Midwives' experience of respectful maternity care (RMC) globally: A meta-synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Respectful maternity care (RMC) emphasizes the social and relational elements of maternity care and is a crucial part of initiatives to improve service accessibility and quality. Women's perceptions have influenced much of what we know about RMC and contempt in the labor ward. In order to understand midwives' perspectives of RMC, this meta-synthesis focused on them. METHOD: For this inquiry, the databases PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched to find studies on midwives' perceptions of RMC written between 2011 and April 20th 2023. The included articles were to English language restriction. The results of the included research were examined using thematic analysis. Using the inclusion criteria, 84 potentially relevant articles were carefully reviewed, and only 22 were ultimately selected for synthesis. The quality of the qualitative study was assessed using the CASP, a tool for quality evaluation and PRISMA guidelines were followed. Using the MAXQDA program, the cited quotes and the original authors' interpretations were combined. RESULT: There were 22 studies total, thematic synthesis was determined to be appropriate for a total of 22 research studies. Following are the topics which we summarized our analysis: in six major themes: Midwives' conceptualizations of RMC, Midwives commitment to woman's rights, The value and impact of RMC to midwives, Midwife's perception of disrespectful care, Challenges in providing respectful maternity care, and Midwives' recommendations for optimal RMC practice. CONCLUSION: In addition to specific focus on promoting cooperation, policies to enhance health systems and strategic consideration of the midwifery profession's future are required.

A Systematic Review on Use of Medicinal Plants for Male Infertility Treatment.

Objective: Male infertility is involved in about half of the casess of infertility and the only sole reason for infertility in 20%-30% of the cases. Following the recent interest in the use of medicinal plants, scientists have sought to clarify their effects on male fertility. This review aimed to summarize the results of studies available to determine the effectiveness, safety and mechanism of herbal treatments in the improvement of male fertility. Materials and methods: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central) databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published during 2000-2020. Studies were only included if they adhered to the CONSORT checklist. The methodological quality of the selected studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Finally, 20 studies recruiting a total of 1519 individuals were reviewed. These studies compared the effects of eleven different medicinal plants, i.e. ginseng, saffron, Nigella sativa, palm pollen, ADOFON, TOPALAF, sesame, and Mucuna pruriens, on male fertility with those of placebo. All studies (except one) confirmed the beneficial effects of medicinal plants on the improvement of sperm and reproductive parameters and thus male infertility. Conclusion: The existing RCTs indicated the positive effects of medicinal plants on male fertility. Therefore, in order to develop a novel approach to the treatment of male infertility, further clinical trials are warranted to determine the maximum dosage and duration of treatment with herbal medicines and evaluate any potential side effects of such interventions.

Iranian midwives' awareness and performance of respectful maternity care during labor and childbirth.

INTRODUCTION: Midwives' perceptions of Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) play an important role in promoting quality of care. This study aimed to explore the awareness and performance of Iranian midwives of RMC during childbirth. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out from November to December 2020 to evaluate 130 midwives' awareness and performance of RMC during childbirth at four public hospitals in Urmia province, Iran. Participants were midwives who were working in the labor unit and had at least one year of work experience. The Midwives' Knowledge and Practice Scale on Respectful Maternity Care was used to assess midwives' awareness and performance. The quality assessment of questionnaires was based on the mean for each item. A multivariate linear regression approach was developed to evaluate the relationship between midwives' age, academic education level plus occupational information and their awareness and performance of RMC. RESULTS: This study revealed that Iranian midwives had good awareness but fair performance of RMC. The mean scores of the overall awareness and performance of RMC were 36.07±10.13 and 75.47±35.4, respectively. Midwives' performance on two domains was fair including 'Giving emotional support' and 'Providing safe care'. The results of multivariate linear regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and midwives' performance on RMC. Also work experience plus a Master's degree in midwifery had positive significant effects on midwives' awareness along with performance on RMC (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Promoting respectful maternity care requires essential interpersonal and communication skills and supportive attitudes from midwives.

Association of serum vitamin D levels and urinary tract infection in pregnant women: A case control study.

OBJECTIVE: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common during pregnancy and can cause serious complications for the mother and fetus. Vitamin D, is known to have an effect on the urothelium, with immunomodulatory capacity against bacterial infection. This study explored the association between serum vitamin D levels and urinary tract infections in pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: In this case control study, 187 participants including, 97 pregnant women diagnosed as a symptomatic UTI (case group) and 90 matched healthy pregnant women (control group) were consecutively enrolled from prenatal care clinic of Imam Reza Hospital in Urmia, North West of Iran. The two groups were matched for trimester and parity, and sexual intercourse. Blood samples were collected from both groups. Chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) was used to evaluate the serum vitamin D levels. We used a binary multivariate unconditional logistic regression approach to evaluate the association between UTI and vitamin D and risk factor of the UTI. RESULTS: Vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL) was diagnosed in 85.7% of case group and 52.2% of control group. The serum vitamin D levels were significantly lower in pregnant women in the case group compared to the control group (12.7 ±â€¯5.9 ng/ml vs 26.05 ±â€¯10.37; p < 0.001). Pregnant women in case group with acute pyelonephritis had significantly lower serum vitamin D levels than those with Cystitis (p < 0.05). The serum vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/ml was the only factor associated with UTI after adjusting for all the confounders in multiple binary logistic regression modeling (AdjOR = 3.67; 95% of CI: 1.19-6.24; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Women with vitamin D deficiencies are at increased risk of urinary tract infections during pregnancy. However, further studies are essential to confirm these observed results.