Educational needs assessment for men's participation in perinatal care

To assess men's educational needs to improve their involvement in perinatal care we carried out a descriptive, cross-sectional study on 400 women seeking perinatal care in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences hospitals and 400 men who were accompanying them. Participants were recruited using a quota sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect information on demography, men's educational needs and attitude assessment. The mean attitude score was 79.13% [SD 10.5%]. More than 95% of participants agreed with perinatal care education for men and the content most required was "Signs of risks during the perinatal period" and "Mothers' nutrition". The majority of participants preferred the face-to-face couples' counselling method, at home as the best place, evening and weekends as the best time and marriage classes as the best time for initiation. Men's education is necessary to promote male involvement in perinatal care

[Effect of early skin- to- skin contact of mother and newborn on mother's satisfaction]

The first minutes after birth are a very vulnerable period for both mother and newborn. The care that is provided during this time is critical to improve their longer-term health. Mother-infant Skin to skin contact immediately after birth creates an optimal environment for the adaptation of newborn infants to extra uterine life and should be a routine method in hospitals. The Purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of skin to skin contact between newborn and mother immediately after birth on mother's satisfaction in Taleghani hospital in Arak on 2008-2009. A randomized controlled trial was designed to study the effect of early skin -to- skin contact between mother and newborn. 80 pairs of newborns and their mothers who delivered in Taleghani hospital Arak, Iran were included in the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups [skin to skin contact and routine care]. In skin-to-skin contact group, immediately after birth naked newborns were placed in prone position on skin contact with their mothers and in routine care group newborns were placed in cot under warmer. A questionnaire was used to assess mothers' satisfaction. In the end of breastfeeding mothers' satisfaction were assessed. Data were collected by a questionnaire, which included questions about the mothers' satisfaction with the care they received during labor and their tendency to skin to skin contact in future. The validity of questionnaire was determined by content validity method and reliability was obtained by internal consistency [consistency coefficient 0.90]. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. A larger proportion of mothers in skin to skin contact group were very satisfied [70%] and satisfied [20%] with their care, and a larger proportion of mothers in routine care group were very unsatisfied [35%] and unsatisfied [35%].There was a significant difference between two groups in terms of their tendency for skin-to-skin contact in future. Skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn results in mother's satisfaction

Comparing the complications of 2 copper intrauterine devices: T380A and Cu-Safe 300

This single-blind case-control study compared the complications of 2 intrauterine devices in consecutive referrals for device insertion in clinics of Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran. Women who met the inclusion criteria [n = 110] were randomly allocated to receive copper T380A [controls] or Cu-Safe 300 [cases]. Moderate or severe pain during the device insertion was reported in 69.1% of controls and 47.3% of cases. Bleeding, vertigo and crampy pain at insertion were not significantly different between the groups. After 3 months follow-up, blood spotting was reported in 16.3% and 32.7% of controls and cases respectively. The Cu-Safe-300 group had less pain and menstrual bleeding but copper T380A had less spotting after 3 months. Studies on longer term complications are strongly recommended

[Effects of anise abstract on menopausal hot flashes]

Respecting the incidence of hot flashes in postmenopausal women and its effect on their socioeconomic lives and the controversies regarding its treatment, this double-blind clinical trial was conducted to determine the effects of Anise abstract on hot flashes in these women referring to rural and urban health centers of Qazvin province during 2006. 72 postmenopausal women with hot flashes at different severities were randomly selected according to pre-determined criteria and divided into two groups of experimental and control. Their medical records at health centers were used for sampling. Each woman in the experimental group took a capsule containing 100 mg Anise 3 times a day while, in the control group, women took 3 placebo capsules, each containing 330 mg starch. They took the capsules over 4 weeks. Before taking the capsules, they were assessed for a week about the frequency of hot flashes and the types of food they took. Data were collected by a questionnaire and an information form. Content and test-retest methods were used for validity and reliability of the tools. ANOVA and t-student test were applied for statistical analysis. Demographic information of the subjects included: mean age=51.63, amenorrhea duration=2.39, body mass index=27.13, number of pregnancies=6.56, percentage of the married=95.8 and percentage of primary education=37.7. 80.6% of hot flashes occurred at nights. In the experimental group, the frequency and severity of hot flashes before treatment were 4.21% and 56.21% and, after that, were 1.06% and 14.44% at the end of the fourth week, respectively. There was no significant change in the frequency and severity of hot flashes in the control group. Anise is effective on the frequency and severity of hot flashes in postmenopausal women. These women can be taught to choose different alleviating methods, preferably. Further studies with longer duration of treatment for assessing hot flashes are warranted

Comparison of fern and evaporation tests for detection of ruptured fetal membranes

Timely diagnosis of ruptured fetal membranes during the pregnancy is important. This study in the Islamic Republic of Iran compared the sensitivity and specificity of the evaporation test that requires no special equipment with the standard fern test requiring a microscope. Two groups of 50 pregnant women were studied: 1 with artificially ruptured membranes [gold standard] and 1 with intact membranes. The positive and negative predictive values of the fern test were 92% and 96% and for the evaporation test were 89% and 98%. The evaporation test is a simple, easy and non-expensive diagnostic test for ruptured membranes

[Comparing breast-feeding patterns in mothers with normal vaginal delivery [NVD] and cesarean section at teaching hospitals in Tehran, 2004]

Breast feeding is the best start in life of each child and breast milk is the most complete food in the first 4 to 6 months. However, one million children die of inadequate intake of breast milk each year. With respect to the importance of this milk in the health of mothers and children and high figures of Cesarean section in many countries, the effects of delivery type on breast feeding duration are unknown. This descriptive comparative study was conducted to compare breast-feeding patterns in two normal vaginal delivery [NVD] and Cesarean section groups. 140 pairs of mothers and newborn babies were selected in 2 groups. Initial sampling was started at 6 teaching hospitals in Tehran from March 2004 to May 2004. Data collection tools included 2 questionnaires and 1 observational checklist. Breast-feeding patterns were assessed according to definitions of WHO and such parameters as starting time of breast feeding. Mothers were followed up each month at their homes over the first 3 months after delivery. Qui-square, t-student, and Fisher statistical tests were used for data analysis. No significant difference was found between the 2 groups in terms of breast-feeding patterns, the first food of newborns and the frequency of breast feeding However, a significant difference was found in the mean starting time and frequency of breast feeding at the hospitals. It can be concluded that delivery type is not very significant in patterns of breast-feeding