined the effect of contraindication on home birth, and none have done so in Iceland. The aim of this study was to examine whether contraindications affect the outcome of planned home birth or have a different effect at home than in hospital.

Retinal oximetry is affected in multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: Structural and physiological abnormalities have been reported in the retina in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Retinal oximetry has recently detected changes in retinal oxygen metabolism in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Our goal was to determine whether oxygen saturation in retinal blood vessels of patients with patients is different from that of a healthy population.

Predictors of women's positive childbirth pain experience: Findings from an Icelandic national study.

Background: Pain in childbirth has been identified as one of the major components in the childbirth experience and an important topic that needs to be addressed during pregnancy, birth and the after-birth period.

Aim: The aim of the study was to describe women's childbirth pain experience and to identify predictors of women's positive childbirth pain experience.

Method: A population-based cross-sectional cohort study design was implemented, with convenient consecutive sampling, stratified according to residency.

Retinal Oximetry Discovers Novel Biomarkers in Retinal and Brain Diseases.

Purpose: Biomarkers for several eye and brain diseases are reviewed, where retinal oximetry may help confirm diagnosis or measure severity of disease. These include diabetic retinopathy, central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: Retinal oximetry is based on spectrophotometric fundus imaging and measures oxygen saturation in retinal arterioles and venules in a noninvasive, quick, safe manner.

History of violence and subjective health of mother and child.

Objective: To study the self-reported prevalence of experienced violence among a cohort of women about two years after giving birth, their health during pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and their experience of their child's health.

Setting And Subjects: In 2011, a total of 657 women participated in phase III of the Childbirth and Health Cohort Study in Icelandic Primary Health Care, 18 to 24 months after delivery. The women had previously participated in phase I around pregnancy week 16 and phase II 5-6 months after delivery.

Perineal injuries and birth positions among 2992 women with a low risk pregnancy who opted for a homebirth.

Background: Whether certain birth positions are associated with perineal injuries and severe perineal trauma (SPT) is still unclear. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of perineal injuries of different severity in a low-risk population of women who planned to give birth at home and to compare the prevalence of perineal injuries, SPT and episiotomy in different birth positions in four Nordic countries.

Methods: A population-based prospective cohort study of planned home births in four Nordic countries.

Transfers to hospital in planned home birth in four Nordic countries - a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Women planning a home birth are transferred to hospital in case of complications or elevated risk for adverse outcomes. The aim of the present study was to describe the indications for transfer to hospital in planned home births, and the proportion of cases in which this occurs.

Material And Methods: Women in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland who had opted for, and were accepted for, home birth at the onset of labor, were included in the study.

Maternal attitudes towards home birth and their effect on birth outcomes in Iceland: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: to examine the relationship between attitudes towards home birth and birth outcomes, and whether women's attitudes towards birth and intervention affected this relationship.

Design: a prospective cohort study.

Setting: the study was set in Iceland, a sparsely populated island with harsh terrain, 325,000 inhabitants, high fertility and home birth rates, and less than 5000 births a year.

Pregnant women's expectations about pain intensity during childbirth and their attitudes towards pain management: Findings from an Icelandic national study.

Background: Pregnant women expect childbirth to be painful. However, little is known about their expectations of the intensity of pain in childbirth (EIPC) and their attitudes to pain management.

Method: The design was a cross-sectional survey, with self-reported questionnaires used to collect data from low-risk pregnant women (N = 1111) early in pregnancy at 26 of the largest primary health care centres in Iceland.

How Long Is a Normal Labor? Contemporary Patterns of Labor and Birth in a Low-Risk Sample of 1,612 Women from Four Nordic Countries.

Objective: Normal progress of labor is a subject for discussion among professionals. The aim of this study was to assess the duration of labor in women with a planned home birth and spontaneous onset who gave birth at home or in hospital after transfer.

Methods: This is a population-based study of home births in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden).