BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate whether a nursing intervention program using abdominal palpation would improve maternal-fetal relationships of pregnant women. METHODS The subjects were Japanese women aged less than 40 years with singleton pregnancies. A nursing intervention involving abdominal palpations of Leopold's Maneuvers was performed for the intervention group (n = ...

The paralysing feelings of grief after perinatal loss can cause an overwhelming feeling of being abandoned, creating confusion, disorientation and hopelessness, altering future pregnancies for parents, children alive at the time and those that follow. Research with parents’ pregnant following loss, elderly bereaved parents with no intervention, and children born after loss, some now adults, sho...

We present a case of fetal tachycardia associated with maternal use of long-acting pseudoephedrine, an over-the-counter decongestant. No previous studies exist on pseudoephedrine or other over-the-counter decongestants and their effect on the fetal heart. The elevated fetal heart rate led to difficulty in interpreting a nonstress test. The normal human fetal heart rate at term is 110 to 160 bea...

BACKGROUND Previous research suggests, though not consistently, that maternal psychological distress during pregnancy leads to adverse birth outcomes. We investigated whether maternal psychological distress affects fetal growth during the period of mid-pregnancy until birth. METHOD Pregnant women (n=6313) reported levels of psychological distress using the Brief Symptom Inventory (anxious and...

background: according to the attachment theory, anxiety disorders due to the child and based on attachment disorders are defined. this study examined the relationship between mother's attachment style and school anxieties of mentally retarded male students.   methods: all mentally retarded male students of secondary schools during academic year of 2008-2009 in shiraz were studied (127 students)...

Fetal responses to induced maternal relaxation during the 32nd week of pregnancy were recorded in 100 maternal-fetal pairs using a digitized data collection system. The 18-min guided imagery relaxation manipulation generated significant changes in maternal heart rate, skin conductance, respiration period, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Significant alterations in fetal neurobehavior were obse...

In a discordant anencephalic twin the hypothesis was tested that the fetal brain is necessary for the expression of a diurnal rhythm in fetal heart rate. Fetal heart rate recordings were made over a 24 h period in a discordant anencephalic twin pregnancy and in three normal twin pregnancies. Cosinor analysis was used to assess rhythmicity in fetal heart rate and maternal heart rate or activity....

Depression in early puerperium was evaluated in terms of maternal attachment in mothers of children admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in comparison to a control group of mothers of full-term infants. A survey including Zung’s self-rating depression scale (ZSDS), a postpartum maternal attachment scale and items addressing the mother’s feelings and peripheral conditions was cond...