Background. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) is the most common congenital infection. Antenatal education is proven to reduce cCMV risk. Little is known about obstetric provider knowledge and practice patterns around cCMV. Objectives. To evaluate obstetric provider knowledge and practice patterns regarding cCMV at baseline and again after a brief educational intervention. Methods. Obstetric providers ( N = 53 ) at a US academic community hospital were invited to complete a survey regarding their knowledge and practice patterns around cCMV. Providers attended a brief presentation about cCMV and later were invited to repeat the same survey. Univariate statistics were calculated for baseline data, and prepost intervention comparison analyses were conducted. Results. Baseline cCMV knowledge was low at 49% ( M = 17.54 out of a possible 36, SD 6.4), with most providers (51%) reporting never counseling pregnant patients about cCMV. Post intervention, overall cCMV knowledge increased to 80% ( M = 29.33 , SD 4.1, p < .001 ); provider intention to counsel about cCMV prevention increased to 100%. Conclusions. Obstetric provider knowledge about cCMV is low, which likely impacts their antenatal counseling. Educational initiatives to increase awareness about cCMV may increase antenatal education and thereby decrease the risk of cCMV.

It is well known that enlistees and veterans in the United States are more likely to use alcohol than civilians. However, most of this research is potentially biased in that it often does not employ control variables (other than age) and is based on crosssectional data. Much of this research also fails to consider the relationship between military service and alcohol use among women. Using longitudinal data taken from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, we investigate the relationship between military service and alcohol consumption employing a fixed-effects approach. We find that military service appears to encourage young men to consume alcohol. It is also the case that the effect of military service is not limited to the time that men spend in the military given that male veterans are also more likely to consume alcohol than are comparable nonveterans. We find, however, that women who serve, both enlistees and veterans, are less likely to drink than their civilian counterparts. Keywords military service, alcohol useConsiderable research has documented the fact that alcohol use is positively associated with military service in the United States, at least for men. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine 1 indicates that over the past thirty years US military personnel

Using data taken from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-97), we examine the relationship between military service and childbearing for both men and women. Using a fixed-effects procedure on longitudinal data, we find that military service reduces the fertility of male and female recruits. The negative effect of military service is much larger for women than for men. In addition, the negative effects of military service on childbearing persist after service members leave the military, although the effects diminish over time. Overall, even though military service may not lead to lower completed fertility, the evidence suggests a delaying effect on childbearing.