The barriers and facilitators of Iranian men's involvement in perinatal care: a qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: Pregnancy and childbirth are crucial events in women's lives that can be done well with the support of people around them, especially their husbands. However, a number of factors can reduce or increase the supportive role of spouses during this period. The aim of the present study was to explore the barriers and facilitators of Iranian men's involvement in perinatal care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative phenomenological study that sampling of respondents (pregnant women or the women who have recently given birth (one week to six months after childbirth), spouses, policy makers and midwifery service providers) was done through purposive sampling. The inclusion criteria included: being Iranian, the ability to understand and transfer the concepts into Persian, and employment in a midwifery center for at least one year (for service providers). Data were collected through in-depth interviews until the data saturation. The collected data were analyzed by conventional content analysis based on Graneheim and Lundman method steps. MAXQDA version 10 software was used to manage the data and Guba and Lincoln criteria were also used to ensure the trustworthiness of findings. RESULTS: Men's involvement in perinatal care was found to be influenced by certain incentives, particular constraints and some gender authoritarian attitudes. There were 5, 4, and 3 subcategories in incentives, constraints, and gender attitudes respectively. CONCLUSION: The results revealed that men face a dual mechanism in participating in perinatal care, in which some of these factors can facilitate their participation and others can reduce it.

Men's participation in the perinatal period can reduce the problems of this period and leave a good memory for the whole family. In this phenomenological qualitative study, through in-depth interviews, participants were asked to express their experiences and views on men's participation in the perinatal period and the factors that increase and decrease their participation. Finally, the data were analyzed using the proposed method of Graneheim and Lundman and MAXQDA software. Interviews were conducted with 21 people (data saturation limit) and the data were classified into 3 main categories and 12 sub-categories. The results revealed that men face a dual mechanism in participating in perinatal care, in which some of these factors can facilitate their participation and others can reduce it.

Spouse's participation in perinatal care: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is one of the most important periods of any woman's life, wherein the support of her relatives, especially her spouse, enables her to tolerate the difficulties with good memories. However, in Iran, there are very few studies on the participation of spouses in the perinatal period. Therefore, the present study aimed to explain the concept of spouse participation in perinatal care. METHODS: This is a qualitative study that was carried out in 2018 on spouse participation in perinatal care in Qom, Iran. Purposive sampling from pregnant or postpartum women, spouses, midwifery care providers, and key informants was performed according to study inclusion criteria. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out until the data saturation was met. Also, the data analysis was performed based on a conventional content analysis approach according to Graneheim & Lundman steps using MAXQDA software (v.10). Five Guba and Lincoln criteria were applied to ensure the trustworthiness of data. RESULTS: Fifty-three final codes were classified into 18 sub-categories, 7 categories, and 3 themes including empathy (emotional and cognitive understanding), accountability (supporting, position management, compassion), and consequences (help improvement of family function, improvement of maternal-neonatal health). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings of this study, the concept of men's participation in this period has been defined as a set of empathic and responsive behaviors that can lead to improvement of the family function and mother and baby health.

Emotional experiences in surrogate mothers: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Surrogacy is one of the new techniques of assisted reproduction technology in which a woman carries and bears a child for another woman. In Iran, many Shia clerics and jurists considered it permissible so there is no religious prohibition for it. In addition to the risk of physical complications for complete surrogate mothers, the possibility of psychological complications resulted from emotional attachment to a living creature in the surrogate mother as another injury requires counseling and assessment prior to acceptance by infertile couples and complete surrogate mothers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the emotional experiences of surrogate mothers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative, phenomenological study. We selected eight complete surrogate mothers in Isfahan. We used convenient sampling method and in-depth interview to collect the information. The data analysis was fulfilled via Colaizzi's seven-stage method. Reliability and validity study of the roots in the four-axis was done. RESULTS: The findings of these interviews were classified into two main themes and four sub themes: acquired experiences in pregnancy (feelings toward pregnancy, relationship with family, relatives and commissioning couple) and consequences of surrogacy (complications of pregnancy, religious and financial problems of surrogacy). CONCLUSION: Surrogacy pregnancy should be considered as high-risk emotional experience because many of surrogate mothers may face negative experiences. Therefore, it is recommended that surrogates should receive professional counseling prior to, during and following pregnancy.

Effect of Dill (Anethum graveolens) on the severity of primary dysmenorrhea in compared with mefenamic acid: A randomized, double-blind trial.

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea has negative effects on women's life. Due to side-effects of chemical drugs, there is growing trend toward herbal medicine. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Dill compared to mefenamic acid on primary dysmenorrhea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This double-blind, randomized, clinical trial study was conducted on 75 single female students between 18 and 28 years old educating in Nursing and Midwifery School and Paramedical Faculty of Qom University of Medical Sciences of Iran in 2011. They were allocated randomly into one of the three groups: In Dill group, they took 1000 mg of Dill powder q12h for 5 days from 2 days before the beginning of menstruation for two cycles. Other groups received 250 mg mefenamic acid or 500 mg starch capsule as placebo, respectively. Dysmenorrhea severity was determined by a verbal multidimensional scoring system and a visual analog scale (VAS). Students with mild dysmenorrhea were excluded. Data were analyzed by SPSS using the descriptive statistic, paired-samples t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann-Whitney test, and Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between three groups for demographic or descriptive variables. Comprising the VAS showed that the participants of Dill and mefenamic acid groups had lower significant pain in the 1(st) and the 2(nd) months after treatment, whereas in the placebo group this was only significant in the 2(nd) month (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Dill was as effective as mefenamic acid in reducing the pain severity in primary dysmenorrhea. Further studies regarding side-effects of Dill and its interactivity are recommended.