Perinatal Care Provider Perspectives on Integrating Clinical Research Into the Clinical Infrastructure.

Introduction: This study explored perinatal health care providers' perspectives on the recruitment of pregnant participants and integrating clinical research into their practice, with a particular emphasis on the complexities introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: From May to September 2021, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 perinatal health care providers from an urban US health center. The interview transcripts were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis framework, a rigorous method for analyzing qualitative data by identifying, coding, and reporting themes.

Disruptions and adaptations of an urban nutrition intervention delivering essential services for women and children during a major health system crisis in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Systematic crises may disrupt well-designed nutrition interventions. Continuing services requires understanding the intervention paths that have been disrupted and adapting as crises permit. Alive & Thrive developed an intervention to integrate nutrition services into urban antenatal care services in Dhaka, which started at the onset of COVID-19 and encountered extraordinary disruption of services.

Echogenic bowel on the second-trimester ultrasound as an indicator of jejunal atresia: a case report.

Introduction And Importance: Fetal echogenic bowel (FEB) is a finding on prenatal ultrasound characterized by increased echogenicity of the fetal intestine. In this study we present a case of FEB with severe bowel dilatation identified on second-trimester ultrasound that was subsequently diagnosed with jejunal atresia postnatally.

Case Presentation: A 28-year-old primigravida woman was referred to our perinatology clinic at 18 weeks/3 days gestational age for a fetal anomaly scan.

Compliance to iron folic acid consumption and factors associated among antenatal care attendant mothers in southern Ethiopia.

Iron and folic acid (IFA) consumption is an important strategy for the prevention of birth defects and anemia during pregnancy. In Ethiopia, low proportion of pregnant mothers took an iron tablet for 90 plus days. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess compliance to IFA consumption and its associated factors among mothers attending antenatal care in Southern Ethiopia, 2021.

Alcohol induces p53-mediated apoptosis in neural crest by stimulating an AMPK-mediated suppression of TORC1, S6K, and ribosomal biogenesis.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is a leading cause of permanent neurodevelopmental disability and can feature distinctive craniofacial deficits that partly originate from the apoptotic deletion of craniofacial progenitors, a stem cell lineage called the neural crest (NC). We recently demonstrated that alcohol causes nucleolar stress in NC through its suppression of ribosome biogenesis (RBG) and this suppression is causative in their p53/MDM2-mediated apoptosis. Here, we show that this nucleolar stress originates from alcohol's activation of AMPK, which suppresses TORC1 and the p70/S6K-mediated stimulation of RBG.

Response of One-Carbon Biomarkers in Maternal and Cord Blood to Folic Acid Dose During Pregnancy.

Background/objectives: The folate Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for pregnant women is 600 μg/day dietary folate equivalents, which is equivalent to approximately 400 μg folic acid. Many prenatal supplements contain much higher doses of folic acid. The body's ability to reduce synthetic folic acid to the metabolically active form may be exceeded with high levels of supplementation.

Diet quality during pregnancy, adolescent brain morphology, and cognitive performance in a population-based cohort.

Background: Diet quality during pregnancy may affect offspring's neurobiology and cognitive performance in childhood. However, little is known about underlying mechanisms and potential long-term effects.

Objectives: To examine associations of diet quality during pregnancy with offspring pre- and early-adolescent brain morphology and to investigate whether brain morphology mediates associations of diet quality during pregnancy with full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) in early adolescence.

Unveiling the Craving: A systematic review of pregnant women's desires for expert nutrition care in Australia.

Problem: Poor nutrition during the antenatal period can contribute to adverse health outcomes for both mother and baby.

Background: Despite the importance of nutrition during pregnancy, there is limited research exploring the attitudes and experiences pregnant women possess towards nutrition care, particularly within the Australian context. Existing literature has indicated that pregnant women lack knowledge of and are not adhering to pregnancy related nutrition recommendations.

Dietary Flavonoid Intake and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly: A Case-Control Study.

Background: This study investigates the association between dietary flavonoid intake and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) through a matched case-control design.

Methods: Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, comparing the intake of flavonoids between individuals with MCI and those with normal cognitive function. Logistic regression analysis was employed to evaluate the correlation between dietary flavonoid intake and the risk of MCI.

Impact of maternal high-fat diet on offspring gut microbiota during short-term high-fat diet exposure in mice.

Alterations in the gut microbiome have been linked to obesity, with maternal high-fat diet (HF) playing a role in shaping offspring microbiome composition. However, the sex-specific responses to maternal HF diet and the impact of subsequent dietary challenges remain unclear. This study investigated the effects of maternal HF diet on offspring gut microbiota structure and predicted functional profile in response to short-term postnatal HF diet exposure with a focus on sex-specific responses.

Nutritional Knowledge and Practices of Low-Income Women During Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study in Two Oaxacan Cities.

Background: Adequate dietary intake is critical for healthy pregnancies. Recent changes in social services in Mexico, coupled with high levels of food insecurity, call into question whether expecting women of the lowest socioeconomic status are able to meet their dietary and nutritional needs in this changing context. The aim of this study was to explore the nutritional practices, education and received and employed among women during their pregnancy.

Associations of maternal and paternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary phthalate biomarker and bisphenol A concentrations with offspring autistic behaviors: The PEACE study.

Background: Environmental chemical exposures in utero may play a role in autism development. While preconception risk factors for autism are increasingly being investigated, little is known about the influence of chemical exposures during the preconception period, particularly for paternal exposures.

Methods: In 195 children from the Preconception Environmental exposures And Childhood health Effects (PEACE) cohort born to parents recruited from a fertility clinic in Boston, Massachusetts between 2004 and 2017, we quantified concentrations of 11 phthalate metabolites and bisphenol A (BPA) in urine samples collected from mothers and fathers before conception and mothers throughout pregnancy.

Quality improvement initiative to achieve early enteral feeds in preterm infants at a level IV neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: We report the results of a quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to full enteral feeds and number of central line and parenteral nutrition days in premature infants in a level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by 20%.

Study Design: In 2020, a multidisciplinary team at our NICU initiated a quality improvement project to improve enteral feeding in infants with a birthweight <1800 g. The key drivers were early donor human milk consent, trophic feeds initiation, and modification of the enteral feeding guidelines.

Edinburgh postpartum depression scores are associated with vaginal and gut microbiota in pregnancy.

Background: Prenatal and postpartum depression may be influenced by the composition of host associated microbiomes. As such, the objective of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the human gut or vaginal microbiomes in pregnancy with prenatal or postpartum depression.

Methods: 140 female participants were recruited at their first prenatal visit and completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to screen for depression and anxiety, in addition the EPDS was completed one month postpartum.

Effects of maternal preconception high-fat diet on the fertility of dams and on the somatic parameters and reflex ontogeny of their male offspring.

Background: Female consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) may cause fertility issues and affects offspring development.

Objective: Evaluate the acute maternal preconception intake of a HFD on the fertility and reproduction parameters of breeding females; and on the somatic parameters and reflex ontogeny of male offspring.

Methods: Twenty-four rats were randomized into control (PC; n=12) and high-fat diet group (PHF; n=12) that consumed their respective diets during the 23-day preconception period.

Micronutrient interactions: Magnesium and its synergies in maternal-fetal health.

Magnesium is an essential nutrient for various physiological processes and becomes even more vital during pregnancy, contributing to muscle relaxation, bone development, electrolyte balance, and blood pressure regulation. Despite the fact that the dietary sources of magnesium are diversified, it is still challenging to obtain it in sufficient quantities during pregnancy. We have elucidated its interactions and its specific impact on maternal-fetal health in different research publications.