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Background: Involving patients and consumers in research design helps ensure relevance for those affected by the problem being investigated and can optimize recruitment to clinical trials. This is particularly important when conducting research involving pregnant women. Aims: We investigated women's motivations to participate in a hypothetical randomized control trial (RCT) of a third-trimester screening test for intrapartum fetal compromise (IFC) and adverse perinatal outcomes. Materials and methods: Women attending for routine antenatal care at a tertiary center were invited to complete a short, anonymized patient acceptability survey. The survey was developed with the assistance of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand's Consumer Advisory Panel and consisted of Likert scales and open-ended questions. It was designed to ascertain women's responses to research issues, particularly the acceptability of being randomized to a non-revealed arm of a screening test RCT. Results: 100 pregnant women took part; 40% indicated that they would agree/strongly agree to participate in a hypothetical RCT regardless of whether they were given the result of a screening test and 31% were unsure. Randomization to either an intervention or control group was acceptable to 47%, 30% were unsure and 23% were not willing to be randomized. Reasons to participate included the desire to contribute to research and to improve pregnancy care. Conclusions: Participation in an RCT of a screening test for IFC involving non-disclosure of the test result was acceptable to a large minority of pregnant women. This finding supports the feasibility of conducting a large-scale study of this design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although exclusive breastfeeding is very beneficial for children's and mothers' health, a limited number of infants are exclusively breastfed for 6 months.Aim: This randomized controlled intervention study aims to determine the effect of breastfeeding training on mothers' knowledge, behaviors, and exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.Materials and Methods: The participants were selected randomly for training (n = 60) and control groups (n = 60) among the pregnant women admitted to the obstetrics and gynecology polyclinics of a baby-friendly hospital. The training group received breastfeeding training during the prenatal and postnatal periods. The data were collected using a questionnaire during admission and at the postpartum 1st and 24th weeks through face-to-face interviews. The study was completed with 34 and 30 mother-infant pairs in the training and control groups, respectively. Analyzed using the chi-square, Student t, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon t-tests.Results: The difference between the number of correct answers in pre- and posttest was higher in the training group (four questions) than in the control group (two questions) (p < .001). The number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months was significantly higher in the training group (26.5%) than in the control group (3.3%) (p = .015). The median of the exclusive breastfeeding period was longer in the training group (5 months) than in the control group (4 months) (p = .013).Conclusion: Training and supporting pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers on breastfeeding increased their knowledge, the period of exclusive breastfeeding, and the rate of 6-month exclusive breastfeeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify characteristics of pregnant women potentially influencing the decision to participate in peripartum interventional research.Methods: Women screened as eligible to participate in two prospective interventional trials conducted in the labor and delivery unit at a single center were included. Characteristics of eligible women were compared based on their decision whether to participate or not. The best predictors of research participation were identified using multivariable logistic regression analyses.Results: Of the 605 subjects who screened as eligible to participate, 363 (60%) agreed to participate and 242 (40%) declined. Women using a private obstetric provider or who had prior obstetrical complications were less likely to participate [aOR 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4-0.8)] and [aOR 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4-0.9)], respectively. A history of a mental health condition and a higher body mass index (BMI) were marginally more likely to participate [aOR 1.5 (95% CI: 1.0-2.3)] and [aOR 1.03 (95% CI: 1.0-1.1)], respectively. Overall logistic regression model R(2) was 0.23.Conclusions: There are differences between eligible subjects who decide to participate or not participate in prospective peripartum interventional research. There is a need to better understand non-participation in order to improve recruitment of representative populations that allow more generalizable research results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]