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Nurse-midwives provide significant health care to underserved and vulnerable women, yet there is limited information about the nature of nurse-midwifery practices and compensation for services. This study reports the results of a Colorado statewide survey of nurse-midwives (N = 217). Electronic survey was utilized to detail practice in seven areas: demographics, type of practice, compensation, leadership, legislative priorities, teaching involvement, and practice satisfaction. Responses (N = 114) were analyzed using SPSS 13.0. Results found wide variation in compensation and practice types. Respondents largely worked in urban settings, cared for low to moderate risk patients, and were generally older and White. Restriction from medical staff membership, prescriptive authority constraints, and liability issues were practice limitations. While teaching a wide variety of learners, nurse midwives do limited mentoring of nurse-midwifery students, a finding which is concerning given the decreasing numbers of nurse-midwives. Findings are compared to known national data, with implications for the provision of health care services detailed. Keywords: nurse-midwives; compensation and benefits; survey; health care policy

The trigger for human labor is a scientific mystery. This research examined Rubus idaeus (RI), commonly referred to as red raspberry, which is widely purported to be efficacious in promoting parturition processes and favorable birth outcomes. This randomized controlled trial sought to determine the influence of RI consumption during gestation on C57BL/6N Tac mice and their offspring. The aims of this study were to (1) determine differences in the length of gestation, gestational weight gain, and litter size where RI is consumed daily at varied strengths and (2) determine differences in offspring characteristics and behavior where maternal RI consumption occurred. Once paired, mice were randomly assigned to one of three groups: placebo (n = 10) receiving plain water, RI aqueous extract fluid of 1.78 mg/mL (n = 10), or RI aqueous extract fluid of 2.66 mg/mL (n = 10). All received the same standardized diet throughout gestation. Pregnant mice were weighed with chow intake and fluid consumption determined daily. Gestation length and litter size were recorded at the time of birth. Differences in offspring characteristics were also determined and included physical characteristics (weight, physical development) and neuromotor reflexes and behaviors (locomotive abilities, geotaxis reflex, cliff avoidance reflex, and swimming development). When compared with controls, high-dose RI ingestion resulted in shorter length of gestation and smaller litter size (P ≤ .05). There was also an increase in fluid consumption and a decrease in pup weights on postnatal day 4 and 5 with RI treatment (P ≤ .05). Altogether, results suggest that RI influences parturition and fecundity processes with transplacental exposure impacting offspring characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  This study determines the differences in the distal gut and vaginal microbiome in African American (AA) women by prepregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain (GWG) comparing women with and without obesity and by obesity class. Study Design  We prospectively sampled the vaginal and distal gut microbiome in pregnant AA women at two time points during pregnancy. Samples were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene. Results  Distinct differences in vaginal and distal gut α-diversity were observed at time point 1 between women with and without obesity by total GWG. Significant differences in distal gut β-diversity were also found at time point 1 in obese women by GWG. Within the Bacteroides genus, a significant association was observed by total GWG among obese women which was absent in nonobese women. Women with class III obesity who experienced low GWG had the lowest abundance of distal gut Bacteroides and appreciably higher relative abundance of a consortia of vaginal taxa including Atopobium , Gardnerella , Prevotella , and Sneathia. Conclusion  These results contribute new evidence showing that GWG in combination with obesity and obesity class is associated with an altered distal gut and vaginal composition early in pregnancy among AA women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]