Needs, rights and perspectives in the Birth Care Pathway during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: the BiSogni Study, an exploratory qualitative research.

Background: With the COVID-19 emergency, the provision of healthcare had to be reorganized. Community Health Services for Families of Trieste adopted new methods to ensure continuity of care and the maintenance of the Standards and Good Practices of the Baby Friendly Initiative of UNICEF for the Birth Care Pathway. The aim of the study was to identify the perceived needs of women, couples, caregivers, and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate new healthcare strategies, identifying weaknesses and strengths, and future developments.

Evaluation of the effect of rozanolixizumab on pregnancy outcomes and pre- and postnatal development in cynomolgus monkeys.

Rozanolixizumab, a humanised immunoglobulin (Ig) G4 monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits binding of IgG to the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), was evaluated in an embryo-foetal enhanced pre- and postnatal development (ePPND) study. Pregnant female cynomolgus monkeys (19 per group) received subcutaneous rozanolixizumab 50mg/kg or 150mg/kg or vehicle every 3 days from gestation day 20 until delivery. The proportion of pregnancy losses was 15.

Maternal Characteristics and Pregnancy Outcomes Associated with Delivery versus Expectant Management following Decreased Fetal Movement at Term.

Objective:  This study aimed to compare maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes between term patients evaluated for decreased fetal movement (DFM) who were delivered versus expectantly managed.

Study Design:  Retrospective cohort study of term patients delivering within a large hospital system from 2015 to 2023 who were evaluated for DFM. Patients were classified into three groups based on the time between evaluation for DFM and delivery admission: (1) <24 hours, (2) 24-48 hours, (3) >48 hours.

Development and internal validation of a model predicting successful trial of labour among pregnant individuals with previous one caesarean section: A cohort study (DEVI-CS model).

Objective: To develop and internally validate a model predicting successful trial of labour among pregnant women with previous caesarean scar.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary care and teaching hospital.

Late gestation heat stress alters O regulation in placenta and neonatal heifers.

Introduction: Maternal hyperthermia (i.e. heat stress) can adversely affect placental development and function, with severity varying based on pregnancy stage.

Cervical ripening at home or in hospital during induction of labour: the CHOICE prospective cohort study, process evaluation and economic analysis.

Background: Around one in three pregnant women undergoes induction of labour in the United Kingdom, usually preceded by in-hospital cervical ripening to soften and open the cervix.

Objectives: This study set out to determine whether cervical ripening at home is within an acceptable safety margin of cervical ripening in hospital, is effective, acceptable and cost-effective from both National Health Service and service user perspectives.

Design: The CHOICE study comprised a prospective multicentre observational cohort study using routinely collected data (CHOICE cohort), a process evaluation comprising a survey and nested case studies (qCHOICE) and a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Evaluation of Pregnancy Risks in Women with Subchorionic Hematoma Using Machine Learning Models.

BACKGROUND Subchorionic hematoma (SCH) can lead to blood accumulation and potentially affect pregnancy outcomes. Despite being a relatively common finding in early pregnancy, the effects of SCH on pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, stillbirth, and preterm birth remain debated. This study aims to address these gaps by systematically evaluating the influence of SCH-related clinical factors on pregnancy outcomes using robust analytical techniques.

Mixed study on barriers of access to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gestational malaria in pregnant women at risk from an endemic region of Colombia.

Background: Gestational malaria (GM) is a serious public health problem, control of GM requires guarantee universal access to prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In Colombia, no studies have been conducted on barriers to healthcare access for pregnant women exposed to GM. The objective of this study was to analyse the barriers to healthcare access for women at risk of GM in an endemic region of Colombia.

Challenges and opportunities in perinatal public health: the utility of perinatal health inequality dashboards in addressing disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Introduction: In clinical settings, digital dashboards display medical data, with the aim of identifying trends and signals. In so doing these contribute towards improving service delivery and care within hospitals. It is not clear whether the utility of perinatal health equity dashboards could be used to identify health inequality trends that could potentially impact on health service delivery, care and public health interventions.

Disability justice and collective access to labour and delivery care: a qualitative study.

Background: People with disabilities experience perinatal health disparities. This qualitative study examines disabled people's experiences of labour and delivery care from a disability justice lens.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted between July 2019 and February 2020 with 31 women and transgender people aged 18-45 years with physical, sensory, and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities, who were living in in Ontario, Canada and had given birth in the previous five years.

Anesthetic anaphylactic shock in an emergency cesarean section: a case report.

Background: Neuraxial anesthesia is the gold standard for cesarean sections, but general anesthesia is sometimes necessary, especially in emergency cases. Anaphylactic shock due to succinylcholine, a commonly used neuromuscular blocking agent, is rare but life-threatening.

Case Presentation: A 42-year-old woman with severe preeclampsia and a history of intracranial vascular malformations underwent an emergency cesarean section.

Mid-Pregnancy Placental Transcriptome in a Model of Placental Insufficiency with and without Novel Intervention.

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) affects between 5-10% of all live births. Placental insufficiency is a leading cause of FGR, resulting in reduced nutrient and oxygen delivery to the fetus. Currently, there are no effective in utero treatment options for FGR, or placental insufficiency.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of a Novel Fetal Vesicoamniotic Shunt-The Vortex Shunt.

Objective: We estimated the potential outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of the Vortex shunt, a novel fetal vesicoamniotic shunt (VAS), compared to standard shunts for treating fetal lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO).

Method: We designed a decision-analytic model comparing the Vortex shunt to current shunts using a theoretical cohort of 1000 pregnancies equivalent to the annual U.S.

