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The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program provides food coupons and health benefits to foster in utero and postpartum development of the child. However, due to these benefits, households might reallocate income from food and healthcare services toward other goods. Utilizing data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, this article investigates the effects of participation in the WIC program on cigarette and alcohol consumption. Our results indicate that the program has no effect on prenatal smoking but increases postpartum cigarette consumption per day by 6%. WIC also has preventive benefits as it decreases prenatal alcohol consumption on the extensive and intensive margins.

The aim is to evaluate pregnant women infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) and provide help for clinical prevention and treatment. All five cases of pregnant women confirmed COVID‐19 were collected among patients who admitted to the Maternal and Child Hospital of Hubei Province between January 20 and February 10, 2020. All patients, aging from 25 to 31 years old, had the gestational week from 38th weeks to 41st weeks. All pregnant women did not have an antepartum fever but developed a low‐grade fever (37.5℃‐38.5℃) within 24 hours after delivery. All patients had normal liver and renal function, two patients had elevated plasma levels of the myocardial enzyme. Unusual chest imaging manifestations, featured with ground‐grass opacity, were frequently observed in bilateral (three cases) or unilateral lobe (two cases) by computed tomography (CT) scan. All labors smoothly processed, the Apgar scores were 10 points 1 and 5 minutes after delivery, no complications were observed in the newborn. Pregnancy and perinatal outcomes of patients with COVID‐19 should receive more attention. It is probable that pregnant women diagnosed with COVID‐19 have no fever before delivery. Their primary initial manifestations were merely low‐grade postpartum fever or mild respiratory symptoms. Therefore, the protective measures are necessary on admission; the instant CT scan and real‐time reverse‐transcriptase polymerase‐chain‐reaction assay should be helpful in early diagnosis and avoid cross‐infection on the occasion that patients have fever and other respiratory signs., Highlights Pregnant woman with COVID‐19.

The use of 4‐day CoSynch + Controlled internal drug release (CIDR) + timed artificial insemination (TAI) in dairy heifers has resulted in adequate pregnancy rates compared with the 5‐day CoSynch + CIDR + TAI protocol. The objective of this study was to compare follicular growth, timing of ovulation and serum progesterone (P4), estradiol (E2) and luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations in dairy heifers treated with modified 4‐ or 5‐day CoSynch + CIDR protocols (CIDR for 4 or 5 days, PGF 2 α at CIDR removal and GnRH + TAI 72 h later). Twelve cycling Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to either the 4‐ or 5‐day Co‐Synch+CIDR (n = 6/treatment) to receive an intravaginal insert CIDR ® containing 1.38 g of P4 for 4 or 5 days, respectively. At CIDR removal, 25 mg of PGF 2 α was injected IM; 72 h after CIDR removal, heifers received 100 μg of GnRH IM and timed artificial insemination (TAI). Follicular growth and timing of ovulation were assessed using transrectal ultrasonography. Blood samples were collected at the time of CIDR insertion and at frequent time points after CIDR removal for determination of P4 (at TAI), E2 (every 12 h) and LH (every 6 h during the first and second day and every 2 h on the third day). Heifers in the 4‐day group had smaller follicles from CIDR insert removal to ovulation compared with heifers in the 5‐day treatment. Five of six heifers (83.3%) in the 4‐day treatment ovulated at 90–96 h post CIDR insert removal, whereas most heifers in the 5‐day treatment (4/6; 66.6%) ovulated at 84–90 h post CIDR insert withdrawal. Heifers in the 5‐day treatment reached greater peak LH concentration between 48 and 72 h after CIDR insert removal and lesser E2 concentration at TAI than heifers in the 4‐day treatment. In conclusion, heifers in the 4‐day treatment had smaller follicular diameter at 0, 30, 36, 42 and 48 h after CIDR insert removal, longer interval from CIDR insert removal to ovulation, greater E2 concentrations at TAI, and lesser peak LH concentration than heifers in the 5‐day treatment. These results represent a baseline for further studies to determine if prolonging the interval to TAI by 6 h in the 4‐day CoSynch+CIDR would improve pregnancy risk.

As of 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discontinued the pregnancy risk categories (ABCDX) that had been used to denote the putative safety of drugs for use among pregnant women. The ABCDX system has been replaced by the FDA Pregnancy and Lactation Labeling Rule (PLLR) that requires narrative text to describe risk information, clinical considerations, and background data for the drug. The new rule includes 3 overarching categories: 1) pregnancy, which includes labor and birth; 2) lactation; and 3) females and males of reproductive potential. This article reviews the key components of the PLLR and clinical implications, and provides resources for clinicians who prescribe drugs for women of reproductive age.

