Patient perception of labor support behaviors provided by Finnish midwives.

Background: Almost all births in Finland occur in hospitals, but the concept of labor support behavior is not well-known among Finnish midwives.

Objective: The primary aim was to increase perceived labor support as measured by BANSILQ.

Methods: This study was tailored to evaluate the impacts of short on-the-job training interventions for midwives (n=70) in labor support given to mothers.

Factors helping pregnant multiparas cope with fear of birth: A qualitative study.

Objective: This study describes factors helping pregnant multiparas cope with their fear of birth and aims to contribute insight into measures that could be taken to support and develop care for multiparas with fear of birth.

Methods: Purposive sampling was used for collecting data from closed discussion forums. An electronic questionnaire included structured background questions and qualitative open-ended questions related to the factors multiparas had found helped them cope with their fear of birth.

Introducing standard patient-reported measures (PRMs) into routine maternity care: A pre-implementation qualitative study on women's perspectives in Finland.

Background: Systematically using standard patient-reported measures (PRMs) in clinical routines is trending. The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) has developed condition-specific standard sets of patient-centred measures, one of which is the Pregnancy and Childbirth Standard (PCB) set, where standard PRMs are included. There is limited knowledge on the use of ICHOM PCB set-included PRMs (ICHOM-PCB-PRMs) in routine care.

Factors influencing the risk of repeat termination of pregnancy: A register-based study in Finland.

Objective: This study aimed to assess how factors such as sociodemographic characteristics, termination of pregnancy (TOP) related factors and contraception affect the risk of repeat TOP.

Materials And Method: This is a nationwide register-based study of 193,741 women who had TOP(s) during 1987-2015, using the Finnish Register of Induced Abortions. The risk of various factors, such as age, marital status, residence, parity, TOP related factors and contraception, was assessed separately for each repeat TOP.

Gendered Differences in Experiences of Bullying and Mental Health Among Transgender and Cisgender Youth.

Even though previous studies have shown that transgender youth have poorer mental health and more experiences of being bullied than their cisgender counterparts, and that bullying associates with poorer mental health, knowledge on such associations in different gender identity groups is scarce. This study investigated how mental health problems and experiences of being bullied appear across different gender identity groups, and how bullying is associated with mental health among the groups in question. Data from the Finnish School Health Promotion 2021 study (n = 152,880, mean age 16.

Medically assisted reproduction and mental health: a 24-year longitudinal analysis using Finnish register data.

Background: Medically assisted reproduction can negatively affect women's mental health, particularly when the treatments do not result in a live birth. Although the number of women relying on medically assisted reproduction to conceive has grown rapidly, our knowledge about the mental health effects before, during, and after treatment is limited.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the long-term association between medically assisted reproduction and mental health outcomes for women before, during, and after their treatments, and according to whether the treatment resulted in a live birth.

The duration of gestation at previous induced abortion and its impacts on subsequent births: A nationwide registry-based study.

Introduction: Previous induced abortions have been associated with adverse birth outcomes. However, only a few studies have considered the possible influence of gestational age at induced abortion. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the impacts of gestational age during prior induced abortion(s) on subsequent births among first-time mothers in Finland.

Maternal age and risk of low birth weight and premature birth in children conceived through medically assisted reproduction. Evidence from Finnish population registers.

Study Question: Does the risk of low birth weight and premature birth increase with age among mothers who conceive through medically assisted reproduction (MAR)?

Summary Answer: Among MAR mothers, the risk of poorer birth outcomes does not increase with maternal age at birth except at very advanced maternal ages (40+).

What Is Known Already: The use of MAR treatments has been increasing over the last few decades and is especially diffused among women who conceive at older ages. Although advanced maternal age is a well-known risk factor for adverse birth outcomes in natural pregnancies, only a few studies have directly analysed the maternal age gradient in birth outcomes for MAR mothers.

Medically assisted reproduction and birth outcomes: a within-family analysis using Finnish population registers.

Background: Children born after medically assisted reproduction are at higher risk of adverse birth outcomes than are children conceived naturally. We aimed to establish the extent to which this excess risk should be attributed to harmful effects of treatment or to pre-existing parental characteristics that confound the association.

Methods: We used data from Finnish administrative registers covering a 20% random sample of households with at least one child aged 0-14 years at the end of 2000 (n=65 723).

Correction: Perinatal outcomes after induced termination of pregnancy by methods: A nationwide register-based study of first births in Finland 1996-2013.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Perinatal outcomes after induced termination of pregnancy by methods: A nationwide register-based study of first births in Finland 1996-2013.

Background: Women with previous terminations of pregnancy (TOPs) before their first birth have been associated with poorer perinatal outcomes. However, previous studies on the perinatal outcomes by the method in previous TOPs are inconsistent.

Objective: To examine the perinatal outcomes of the first-time mothers with singleton births, by the method of previous TOP (medical and surgical vs no TOP, and surgical vs medical).

The expectations of antenatal screening and experiences of the first-trimester screening scan.

Aim: to describe the expectations to and knowledge of antenatal screening of expecting parents, and their experiences concerning the first-trimester screening scan.

Design: survey study with a consecutive sampling method.

