What's trending? Reach and content of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on social media.

BACKGROUND: The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine uses social media to increase awareness of the Society and its key programs and to foster community and discussion around perinatal health, especially on Twitter. The influence and role of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter account in public discourse around issues relevant to pregnancy have not been studied. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the trends in engagement with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on Twitter by analyzing Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine follower growth and discussion topics on Twitter compared with Facebook and by quantifying public engagement during the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Pregnancy Meeting. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective study analyzed follower growth data from August 2019 to July 2022 for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter (@MySMFM) and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Facebook (@SocietyforMaternalFetalMedicine) accounts. We identified the top 10 tweets and Facebook posts during the study period using Twitter Analytics and Facebook data. The popularity of tweets and Facebook posts was determined by "impressions" and "reach," respectively; these metrics reflect the number of times a post was viewed. To evaluate annual trends in Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter engagement, we analyzed data associated with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Pregnancy Meeting, including the number of tweets using the hashtag (#SMFM(Year)) and overall impressions for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter account for each meeting from 2016 to 2023. RESULTS: The absolute number of new followers for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter and Facebook accounts was similar, but the relative increase and rate of follower growth was higher for Twitter than for Facebook. The Twitter account consistently gained followers, whereas the Facebook account experienced intermittent periods of stagnancy or follower loss. More than half of the top-ranked posts on Twitter and Facebook mentioned the COVID-19 vaccine; other popular topics included COVID-19 and abortion. During the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Pregnancy Meeting, the number of tweets using the meeting hashtag consistently peaked on meeting day 4, coincident with the opening plenary session (mean 1270±499). An upward trend in annual pregnancy meeting tweets was observed each year until 2021-the first virtual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine meeting. CONCLUSION: The trends in Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Twitter engagement suggest increasing use and popularity of the platform for timely dissemination of pregnancy-related news, guidelines, and research. The reduction in annual pregnancy meeting tweets and impressions in 2021 and 2022 suggests the potential negative effect of virtual meetings on Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine member engagement around annual meeting content.

Patient Attendance and Outcomes in a Structured Weight Management Program.

OBJECTIVES: To determine service utilization and identify patient characteristics associated with service utilization in youth with obesity presenting for structured weight management, and to explore weight-related outcomes associated with service utilization. STUDY DESIGN: In this retrospective study conducted between January 2008 and December 2013, we examined variables associated with the care of 2089 patients aged 2-18 years presenting for an initial visit to 2 tertiary care-based, multidisciplinary structured weight management clinics. RESULTS: Only 53% of patients returned for a second visit, 29% returned for a third visit, and virtually none (0.5%) completed the recommended 6 visits within 6 months. Patients who were Hispanic, government-insured, and whose parent/s spoke Spanish were more likely to return to clinic. Of those patients who returned for at least a second visit, 70% demonstrated a reduction in or maintenance of body mass index z-score. CONCLUSIONS: Patient retention remains a significant barrier to effective pediatric weight management. Structured weight management programs should increase their efforts to engage patients and families at the initial visit and identify and address barriers to follow up.

Implementing 12345 Fit-Tastic: A Tool for Combating Childhood Obesity.

Childhood obesity is epidemic in the United States. School nurses are in a unique position to address weight with the students they serve. This article provides tools for school nurses to be able to conduct an obesity screening, demonstrate the basic skills of motivational interviewing in treatment of obesity in a school age child, and utilize the 12345 Fit-Tastic program in their practice. This article is the seventh and final article in a series on the topic of childhood obesity and the accompanying comorbidities.

How mothers respond to their crying infant.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to allow mothers who are at high risk for abusing their child to describe how they manage when their infant cries. METHOD: This phenomenologic qualitative study used a focus group design and semi-structured interview format. Participants were seven low-income women with a child enrolled in an urban day care facility, which provided the setting for data collection. RESULTS: Analyses of the data revealed three themes: (a) activities done to pacify the infant, (b) coping mechanism, and (c) social support available. DISCUSSION: The results of this study indicate that activities (a) may include the infant, such as holding and singing, or (b) may be directed toward the mother, such as using headphones or leaving the room. These activities follow the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics and are not unique. Social support primarily was provided at the day care facility, supplemented with personal relationships that are tentative. Valued informal and formal interactions with supportive persons provide the emotional and psychosocial support for this at-risk population.

An effective pyloromyotomy length in infants undergoing laparoscopic pyloromyotomy.

BACKGROUND: Traditional management of pyloric stenosis has consisted of open pyloromyotomy during which the surgeon is able to palpate and determine whether the hypertrophied pylorus has been completely divided. During the last decade, laparoscopic pyloromyotomy has become an increasingly popular approach for this condition. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is an effective pyloromyotomy length that will allow the surgeon to feel confident that a complete pyloromyotomy was performed with the laparoscopic approach. METHODS: All infants undergoing laparoscopic pyloromyotomy from October 1999 through October 2003 at a single institution were retrospectively studied. Clinical variables collected included the patient's age, gender, electrolyte status on admission, the elapsed time from admission to operation, ultrasonographic dimensions of the hypertrophied pylorus, operative time, the length of the pyloromyotomy performed, the time to initial and to full feedings, and the duration of the postoperative hospitalization. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-one patients comprised the study group. The age (mean +/- standard deviation) at the time of operation was 5.2 +/- 2.8 weeks. The mean preoperative ultrasonic measurements for both pyloric thickness and pyloric length were 4.3 +/- 0.7 mm and 19.5 +/- 2.8 mm, respectively. The average pyloromyotomy incision length for this entire group was 1.9 +/- 0.21 cm. The mean operative time was 23.5 +/- 8.3 minutes. There were no mucosal perforations, no conversions to an open procedure, and no evidence for an incomplete pyloromyotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy is a safe and effective technique for infants with pyloric stenosis. A pyloromyotomy incision length of approximately 2 cm appears to be an effective measure of a complete pyloromyotomy.