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.

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.

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.

[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.

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.

[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.

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.

[Postnatal perineal edema assessment: agreement among observers].

Perineal trauma produced during vaginal delivery is frequent, and there are no clinically validated evaluation scales available. The aim was to analyze the reliability of a tool to assess the vulvoperineal region during the postnatal period. This is an observational study conducted at the University Hospital of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

[Scientific production of Brazilian nurses on blood pressure measurement].

In the previous issue of this journal the authors celebrated in an article the discovery of the Korotkoff sounds, in 1905, and presented the historical facts that determined the important role of the University of São Paulo's Nursing School (EEUSP) in the development of the oldest blood pressure research line in Brazilian Nursing: "Cuff Width Influence in Blood Pressure Measurement." This new article presents the scientific production derived from the studies carried out by nurses with a PhD from EEUSP during and after their doctoral programs in the area. The path each researcher followed in his/her group and laboratory is emphasized.

A randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of immersion bath on labour pain.

Objective: to evaluate the effect of an immersion bath on pain magnitude during the first stage of labour.

Design: a randomised controlled trial comparing the pain scores of bathing and non-bathing nulliparous women during birth was employed.

Setting: the study was conducted at the Normal Birth Center of Amparo Maternal, São Paulo, Brazil.

[Korotkoff sounds: development of the sphygmomanometry research at the Nursing School of the USP].

This article pays homage to Sergei Nicolai Korotkoff, for the centenary of the auscultatory method discovery. It refers to his discover of blood pressure auscultatory method in Russia, in 1905; presents the evidence that resulted in the development of sphygmomanometry studies in Brasil; describes the important contribution of the Nursing School of the University of São Paulo to the development of blood pressure measurement research; and analyses the results of the research field of "Cuff width influence in blood pressure measurement", created at the Nursing School of The University of São Paulo, in 1974. The scientific results of doctoral studies are presented, identifying the research groups that are contributing to defying knowledge in this area.

[The effect of immersion baths on the length of childbirth labor].

The objectives of this experimental, randomized, controlled trial study were to evaluate the effect of immersion baths on the length of the first stage of childbirth labor and on the frequency and length of the uterine contractions. Data were collected in a philanthropic public maternity hospital of the city of São Paulo whose month average is 1,100 births. The sample was comprised of 108 women in labor--54 in the control group and 54 in the experimental group that had immersion baths.

[Frequency and criteria for the indication of episiotomy].

This is an exploratory study aimed at identifying the frequency, the types and the criteria adopted to recommend episiotomy. Twelve doctors and 12 nurses who attend women giving birth at the University of São Paulo's Hospital Universitário were interviewed. Episiotomy was performed in 76.

[Type of delivery: women's expectations].

This descriptive and exploratory study was carried out through interviews with 221 puerperal women who gave birth in Sao Paulo State public maternities located within the capital. The purposes of the work were: 1. to identify the type of childbirth women expected to have--whether vaginal births or cesareans--and why; 2.