Perineal techniques during the second stage of labour for reducing perineal trauma and postpartum complications.

Rationale: Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is responsible for around 27% of global maternal deaths. Perineal tears are common in vaginal births and a significant contributor to excessive blood loss. A diversity of perineal techniques are utilised to prevent perineal trauma and reduce the incidence of PPH; however, they lack evidence-based comparisons to understand their effects.

Maternity care for women from ethnic minority backgrounds in North-West England: A grounded theory study.

Aim: To understand the maternity experiences of women from minority ethnic groups who had given birth in an NHS trust in the North-West of England, and experiences of midwives caring for them.

Background: Women from minority ethnic groups have poorer maternity outcomes compared with other women. Research about maternity experiences of women from minority ethnic groups is limited but suggests that they have poorer experiences.

An exploration of women's lived experiences of care and support following perinatal death in South-Western Nigeria: A hermeneutic phenomenological study.

Background: Perinatal death results in long-lasting intense grief for bereaved mothers with a potential to negatively impact on their short- and long-term outcomes and quality of life if inadequately supported in coping with and managing their experience.

Aim: This study aimed at exploring the lived experience of women, of care and support following perinatal death in South-Western, Nigeria.

Methods: A qualitative methodology using Heideggerian phenomenology was used.

Better maternity care pathways in pregnancies after stillbirth or neonatal death: a feasibility study.

Background: Around 1 in 150 babies are stillborn or die in the first month of life in the UK. Most women conceive again, and subsequent pregnancies are often characterised by feelings of stress and anxiety, persisting beyond the birth. Psychological distress increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes and longer-term parenting difficulties.

Women's experiences of care and support following perinatal death in high burden countries: A metasynthesis.

Problem: The experiences of women in low and middle-income countries following perinatal death remains difficult and challenging, thereby increasing their susceptibility to negative psychological impact particularly with insufficient bereavement care and support.

Background: Perinatal death invariably brings intense grief which significantly impacts women, and requires adequate bereavement care to limit negative outcomes in the short and long-term.

Aim: To develop deeper understanding of women's experience of care and support following perinatal death in high burden settings.

Women's experiences of a pregnancy whilst attending a specialist antenatal service for pregnancies after stillbirth or neonatal death: a qualitative interview study.

Pregnancy after the death of a baby is associated with numerous, varied psychological challenges for pregnant women. This study aimed to explore women's experiences of pregnancy whilst attending a specialist antenatal service for pregnancies after a perinatal death. Semi-structured interviews with twenty women in a subsequent pregnancy after a perinatal death were conducted and analyzed taking an inductive thematic analysis approach.

'There is trauma all round': A qualitative study of health workers' experiences of caring for parents after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda.

Background: Stillbirth is a traumatic life-event for parents. Compassionate care from health workers supports grief and adjustment, alleviating psychological distress and minimising serious adverse health and social consequences. Bereavement support in facilities in LMICs, including in sub-Saharan Africa, often fails to meet parents' needs.

Measures of anxiety, depression and stress in the antenatal and perinatal period following a stillbirth or neonatal death: a multicentre cohort study.

Background: The grief associated with the death of a baby is enduring, however most women embark on another pregnancy, many in less than a year following their loss. Symptoms of anxiety and depression are reported to be increased in pregnancies after perinatal death, although effect on maternal stress is less clear. Variation between individual studies may result from differences in gestation at sampling, the questionnaire used and the type of antecedent perinatal death.

Going viral - capacity strengthening in the context of pandemic(s).

Strengthening the capacity of midwives and nurses in low- and middle-income countries to lead research is an urgent priority in embedding and sustaining evidence-based practice and better outcomes for women and newborns during childbearing. International and local travel restrictions, and physical distancing resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have compromised the delivery of many existing programmes and challenged international partnerships working in maternal and newborn health to adapt rapidly. In this paper, we share the experiences of a midwife-led research partnership between Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, the UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe in sustaining and enhancing capacity strengthening activities remotely in this period.

Lay and healthcare providers' experiences to inform future of respectful maternal and newborn care in Tanzania and Malawi: an Appreciative Inquiry.

Objectives: Disrespectful care, which remains prevalent in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), acts as a barrier to women accessing skilled birth attendance, compromising care when services are available. Building on what was positive in facilities, we aimed to explore lay and healthcare providers' experience of respectful care to inform future interventions.

Setting: Five maternity facilities in Mwanza Tanzania and Lilongwe Malawi.

Experiences and outcomes on the use of telemetry to monitor the fetal heart during labour: findings from a mixed methods study.

Background: Wireless continuous electronic fetal monitoring (CEFM) using telemetry offers potential for increased mobility during labour. United Kingdom national recommendations are that telemetry should be offered to all women having CEFM during labour. There is limited contemporary evidence on experiences of telemetry use or impacts it may have.

