Obstetrics & Gynaecology - Journal articles

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    Perinatal deaths in twin and singleton infants in Ireland: A comparison of characteristics and causes
    (Springer Nature, 2024-11-04) O’Connor, Caroline; Leitao, Sara; Corcoran, Paul; O’Donoghue, Keelin; Irish Research Council
    Introduction: Twin pregnancies are associated with significantly higher perinatal mortality (PM) rates compared to singletons, primarily due to complications like fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and congenital anomalies. This study aimed to compare the characteristics associated with PM in twin pregnancies and compare maternal and obstetric factors and cause of death among twins and singletons in the Republic of Ireland. Materials and methods: Data spanning 2011 to 2022 from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre’s annual perinatal mortality clinical audit included 4494 perinatal deaths. Maternal characteristics, antenatal care factors and cause of death were analysed with relative risk calculated using national Hospital In-Patient Enquiry data. Pearson’s chi-squared tests studied the difference between mortality in twins and singletons. Results: Twins accounted for 10.4% of all perinatal deaths, despite representing only 3.6% of total births. The PM rate for twins was 17.3 per 1000 births, 3.1 times higher than for singletons. Early neonatal deaths (ENNDs) were more frequent in twins (54.2%), while stillbirths predominated among singletons (68.6%). Younger maternal age and lower BMI were associated with higher PM risks in twins. A considerable proportion of twin deaths with major congenital anomalies or birth before 28 weeks gestation occurred in non-tertiary hospitals, suggesting limitations in referral pathways to centres with appropriate neonatal expertise. Conclusion: Twin pregnancies pose a higher risk of perinatal mortality, particularly among younger mothers and preterm births. The findings highlight the need for updated guidelines that prioritise early risk assessment, targeted interventions, and improved referral systems.
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    Religious minority identity associates with stress and psychological health among Muslim and Hindu women in Bangladesh and London
    (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2024-02-28) Dornisch, S. J.; Sievert, L. L.; Sharmeen, T.; Begum, K.; Muttukrishna, Shanthi; Chowdhury, O.; Bentley, G. R.; National Science Foundation; Commonwealth Scholarship Commission; Sigma Xia; Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Durham University
    Objectives: This study examined the association of minority religious identification (Hindu or Muslim) with self-reported stress and psychological symptoms among sedentee and immigrant Bangladeshi women. Methods: Women, aged 35–59 (n = 531) were drawn from Sylhet, Bangladesh and London, England. Muslim immigrants in London and Hindu sedentees in Sylhet represented minority religious identities. Muslim sedentees in Sylhet and Londoners of European descent represented majority religious identities. In bivariate analyses, minority religious identity was examined in relation to self-reported measures of stress, nervous tension, and depressed mood. Logistic regression was applied to examine the relationship between these variables while adjusting for marital status, parity, daily walking, and perceived financial comfort. Results: In bivariate analyses, religious minorities reported more stress than religious majorities in all group comparisons (p < .05), and minority Muslims reported more nervous tension and depressed mood than majority Muslims (p < .05). In logistic regression models, minority Muslims had greater odds of high stress than majority Muslims (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.18–3.39). Minority Muslims had greater odds of stress (OR 3.05, 95% CI 1.51–6.17) and nervous tension (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.66–6.87) than majority Londoners. Financial comfort reduced odds of stress and symptoms in all models. Conclusions: Socioeconomic situation, immigration history, and minority ethnicity appear to influence the relationship between religious identity and psychosomatic symptoms in Bangladeshi women. Attention to personal and socioeconomic context is important for research examining the association between religion and mental health.
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    Improving the quality of newborn feeding documentation in an EHR using a mixed methods approach
    (Elsevier Ltd., 2024-07-24) Sheehan, Orla Maria; Greene, Richard A.; Corcoran, Paul; McKernan, Joye; Murphy, Brendan
    Introduction: Newborn feeding is key to infant growth and survival. Accurate feeding documentation can inform care decisions and planning of care. A nutritional dashboard is available within the Electronic Health Record (EHR) which accumulates feeding data in a graphical display. Purpose: To improve the quality of newborn feeding documentation for post-natal ward babies and babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Design and Methods: A multidisciplinary end user expert group (n = 38) was established. Qualitative thematic analyses from this group were used to design new feeding data entry and review elements. Quantitative pre-post design was used to assess feeding documentation for both post-natal ward baby charts (n = 134) and NICU baby charts (n = 188). Descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-square were used to assess pre-post differences and statistical significance. The use of a nutritional dashboard was assessed using system audit logs and analyzed using Poisson regression testing. Results: Post-natal ward babies had improvements in structured feeding documentation by 91.6% (from 17.9% to 34.3%) (p = 0.031). NICU data feeding documentation improved by 25% (from 72.3% to 90.4%) (p = 0.001). Use of the nutritional dashboard however reduced in the post period. Conclusion: This study has positively demonstrated improvements in the quality of newborn feeding documentation within the patient's EHR can be achieved through a collaborative multidisciplinary approach optimising EHR design. Practice implications: The benefit of a multidisciplinary approach to EHR design is paramount to promoting superior quality data entry compliant with individual workflows.
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    Maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and depression or anxiety in adolescence: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study - a reply
    (Elsevier, 2024-03-19) Keenan, Martin; Khashan, Ali S.; O'Byrne, Laura J.; O'Keeffe, Gerard W.; Al Khalaf, Sukainah; Maher, Gillian M.
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    Maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and depression or anxiety in adolescence: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study
    (Elsevier, 2023-11-18) Keenan, Martin; Khashan, Ali S.; O'Byrne, Laura J.; O'Keeffe, Gerard W.; Al Khalaf, Sukainah; Maher, Gillian M.
    Background: The short-term effects of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) on the health of the fetus are well known; however, their impacts on the risk of mental health in the exposed offspring are not fully understood. Our aim was to examine the association between HDP and depression/anxiety at age 17 years. Methods: We used data from The Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative longitudinal study of children born in the United Kingdom. Data on HDP and potential confounders were collected when children were 9-months. Data on depression and anxiety were collected as one variable when children were aged 17 years using self-reported doctor diagnosis, and reclassified as depression/anxiety (overall), depression/anxiety with treatment, and depression/anxiety without treatment. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models were performed to examine the association between HDP and depression/anxiety, adjusting for several maternal and socio-economic factors. Results: There were 9517 singleton mother-child pairs included in the analyses. Adjusted logistic regression suggested an association between HDP and depression/anxiety (adjusted odds ratio, (aOR):1.30 [95 % CI, 1.02–1.66]) at age 17 years. A similar association was observed for HDP and depression/anxiety with treatment (aOR:1.33 [95 % CI, 1.01–1.73]) and HDP and depression/anxiety without treatment (aOR: 1.30 [95 % CI, 0.80–2.12]), although the latter did not reach statistical significance. Limitations: Data on severity and classifications of HDP were not available. Conclusion: Exposure to HDP may be associated with an increased likelihood of depression or anxiety at age 17 years. Future research should consider severity and different classifications of HDP.