The Impact of Health Information System Interventions on Maternal and Child Health Service Utilizations in Ethiopia: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Health information systems (HIS) are vital in supporting all aspects of managing health systems, financing, policymaking, and service delivery. A package of priority HIS interventions was piloted in selected woredas across all regions in Ethiopia. This study examined the impact of HIS interventions on maternal and child health (MCH) service utilization.

Safety and immunogenicity of an acellular pertussis vaccine containing genetically detoxified pertussis toxin administered to pregnant women living with and without HIV and their newborns (WoMANPOWER): a randomised controlled trial in Uganda.

Background: Immunisation in pregnancy against pertussis can reduce severe disease in infancy. There are few data on the safety and immunogenicity of vaccines given to pregnant women living with HIV and their infants. We aimed to describe the safety and immunogenicity of a tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (TdaP) vaccine containing genetically detoxified pertussis toxin given to pregnant women living with HIV and the effect of the vaccine on infant whole-cell pertussis vaccine responses.

Myometrial Shortening Stimulates Contractility: A Biomechanical Hypothesis for Labor Onset and Progression.

The mechanisms responsible for the onset and progression of labor remain uncertain. Myometrial contractile activity gradually increases until labor onset as a result of a number of intrinsic and hormonal changes, and this a believed to be the essential process responsible for labor. At the same time, the cervix slowly effaces and dilates throughout pregnancy, and these are the only physiologic parameters predictive labor onset.

Associations of early life per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure with body mass index and risk of overweight or obesity at age 2-18 years: Mixture analysis in the prospective Boston Birth Cohort.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of widespread persistent chemicals, which may have obesogenic effects during the fetal period. This study investigated the long-term association of maternal plasma PFAS concentrations at delivery and their mixture with child body mass index (BMI) and the risk of Overweight or Obesity (OWO) at the age of 2-18 years.

Methods: The study included 1189 mother-child dyads from the prospective Boston Birth Cohort.

Short- and long-term alterations of hematopoietic cell lineages in rats with congenital iron deficiency.

Data support that fetal iron delivery is prioritized to hemoglobin in erythrocytes (RBC). Iron deficiency (ID) during pregnancy can cause congenital ID, i.e.

Comparing the safety of a single balloon catheter to dinoprostone for inducing labor in pregnant women with group B Streptococcus vaginal colonization: An observational study.

Group B Streptococcus is a bacterium that colonizes in approximately 20% of pregnant women and can be vertically transmitted to newborns, leading to maternal-neonatal adverse outcomes, such as chorioamnionitis, neonatal sepsis, and pneumonia. However, there is currently no agreement on the optimal induction method for this specific population. This study aims to evaluate the safety of a single balloon catheter (BC) in comparison to dinoprostone for labor induction in term pregnant women with group B Streptococcus colonization.

Assessing the timing of amniotomy after Foley balloon catheter removal in women with labor induction: The role of Bishop score: An observational study.

The timing of amniotomy after the Foley balloon catheter removal is crucial for successful labor induction. This study aimed to assess the effects of the Bishop score on the timing of amniotomy in patients undergoing labor induction after the Foley balloon catheter removal. This was a retrospective cohort study based on electronic medical records.

A Differentiated HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Delivery Model for High-Risk Groups in Nanning City, South China: Findings from a Pilot Program.

In China, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among men who have sex with men (MSM) and HIV-serodiscordant couples is low. We offered differentiated PrEP options tailored to MSM in a community-based organization (CBO) setting, and to HIV-serodiscordant couples attempting conception in a specialized HIV care clinic. The CBO facilitated PrEP by linkage with a telemedicine platform for virtual consultation; additional online follow-up on social media was conducted by peers.

Learning curve for the perinatal outcomes of radiofrequency ablation for selective fetal reduction: a single-center, 10-year experience from 2013 to 2023.

Objectives: To investigate the perinatal outcomes of SR using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in MC pregnancies, identified factors affecting these outcomes, and assessed the associated learning curve.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all consecutive MC pregnancies that required RFA from September 2013 to April 2023 at our institution. The perinatal outcomes were compared on the basis of various indications, and binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for cotwin loss.

Determinants of the economic burden of ART on the Italian NHS: insights from the Lombardy region.

With the rising spread of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), it becomes imperative to understand the determinants of resource utilization in ART versus spontaneous pregnancies to enhance policies directed to pregnancy care. The focus of our study is to examine the costs associated with ART from the perspective of the Italian NHS and to investigate in depth the contributing social and clinical factors.Using the healthcare informative system of Lombardy, a Region of Northern Italy, we gathered individual-level information for a cohort of women who experienced either spontaneous pregnancies or pregnancies following ART from 2007 until 2020.

Lactobacillus fermentum MCC2760 attenuates neurobehavioral alterations induced by oxidized oils in rats.

The common practice of reusing deep-fried oil may derange the ability of the brain to counter free radicals and inflammatory responses and can adversely alter neurobehavioral changes. In this study, we elucidated the modulatory potentials of Lactobacillus fermentum MCC2760 (LF) on neurobehavioral changes induced by dietary intake of oxidized oils. Female Wistar rats were fed with AIN-76 diets containing native sunflower oil (N-SFO), native canola oil (N-CNO), heated sunflower oil (H-SFO), heated canola oil (H-CNO), heated sunflower oil with probiotic (H-SFO + LF) or heated canola oil with probiotic (H-CNO + LF} for 60 days.

Operative and non-operative management of acute appendicitis during pregnancy: a population-based study.

Purpose: Acute appendicitis during pregnancy poses unique challenges due to altered anatomical and physiological dynamics and concern about foetal well-being. This study aimed to assess management strategies and outcomes of acute appendicitis during pregnancy, focusing on non-operative management versus surgical intervention.

Methods: The study is based on the computerized healthcare utilization database of Lombardy.