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Background: Women in many countries are advised to use folic acid supplements before and early during pregnancy to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in their infants. This study aimed to update the prevalence and to identify possible determinants of preconception folic acid supplement use in Italian women. Methods: The study was based on cross-sectional data from seven maternity clinics located in six Italian regions from January to June, 2012. Data on maternal characteristics and supplement use were collected for 2,189 women using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Preconception folic acid use was reported by 23.5 % (n = 515) of the participants. Of these, 479 (93 %) women had taken folic acid supplements on a daily basis as recommended by the health authorities. Women who both had intended their pregnancy and had requested a preconception health visit to a doctor/gynecologist were substantially more likely than the reference group to initiate folic acid supplementation before their pregnancy (48.6 versus 4.8 %). Preconception folic acid use was also associated with higher maternal age, higher education, marriage/cohabitation, lower parity, infertility treatments, and chronic disease. Conclusions: Data from seven maternity clinics located in six Italian regions indicate that preconception folic acid supplement use in many Italian women is low. Women who do not plan their pregnancy or do not request a preconception health visit to their doctor have among the lowest prevalence of preconception folic acid use. Improving folate status in these and other supplemental non-users may have important disease preventive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sudden unexpected postnatal collapse of presumably healthy neonates during early skin-to-skin contact is a rare, yet recognized occurrence, associated with a high risk of mortality and morbidity. A survey was conducted in 2012 in 30 delivery wards throughout Piedmont and the Aosta Valley to evaluate the environmental and logistical aspects that could be linked to SUPC. The survey was again conducted in 2016 in 28 delivery wards in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley in order to evaluate organizational improvements introduced after ministerial indications and recommendations by the Italian Society of Neonatology were published in 2014, in light of new findings regarding the phenomenon. Methods: A questionnaire specifically asking about the organization of delivery wards, and surveillance or supervision during early skin-to-skin contact, was sent to all of the hospitals taking part in the survey in both 2012 and 2016. The collected data were elaborated anonymously and the statistical analysis was performed by using the two by two table. Results: In 2012, 28 out of 30 delivery wards in Piedmont and Aosta, with a total of 31,074 newborns out of 35,435, were evaluated in all of the environmental and logistical aspects that might be cause for SUPC to occur. An identical survey was taken again in 2016; 26 out of 28 wards participated with a total of 27,484 newborns out of 30,339. In 2012, early skin-to-skin contact took place immediately in all the delivery rooms in 27 wards, and soon after in the post-partum room in one; in 11 out of 28 wards there was early skin-to-skin contact in the operating theater itself, following caesarean sections (11/26 in 2016). Routine newborn care was given after 3 h in 8 delivery wards (7/26 in 2016); after 2 h in 12 (7/26 in 2016); after 1 h in 2 (4/26 in 2016); after 30 min in 3 (2/26 in 2016); after 10 min in 1 (0/26 in 2016); after 1 or 2 min in 1 (0/26 in 2016) and at any time in one ward (6/26 in 2016). Conclusion: Periodic surveys of delivery wards are useful for the assessment of all the aspects and risk factors that need to be changed in order to implement safe early skin-to-skin contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]