Cognitive factors related to childbirth and their effect on women's delivery preference: a comparison between a private and public hospital in Tehran

This cross-sectional study compared cognitive-related variables for caesarean delivery in a private and public hospital in Tehran and assessed their association with maternal preference for delivery mode. A sample of 300 pregnant women in their final trimester of uncomplicated pregnancy was recruited from 1 private and 1 public hospital. They completed the Fear of Pain, Childbirth Attitude and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale questionnaires, and their sociodemographic data and delivery preference were recorded. Maternal preference for caesarean delivery was significantly higher in women in the private hospital, and they were significantly more likely to fear pain and childbirth than those in the public hospital; however, both were equally likely to catastrophize in painful situations. Women's preference for caesarean delivery in both hospitals was significantly associated with all the cognitive factors. Other factors are likely to contribute to the difference in caesarean delivery in the private and public hospital

[Promoting health status of menopausal women by educating self care strategies]

Menopause is an important event in women's lives. By increasing life expectancy, women spend about one-third of their lives in menopausal stage. Lack of knowledge about self-care and unhealthy life style in menopause women result in many of serious damages in this period. This study is to determine the effect of educating self care strategies on knowledge and practice of menopausal women. This is a semi-experimental study. A total of 81 women were selected using convenience sampling method. All women completed an 11-item questionnaire covering demographic information, medical history, lifestyle and current symptoms and their severity. The women completed pre- and post-intervention [at the baseline and 6 weeks later] questionnaire which assessed knowledge and beliefs about menopause and a number of health-related behaviors. The intervention included giving information and group discussion about menopause, stress management, health behaviors [smoking, exercise, diet] and treatment choices. The results indicated that at the baseline, 22.2% had poor knowledge, 64.2% had average and 13.6% had good knowledge. Following the educational intervention, none of the respondents had poor knowledge. 27.5% were at average and 72.5% were at good level of knowledge. According to the findings, education had strong effect on promoting the respondents' knowledge about self-care strategies. We believe the stronger efforts are needed to promote good health-related behaviors for these women