Pelvic floor dysfunction in primiparous women up to 6 months after delivery: cohort study.

Objective: To analyze pelvic floor muscular strength (PFMS), urinary (UI) and anal (AI) incontinence and dyspareunia in primiparous women up to 6 months after normal or cesarean delivery.

Methods: this is a prospective cohort with 169 women (128 normal births, 41 cesarean sections), followed between 50-70 and 170-190 days postpartum, when PFMS was measured using perineometry, and UI and AI and dyspareunia, through interview.

Results: PFMS, UI and dyspareunia were similar between types of delivery.

Implementation of evidence-based practices in normal delivery care.

Objective: to evaluate the impact of the implementation of evidence-based practices on normal delivery care.

Method: quasi-experimental, before-and-after intervention study conducted in a public maternity hospital, Amapá. Forty-two professionals and 280 puerperal women were interviewed and data from 555 medical records were analyzed.

Ice pack induced perineal analgesia after spontaneous vaginal birth: Randomized controlled trial.

Background: Ice-pack is widely used for alleviating postpartum perineal pain sustained after birth related perineal trauma. However, it lacks robust evidence on timing and frequency of applications, to ensure the effective and safe use of this therapy.

Aims: To evaluate if a 10min ice-pack application relieved postpartum perineal pain and if the analgesic effect was maintained for up to 2h.

Pelvic floor muscle strength in primiparous women according to the delivery type: cross-sectional study.

Objectives: to compare the pelvic floor muscle strength in primiparous women after normal birth and cesarean section, related to the socio-demographic characteristics, nutritional status, dyspareunia, urinary incontinence, perineal exercise in pregnancy, perineal condition and weight of the newborn.

Methods: this was a cross-sectional study conducted after 50 - 70 postpartum days, with 24 primiparous women who underwent cesarean delivery and 72 who had a normal birth. The 9301 PeritronTM was used for analysis of muscle strength.

Effect of low-level laser therapy on pain and perineal healing after episiotomy: A triple-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background And Objective: Episiotomy is associated with perineal pain and healing complications. The low-level laser therapy (LLLT) reduces pain and inflammation and stimulates the healing process. This study aimed to assess the effect of LLLT on pain and perineal healing after an episiotomy.

[Implementation methodology of practices based on scientific evidence for assistance in natural delivery: a pilot study].

Objective: Presenting methodology for transferring knowledge to improve maternal outcomes in natural delivery based on scientific evidence.

Method: An intervention study conducted in the maternity hospital of Itapecerica da Serra, SP, with 50 puerperal women and 102 medical records from July to November 2014. The PACES tool from Joanna Briggs Institute, consisting of pre-clinical audit (phase 1), implementation of best practice (phase 2) and Follow-up Clinical Audit (phase 3) was used.

Episiotomy healing assessment: Redness, Oedema, Ecchymosis, Discharge, Approximation (REEDA) scale reliability.

Objective: to analyse the Redness, Oedema, Ecchymosis, Discharge, Approximation (REEDA) scale reliability when evaluating perineal healing after a normal delivery with a right mediolateral episiotomy.

Method: observational study based on data from a clinical trial conducted with 54 randomly selected women, who had their perineal healing assessed at four time points, from 6 hours to 10 days after delivery, by nurses trained in the use of this scale. The kappa coefficient was used in the reliability analysis of the REEDA scale.

Association between perineal trauma and pain in primiparous women.

Objective To identify the association between perineal trauma and pain in 473 primiparous women. Method Cross-sectional study in which pain was measured by the numerical pain scale (0 to 10 - 0 being no pain and 10 maximal pain). Results The prevalence and mean intensity of pain were 33.

[Cryotherapy after childbirth: the length of application and changes in perineal temperature].

We present a descriptive study based on the data from two clinical trials conducted at a maternity hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008 and 2009. This study aimed to describe perineal temperature after the application of an ice pack during the postpartum period. Three groups of 38 postpartum women (n=114 total) received an ice pack between 2 and 48 h after delivery.

[Care in a birth center according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization].

Birth centers are maternal care models that use appropriate technology when providing care to birthing women. This descriptive study aimed to characterize intrapartum care in a freestanding birth center, in light of the practices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 1,079 assisted births from 2006 to 2009 in the Sapopemba Birth Center, São Paulo, Brazil. Results included the use of intermittent auscultation (mean=7 controls); maternal positions during delivery: semi-sitting (82.

[Reliability of an instrument to classify newborns according to care complexity].

In most maternity units, the physician classifies, evaluates, and determines which unit will receive the newborn (NB) after birth. Evaluation occurs in the delivery room, taking into consideration the following factors: birth weight, gestational age, and behaviors that define the clinical picture and disease. This observational study evaluates the reliability of an NB classification instrument.

Factors associated with maternal intrapartum transfers from a freestanding birth centre in São Paulo, Brazil: a case control study.

Objectives: to identify factors associated with maternal intrapartum transfer from a freestanding birth centre to hospital.

Design: case-control study with retrospective data collection.