Background Little is known about the extent of antiepileptic drug (AED) use in pregnancy, particularly for newer agents. Our objective was to assess whether AED use has increased among pregnant women in the U.S., 2001-2007.

Background: Debate in the United Kingdom about place of birth often concerns obstetric-led units and midwife-led units and relates to notions of risk and safety. Outcomes for these two types of unit are often not comparable because of the restricted selection criteria for midwife-led units. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes for women intending to give birth in these different types of unit and whose self-rated pregnancy risk level was “none” or “low.” Methods: Self-completion questionnaires were distributed to mothers 8 days after the birth in 9 units (6 midwife led 3 obstetric led) over a 6-month period.Results: Completed questionnaires were received from 432 women (midwife led = 294, obstetric led = 138). Mothers in midwife-led units spent shorter times in labor in the unit (p

Summary The birth certificate, the primary tool for population-based surveillance of the condition of infants at birth and maternal status during pregnancy, provides little data about maternal behaviour during pregnancy. To collect data on maternal behaviours that influence pregnancy outcome, we implemented the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in seven states. For this population-based surveillance, new mothers were sampled from birth certificates 2 to 6 months after delivery and contacted by mail; follow-up of nonrespondents was by telephone. Participants completed a 10-page questionnaire. Stratification permitted over-sampling of women with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Among 10563 women sampled during 1988 and 1989, stratum-specific response rates ranged from 30% to 89%. In 11 of the 28 strata, response rates were greater than 70%. Response rates varied considerably between states. Rates were lower for Black mothers, mothers of low birthweight infants, unmarried mothers and mothers with less than 12 years of education. Active refusal to participate and undelivered mail occurred infrequently. Mail and telephone surveillance of new mothers can yield adequate response rates in selected population groups. Trials of alternative approaches to enhancing response among Black and disadvantaged mothers, such as additional mailings or post-partum in-hospital recruitment, are needed.

in Nicaragua. Early detection and treatment is the only effective means of reducing mortality from cervical cancer and loss to follow up presents a major barrier in low resource countries. An effective strategy is the single visit approach (SVA) using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) followed by immediate treatment with cryotherapy. Grounds for Health, an international nongovernmental organization focused on cervical cancer prevention, promotes the SVA through training and technical support of community health promoters and clinical staff. Materials and Methods: In 2008, GFH began training clinical staff in Matagalpa in the SVA and conducting screen-and-treat campaigns. Subsequently, from June to November 2011, GFH provided materials, medical equipment, and monthly supportive supervision visits to staff at 4 health centres in the region to develop facility-based services. Data on the number of women screened and treated in a single visit were collected. Results: During 6 campaigns, 1245 women were screened. 211 women were VIA positive and appropriate for cryotherapy; 209 women received cryotherapy on the same day (99.1%). Between June and December 2011, 1193 women were screened in the 4 health centres. 274 were VIA positive and appropriate for cryotherapy; 155 received cryotherapy on the same day (56.6%). Conclusions: During screen and treat campaigns nearly all women appropriate for cryotherapy received it on the same day, reducing the risk for loss to follow-up. Rates of treatment in a single visit were lower in the facility-based approach, despite similar levels of training and support from GFH. Discussions with clinical staff identified several barriers: a shortage of materials, including vinegar for VIA and gas for cryotherapy; a lack of support from supervisors and colleagues who were not trained by GFH; competing priorities in the primary care setting; and confusion regarding the role of confirmatory Pap testing. Campaigns, during which cervical cancer prevention is prioritized, resources ensured, and clinical staff freed from competing demands, contribute to the reduction of these barriers, thus improving the likelihood that women who require life-saving treatment will obtain it.

At the beginning of 1969 Swedish physicians were called upon by the National Board of Health and Welfare to report all pregnancies known to have occurred in women who had used oral contraceptives. Ninety pregnancies were reported for 1968, 73 of these with the sequential type of therapy and 17 with the combined type. Calculations using Pearľs formula and based on sales figures gave pregnancy rates of 0.467 and 0.005 for sequential and combined agents respectively. The possible causes of errors in these statistics are discussed. However, it is concluded that the pregnancy risk, is much more than ten times higher with the sequential than with the combined type of therapy. The most important cause of the failures in this series seems to have been the lack of efficacy of the drugs.