The impact of cultural beliefs and practices on parents' experiences of bereavement following stillbirth: a qualitative study in Uganda and Kenya.

Background: Stillbirth is an extremely traumatic and distressing experience for parents, with profound and long-lasting negative impacts. Cultural beliefs and practices surrounding death vary considerably across different contexts and groups, and are a key influence on individual experiences, impacting grief, adjustment, and support needs. Few studies have explored cultural influences surrounding stillbirth in an African context.

Respectful care an added extra: a grounded theory study exploring intrapartum experiences in Zambia and Tanzania.

Background: Quality of maternal and newborn care is integral to positive clinical, social and psychological outcomes. Respectful care is an important component of this but is suboptimum in many low-income settings. A renewed energy among health professionals and academics is driving an international agenda to eradicate disrespectful health facility care around the globe.

The RESPECT Study for consensus on global bereavement care after stillbirth.

Objective: To develop global consensus on a set of evidence-based core principles for bereavement care after stillbirth.

Methods: A modified policy-Delphi methodology was used to consult international stakeholders and healthcare workers with experience in stillbirth between September 2017 and October 2018. Five sequential rounds involved two expert stakeholder meetings and three internet-based surveys, including a global internet-based survey targeted at healthcare workers in a wide range of settings.

Placental Dysfunction Underlies Increased Risk of Fetal Growth Restriction and Stillbirth in Advanced Maternal Age Women.

Pregnancies in women of advanced maternal age (AMA) are susceptible to fetal growth restriction (FGR) and stillbirth. We hypothesised that maternal ageing is associated with utero-placental dysfunction, predisposing to adverse fetal outcomes. Women of AMA (≥35 years) and young controls (20-30 years) with uncomplicated pregnancies were studied.

"Nature makes you blind to the risks": An exploration of womens' views surrounding decisions on the timing of childbearing in contemporary society.

Objective: To gain an understanding of womens' views surrounding decisions on the timing of childbearing.

Study Design: This study was based on interviews with 18 childless women, from North-West England, in three age groups: Six women aged between 18 and 24; Six women aged between 25 and 34; and six women aged 35 or more. Data were analysed using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach with thematic analysis.

"Forty is the new twenty": An analysis of British media portrayals of older mothers.

Objectives: Despite increased risks of infertility and poor outcomes, women in high-income countries are increasingly deferring pregnancy beyond age 35.The underlying causes are incompletely understood. The mass media is recognised as a powerful influence on health-related behaviour; therefore media representations warrant critical examination.

Maternal obesity impairs specific regulatory pathways in human myometrial arteries.

Obese women (body mass index ≥30 kg/m(2)) are at greater risk than normal weight women of pregnancy complications associated with maternal and infant morbidity, particularly the development of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders in later life; why this occurs is unknown. Nonpregnant, obese individuals exhibit systemic vascular endothelial dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that obese pregnant women have altered myometrial arterial function compared to pregnant women of normal (18-24 kg/m(2)) and overweight (25-29 kg/m(2)) body mass index.

Maternal obesity and its effect on placental cell turnover.

Background: Maternal obesity is a frequent obstetric risk factor, linked with short- and long-term consequences for mother and child, including foetal overgrowth, growth restriction and stillbirth. The mechanisms underlying these pathologies remain unknown but likely involve the placenta.

Aims: To study placental cell turnover in relation to maternal body mass index (BMI).

Advanced maternal age: delayed childbearing is rarely a conscious choice a qualitative study of women's views and experiences.

Background: There is a global trend, in high resource countries, for delayed childbearing beyond the age of 35. Women of advanced maternal age are considered to be at higher risk of poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. Women's views and experiences of delayed childbearing are relatively unexplored.

'Informed and uninformed decision making'--women's reasoning, experiences and perceptions with regard to advanced maternal age and delayed childbearing: a meta-synthesis.

Objectives: To identify what factors affect women's decisions to delay childbearing, and to explore women's experiences and their perceptions of associated risks.

Design: Systematic procedures were used for search strategy, study selection, data extraction and analysis. Findings were synthesised using an approach developed from meta-ethnography.

Acute and chronic modulation of placental chorionic plate artery reactivity by reactive oxygen species.

Control of vascular resistance and blood flow in the fetoplacental circulation is incompletely understood. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), physiological and pathophysiological regulators of vascular tone, are elevated in preeclampsia (PE), a disease of pregnancy characterized by increased fetoplacental vascular resistance. We tested the hypothesis that ROS modulate vascular reactivity in placental chorionic plate arteries.

The effect of mode of delivery on placental chorionic plate vascular reactivity.

Objective: To determine whether delivery mode influences placental chorionic plate arterial and venous vascular reactivity.

Methods: Normal term placentas were obtained after vaginal delivery or cesarean section. Chorionic plate arterial and venous function was assessed by wire myography.