OBJECTIVES To describe the association between fear of childbirth and social, demographic and psychological factors in a cohort of 30 480 healthy nulliparous women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. DESIGN Nationwide population-based study. SETTING The Danish National Birth Cohort. POPULATION Healthy nulliparous women (n= 30 480) with singleton pregnancies. METHODS Data from comp...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of fear of childbirth in a nationwide sample and its association with subsequent rates of caesarean section and overall experience of childbirth. DESIGN A prospective study using between-group comparisons. SETTING About 600 antenatal clinics in Sweden. SAMPLE A total of 2,662 women recruited at their first visit to an antenatal clinic during three p...

AIMS This paper is a report on a study analysing the effect of the umbilical cord cutting experience on fathers' emotional involvement with their infants. BACKGROUND Participation in childbirth offers an opportunity for father and mother to share the childbirth experience, so it is vital that midwives improve the fathers' participation in this event. DESIGN A quasi-experimental study with a...

BACKGROUND In recent years Rwanda has achieved remarkable improvement in quality of maternity care services but there is evidence of deficiencies in care quality in terms of disrespectful care. Women's overall childbirth experience is an important outcome of childbirth and a factor in assessing quality of care. The aim of this study was to investigate how women's overall childbirth experience i...

Women in developing countries experience postnatal depression at rates that are comparable with or higher than those in developed countries. However, their personal experiences during pregnancy and childbirth have received little attention in relation to postnatal depression. In particular, the contribution of obstetric complications to their emotional well-being during the postpartum period is...

BACKGROUND Maternal age at childbirth continues to increase worldwide. We aimed to assess whether increasing maternal age is associated with changes in childhood height, body composition, and metabolism. METHODS 277 healthy pre-pubertal children, born 37-41 weeks gestation were studied. Assessments included: height and weight corrected for parental measurements, DEXA-derived body composition,...

AIM The aim of this study was to answer the question of whether physical activity during pregnancy and participation in childbirth classes prepare women for childbirth; further, does it influence the levels of perceived stress and the occurrence of depressed mood. METHODS 100 women participated in the study. Half of the women had taken part in the childbirth classes before giving birth. A que...

Background. Utilization of professional care during childbirth by women in low-income countries is important for the progress towards MDG 5. In Yemen, home births have decreased minimally during the past decades. Objective. The study investigates the influence of socio-demographic, birth outcome and demand factors on women's future preference of a home or institutional childbirth. Method. We in...

Increased vascular calcification and tortuosity are rather common in end-stage renal failure patients who are on hemodialysis. It renders manipulation of catheters and performance of percutaneous transluminal interventions more difficult than expected. Such vascular alterations may be evident in large veins and pose significant difficulties in placement of pacing leads as shown in our case. To ...