Participants And Settings: cases included all 111 women transferred from a freestanding birth centre in Sao Paulo to the referral hospital, from March 2002 to December 2009.

Comparison of application times for ice packs used to relieve perineal pain after normal birth: a randomised clinical trial.

Aims And Objectives: To compare the effect of an ice pack applied for 10, 15 and 20 minutes to relieve perineal pain after birth.

Background: Perineal pain after vaginal birth, with or without vaginal trauma, is one of the most common morbidities reported for postnatal women. Cryotherapy has been used in postpartum period to relieve perineal pain and investigated in several studies.

Risk factors for birth-related perineal trauma: a cross-sectional study in a birth centre.

Aim And Objectives: To identify maternal, newborn and obstetric factors associated with birth-related perineal trauma in one independent birth centre.

Background: Risk factors for birth-related perineal trauma include episiotomy, maternal age, ethnicity, parity and interventions during labour including use of oxytocin, maternal position at time of birth and infant birth weight. Understanding more about these factors could support the management of vaginal birth to prevent spontaneous perineal trauma, in line with initiatives to reduce routine use of episiotomy.

Low-level laser therapy for pain relief after episiotomy: a double-blind randomised clinical trial.

Aims And Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a low-level laser therapy for pain relief in the perineum following episiotomy during childbirth.

Background: Laser irradiation is a painless and non-invasive therapy for perineal pain treatment and its effects have been investigated in several studies, with no clear conclusion on its effectiveness.

Design: A double-blind randomised controlled clinical trial.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes at an alongside birth center and at a hospital.

Objective: To compare maternal and neonatal outcomes in low-risk women assisited in an alongside birth center and at a hospital.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of low-risk women in São Paulo (Southeastern Brazil), from 2003 to 2006. The study included 991 women who delivered a child at the alongside birth center and 325 who delivered a child at a hospital.

[Transferring mothers from a free-standing birth center to a reference hospital].

The objective of this descriptive study was to characterize the transfers of mothers from the Sapopemba Birth Center to reference hospitals in São Paulo, from September 1998 to July 2008. The studied population was 229 cases of mother transfers. Data were obtained from medical records and record books of the transferred women.

Cesarean sections in a birth center.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of cesarean sections in a birth center of a hospital and identify factors associated.

Methods: Cross-sectional study including medical records of 2,441 births assisted in a birth center in the city of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, between March and April 2005. The dependent variable (type of delivery) included vaginal delivery and cesarean section.

A randomised clinical trial of the effect of low-level laser therapy for perineal pain and healing after episiotomy: a pilot study.

Objective: to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy for perineal pain and healing after episiotomy.

Design: a double-blind, randomised, controlled clinical trial comparing perineal pain scores and episiotomy healing in women treated with low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and with the simulation of the treatment.

Setting: the study was conducted in the Birth Centre and rooming-in units of Amparo Maternal, a maternity service located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Perineal analgesia with an ice pack after spontaneous vaginal birth: a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: This study evaluated the effectiveness of an ice pack applied for 20 minutes to alleviate perineal pain after spontaneous vaginal birth.

Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial at the Amparo Maternal Birth Center in São Paulo, Brazil. Study participants included 114 nulliparous women divided into 3 groups (n = 38 per group): experimental (ice packs on the perineum), placebo (water packs at set temperature), and control (no treatment).

Perineal muscle strength during pregnancy and postpartum: the correlation between perineometry and digital vaginal palpation.

Digital vaginal palpation performed during clinical practice can help diagnose urinary, intestinal and sexual disorders, while perineometry is more useful for performing perineal exercises with biofeedback. This study verifies whether there is a correlation between values of Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength (PFMS) obtained through perineometry performed with an electronic perineometer and through digital vaginal palpation using the Oxford scale. This is a prospective cohort study with 330 measurements carried out in 110 women.

[Maternal and perinatal outcomes of an alongside hospital birth center in the city of São Paulo, Brazil].

The aim of this study was to describe the maternal and perinatal results of care in the alongside hospital birth center Casa de Maria (CPN-CM), located in the city of São Paulo. The random sample included 991 women and their newborns, attended between 2003 and 2006. The results showed that 92.

[Clinical trial comparing three types of cryotherapy in nonpregnant women].

The objective of the present study was to compare three methods of cryotherapy in healthy non-pregnant women. This is a randomized controlled clinical trial that was conducted by 32 undergraduates of a private nursing college in the city of Sao Paulo, divided into three groups (iced water, soft ice, ice gel). The temperatures were verified (axillary, thigh, of the three ice packs) between zero and twenty minutes.

[The partogram as an instrument to analyze care during labor and delivery].

Both the World Health Organization and the Brazilian Ministry of Health recommend using the partogram to follow labor. The objective of this study was to analyze the use of obstetrical interventions, the types of delivery, and perinatal outcomes according to zones I, II and III of the partogram. This cross-sectional study was performed with 233 low-risk pregnant women between December 2004 and March 2005 at a public maternity hospital located in the city of Itapecerica da Serra, in the state of São Paulo.