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• Prenatal testing induces elevated anxiety levels among high-risk pregnant women. • The utilization of virtual reality and music during non-stress tests alleviates anxiety and enhances satisfaction among high-risk pregnant women undergoing the procedure. • Virtual reality intervention resulted in a reduction in the duration of reactive non-stress tests. Prenatal tests cause high-risk pregnant women to experience high anxiety levels. This paper investigated the effect of Virtual Reality (VR) and music on anxiety, non-stress test parameters, and satisfaction of high-risk pregnant women undergoing non-stress tests (NSTs). This was a randomized controlled trial. The sample consisted of 102 participants randomized into three groups (VR = 34, music = 34, and control = 34). Maternal anxiety was assessed using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-S (STAI-S) before and after NSTs. Satisfaction was evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) after NSTs. NST parameters were evaluated after NSTs. The findings were reported based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT). The VR and music groups had significantly lower mean posttest STAI-S scores than the control group (p <.05). There was no significant difference in NST findings (reactive/nonreactive) between the groups (p >.05). The VR group had a significantly shorter reactive NST duration than the control group (p <.05). The VR and music groups had significantly higher mean VAS-satisfaction scores than the control group (p <.05) Virtual reality and music during NSTs help high-risk pregnant women experience less anxiety and satisfy them more with the procedure. We recommend that obstetric midwives and nurses use these low-cost, simple, and noninvasive methods to reduce anxiety in high-risk pregnant women during prenatal testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated whether IgG avidity measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) compared with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was useful to detect primary T. gondii infection during pregnancy and to estimate the risk for congenital T. gondii infection. One hundred six women with positive tests for T. gondii IgG and T. gondii IgM, comprising 21 women (19.8%) with low (<30%), 6 (5.7%) with borderline (30%–35%), and 79 (74.5%) with high (>35%) IgG avidity measured by ELISA were selected. Their stored sera were used for T. gondii IgG avidity measurements by CMIA. In CMIA, 72 (67.9%) women had low (<50%), 12 (11.3%) had borderline (50%–59.9%), and 22 (20.8%) had high (≥60%) IgG avidity. The ratio of low T. gondii IgG avidity index in CMIA was more than three-fold than that in ELISA. Eighteen (85.7%) of 21 women with ELISA low avidity also had CMIA low avidity, and 26 (96.3%) of 27 women with ELISA low or borderline avidity corresponded to CMIA low or borderline avidity, whereas 21 (26.6%) of 79 women with ELISA high avidity were diagnosed with CMIA low avidity. All three cases with congenital T. gondii infection showed coincidentally low IgG avidity in both methods. A positive correlation in IgG avidity indices was found between of ELISA and CMIA. CMIA for T. gondii avidity measurements compared with ELISA was clinically useful to detect pregnant women at a high risk of developing congenital T. gondii infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between prenatal exposure to general anaesthesia for maternal surgery during pregnancy and subsequent risk of disruptive or internalising behavioural disorder diagnosis in the child has not been well-defined. A nationwide sample of pregnant women linked to their liveborn infants was evaluated using the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX, 1999–2013). Multivariate matching was used to match each child prenatally exposed to general anaesthesia owing to maternal appendectomy or cholecystectomy during pregnancy with five unexposed children. The primary outcome was diagnosis of a disruptive or internalising behavioural disorder in children. Secondary outcomes included diagnoses for a range of other neuropsychiatric disorders. We matched 34,271 prenatally exposed children with 171,355 unexposed children in the database. Prenatally exposed children were more likely than unexposed children to receive a diagnosis of a disruptive or internalising behavioural disorder (hazard ratio [HR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–1.40). For secondary outcomes, increased hazards of disruptive (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.24–1.41) and internalising (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.20–1.53) behavioural disorders were identified, and also increased hazards of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.22–1.43), behavioural disorders (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.14–1.42), developmental speech or language disorders (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05–1.28), and autism (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.05–1.64). Prenatal exposure to general anaesthesia is associated with a 31% increased risk for a subsequent diagnosis of a disruptive or internalising behavioural disorder in children. Caution is advised when making any clinical decisions regarding care of pregnant women, as avoidance of necessary surgery during pregnancy can have detrimental effects on mothers and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders would exhibit differential pro- and anti-inflammatory marker trajectories during the prenatal and postpartum periods compared to women without these disorders. Approximately 179 pregnant women participated in a longitudinal study conducted in two urban areas. Blood samples for inflammatory markers were collected at six study visits. The Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID) was administered to participants scoring above cutoffs on anxiety and depression. Pregnant women with SCID Axis I diagnoses of mood and/or anxiety disorders were compared to other participants on inflammatory markers. Multilevel modeling tested associations between SCID diagnoses and within-person interleukin (IL)6 and IL10 trajectories. Prenatal SCID diagnoses were associated with linear, quadratic and cubic change in IL6 from prenatal to postpartum timepoints. Women with a prenatal SCID diagnosis had steeper decreases and increases in IL6 during prenatal and postpartum periods. SCID diagnoses were associated with lower IL10 in mid-pregnancy to postpartum (b = −0.078, SE = 0.019; p =.015). Future studies would benefit from a larger sample size and a larger number of participants with SCID diagnoses. Future research should also examine whether different prenatal Axis 1 diagnoses are associated with different patterns of immune response in pregnancy. Pregnant women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders had greater fluctuations in IL6 across prenatal and postpartum periods and lower IL10 through pregnancy and postpartum. They may have different proinflammatory states that remain after birth without a reciprocal anti-inflammatory response. • Prenatal mood and anxiety disorders are linked to postpartum inflammation. • Women with prenatal SCID diagnoses had greater fluctuations of inflammatory markers. • Lower anti-inflammatory markers in pregnancy associated with prenatal SCID diagnoses [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]