The Influencing Factors of Breastfeeding for Full-Term Singleton Within Six Months of Birth in Xi'an Before the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The study is designed to understand the situation of full-term infants breastfeeding within 6 months of birth in Xi'an before the Covid-19 pandemic and analyze the influencing factors of exclusive breastfeeding. Methods: Five hospitals in Xi'an province have been selected as research centers. Full-term infants who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited from these centers between January 1 and February 28, 2019. The feeding situation at 10 days, 42 days, 3 months, and 6 months after birth were investigated. A self-designed breastfeeding questionnaire was used for investigation and follow-up. SPSS 22.0 was applied for statistical analysis of the data. Results: The exclusive breastfeeding rate of full-term infants on days 10 and 42 and at months three and six after birth was 61.38%, 54.78%, 48.83%, and 38.78%, respectively, with a decreasing trend over time. During breastfeeding within 48 h after delivery, 1,653 cases (91.83%) of puerpera had different grades of pain, including 1,325 cases (80.16%) of mild discomfort, 321 cases (19.42%) of moderate pain, and seven cases (0.42%) of severe pain. Within 24-48 h postpartum, 1,607 (89.27%) mothers faced problems related to postpartum breastfeeding. Among them, 694 (43,19%) neonates could not be fed effectively; 665 (41.38%) mothers had wound pain and had inconvenience to turn over; 598 (37.21%) neonates were difficult to wake up; 439 (27.32%) mothers had incorrect feeding posture; 181 (11.26%) mothers experienced other problems. The Cox risk regression model showed that weight gain during pregnancy was higher than the recommended standard. Living in suburban counties was a risk factor of exclusive breastfeeding for full-term infants. Participation in breastfeeding courses during pregnancy, feeding more than eight times daily after delivery, were the protective factors of exclusive breastfeeding for full-term infants. Conclusion: The body weight gain of parturients should be controlled within a reasonable range during pregnancy. Parturients were encouraged by medical staff to participate in breastfeeding courses or watch the breastfeeding process during pregnancy to increase their self-confidence and improve the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for full-term infants. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the publicity of breastfeeding in suburban areas to promote breastfeeding.

A more secure and effective method for throat swab collection: The importance of adequate exposure of oral cavity in COVID-19 specimen collection.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to propose a novel and effective throat swab collection method for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The subjects were asked to open their mouth to make "ah" sound (traditional method) or simulate yawn (improved method) for throat swab collection. The usage of tongue depressor, collection time, adverse reactions and subjective discomfort (VAS score) were compared. The collection time, comprehensive indicators of adverse reactions and VAS score were also compared among three collectors. RESULTS: The tongue depressor was less used in the improved group (χ2 = 40.186, P < 0.01). The average collection time of the traditional group was 5.44 ± 2.97 and that of the improved group was 4.00 ± 2.31 (P < 0.01). The subjects in the improved group had fewer and milder adverse reactions. The VAS score of subjects in the improved group was lower than that in the traditional group (P < 0.01). Among different collectors, the collection time, comprehensive indicators of adverse reactions and VAS were the same as the overall trend. CONCLUSION: Simulating yawn is a safer and faster throat swab collection method.

No obviously adverse pregnancy complications and outcomes of the recovered pregnant women from COVID-19.

The effects of SARS-COV-2 infection on the pregnant women and their fetus growth have attracted worldwide concern. Our case study aimed to investigate the neonatal clinical outcomes of the recovered pregnant women from COVID-19 in China, expecting to provide the clinical references of urgent need for other countries. Our study recruited a total of 12 recovered pregnant women from COVID-19 prior to pregnancy termination. The maternal and neonatal clinical characteristics were recorded. Of them, the placental pathological characteristics of five participants were evaluated following the standard guidelines. Two of them chose induced labour due to being worry about the potential adverse effects of medical treatment for COVID-19 by themselves. For the others, 8 gave birth by cesarean section with certain indications and 2 by vaginal delivery. Their neonates were all live birth with ≥ 37 gestational weeks and high Apgar scores of 9 ∼ 10. For the neonate related biological samples, they all have negative results of RNA test, including nasopharyngeal swab, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, vaginal fluid, placenta, or umbilical cord. Most of other pathological indicators of placental examination suggested no abnormal syndromes. Overall, we did not find any abnormal pregnancy complications and neonatal outcomes among them. We concluded that excess adverse effect on the fetus development due to COVID-19 in the recovered pregnant women should be less influential, especially, induce abortion due to the anxiety of COVID-19 treatment should be not advisable.

Applicability of bedside ultrasonography for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis in patients with COVID-19 and treatment with low molecular weight heparin.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of bedside ultrasonography for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients infected with corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with and without treatment with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of deceased and surviving patients in whom ultrasonography detected or not a DVT, and in whom LMWH was or not prescribed. RESULTS: The incidence of DVT is higher in the deceased (33/35) than in the surviving (22/46) patients. LMWH was administered in a larger proportion of surviving (18/22) than of deceased (18/33) patients. D-dimer concentrations decreased in patients who received LMWH in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high incidence of DVT in patients who succumbed to COVID-19. Bedside ultrasonography can detect the presence of DVT as early as possible and help assessing the risk of venous thromboembolism, allowing early and reasonable use of LMWH.