Setting: two hospital districts in Finland, namely the capital area and Eastern Finland.

At what age does the risk for adverse maternal and infant outcomes increase? Nationwide register-based study on first births in Finland in 2005-2014.

Introduction: It is poorly understood if there are specific ages at which adverse outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth start to increase (threshold-ages). The purpose of this study was to examine at which maternal ages the use of maternity care and the risks for adverse maternal and infant outcomes increase.

Material And Methods: National data from the Finnish Medical Birth Register including all first-time mothers aged 20 years or over with singleton pregnancies in 2005-2014 were analyzed (n = 228 348).

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among Women of Somali and Kurdish Origin in Finland.

Background: The tradition of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has spread in Europe as a result of immigration. Although it is known to have negative health impacts, the exact prevalence of FGM/C and its health effects in Finland are unknown. This study explores the prevalence of FGM/C, the sociodemographic characteristics associated with it, and its health effects among women of Somali and Kurdish origin in Finland.

Aging fatherhood in Finland - first-time fathers in Finland from 1987 to 2009.

Aim: The increase in maternal age has been well documented in Western societies, but information on paternal age trends is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in age and other background characteristics of first-time fathers in Finland in the period 1987-2009.

Materials And Methods: A random 60% sample of first-time fathers in each year from 1987 to 2009 was obtained from Statistics Finland (n=344,529).

Caesarean section rates in Mozambique.

Background: The Caesarean section (C-section) rate is used as an indicator for availability and utilization of life-saving obstetric services. The purpose of the present study was to explore changes in C-section rates between 1995 and 2011 by area, place of delivery and maternal socioeconomic factors in Mozambique.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Mozambique in 1997, 2003 and 2011 were used, including women having a live birth within 3 years prior to the survey.

Cesarean section in Shanghai: women's or healthcare provider's preferences?

Background: Cesarean section (CS) rate has increased rapidly over the past two decades in China mainly driven by non-medical factors. This study was to compare recalled preferences for CS among first-time mothers in early and late pregnancy with actual delivery mode; to explore factors related to CS preference and CS performed without medical indications; and to consider the role of healthcare providers in delivery mode preferences.

Methods: An anonymous questionnaire survey, combined with data on CS indications taken from the patient record, was conducted among 272 first-time mothers having their first postnatal check-up in one university affiliated obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Shanghai, China, between September 2006 and January 2007.

Equity in use of maternal health services in Western Rural China: a survey from Shaanxi province.

Background: The 20th century was marked by a significant improvement in worldwide human health and access to healthcare. However, these improvements were not completely or uniformly distributed among, or even within, nations. This study was designed to assess the use of maternal health services by pregnant women in China, with a focus on the inequity related to family income level.

Socioeconomic status affects the prevalence, but not the perinatal outcomes, of in vitro fertilization pregnancies.

Study Question: Does maternal socioeconomic status (SES) confound or modify the association between IVF and perinatal outcome among singleton births?

Summary Answer: There were substantial socioeconomic differences in the frequency of IVF pregnancies, but maternal SES was not associated with the outcome of IVF pregnancies.

What Is Known Already: The use of IVF is associated with SES. Additionally, women with lower SES tend to have an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes such as preterm birth and small for gestational age birth.

Impact of Chinese one-child policy on sibling structure: experience from rural areas in three provinces.

Objectives: To study the influence of population policy and boy preference on the sibling structure, that is, in which order and combinations boys and girls are born into families.

Design: A population-based survey with a representative sample of new mothers in 2008-2009 in rural China.

Setting: Two provinces (Anhui and Shaanxi) where authorisation for a second child was usually given if the first birth was a daughter and one province (Chongqing) where only one child was authorised.

High Caesarean section rate in rural China: is it related to health insurance (New Co-operative Medical Scheme)?

The epidemic of Caesarean section (CS) is worldwide, and it has been argued that it is mainly due to non-medical factors, including healthcare financing patterns. We investigated the use of CS in rural China and the related factors, particularly health insurance in the form of the New Co-operative Medical Scheme introduced in 2003. A cross-sectional survey of women who gave birth in 2008-2009 was conducted in five rural counties in central and western China.

Impact of financial and educational interventions on maternity care: results of cluster randomized trials in rural China, CHIMACA.

To report on the design and basic outcomes of three interventions aimed at improving the use and quality of maternity care in rural China: financial interventions, training in clinical skills, and training in health education. Community-based cluster randomized trials were carried out in one central and two western provinces between 2007 and 2009: (1) financial interventions covered part of women's costs for prenatal and postnatal care, (2) training of midwives in clinical skills was given by local maternity care experts in two- or three-group training courses, (3) health education training for midwives and village doctors were given by local experts in health education in two- or three-group training courses. A survey was conducted in a stratified random sample of women who had been pregnant in the study period.

Maternal socio-economic indices for prenatal care research in rural China.

Background: The conceptualization and measurement of socio-economic status (SES) is difficult in developing settings. In the absence of SES indices for women in rural China, we constructed SES indices for prenatal care research, and examined their relation to perinatal care and outcomes.

Methods: This study utilized data of 4364 rural women having recently given birth, collected by a cross-sectional survey in three rural Chinese provinces in 2007.