SUMMARYBackground: Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with growth restriction in young children. Aim: To determine whether there is an association between H. pylori infection and intrauterine growth restriction. Methods: Four hundred and forty-eight consecutive pregnant women (aged 15-44 years), attending for routine examinations in the third trimester, were enrolled. Clinical, demographic and previous obstetric data, as well as smoking history, were collected. At delivery, the weight, height, gender and status of the neonate were recorded; intrauterine growth restriction was defined if the birth weight was below the 10th percentile according to the gestational age for infants born in Australia. Results: Eighty-nine (20%) women were seropositive for H. pylori. The prevalence of H. pylori was significantly
Background
Antenatal clinical guidelines recommend that during initial and subsequent antenatal visits all pregnant women: have their alcohol consumption assessed; be advised that it is safest not to consume alcohol during pregnancy and of the potential risks of consumption; and be offered referrals for further support if required. However, the extent to which pregnant women attending public antenatal services receive guideline recommended care at these visits, and the characteristics associated with its receipt, is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine: 1) pregnant women’s reported receipt of guideline recommended care addressing alcohol consumption during pregnancy; 2) characteristics associated with the receipt of care; and 3) pregnant women’s acceptability of care.
Methods
From July 2017 – February 2018 a survey (telephone or online) was undertaken with 1363 pregnant women who had recently visited a public antenatal service in one health district in Australia. Receipt and acceptability of recommended care were assessed via descriptive statistics and associations via logistic regression analyses.
Results
At the initial antenatal visit, less than two thirds (64.3%) of pregnant women reported that they received an assessment of their alcohol consumption and just over one third (34.9%) received advice and referral appropriate to their self-reported level of alcohol consumption since pregnancy recognition. Less than 10% of women received such care at subsequent antenatal visits. Characteristics that significantly increased the odds of receiving all guideline elements at the initial antenatal visit included: less than university attainment (OR = 1.93; 95% CI:1.12, 3.34), not residing in an advantaged area (OR = 2.11; 95% CI:1.17, 3.79), first pregnancy (OR = 1.91; 95% CI:1.22, 2.99) and regional/rural service location (OR = 2.38; 95% CI:1.26, 4.48); and at subsequent visits: younger age (OR = 0.91; 95% CI:0.84, 0.99) and Aboriginal origin (OR = 3.17; 95% CI:1.22, 8.24). Each of the recommended care elements were highly acceptable to pregnant women (88.3–99.4%).
Conclusions
Although care for alcohol consumption is both recommended by clinical guidelines and highly acceptable to pregnant women, its receipt in public antenatal services is suboptimal. There is a need and an opportunity for interventions to support antenatal care providers to routinely and consistently provide such care to all pregnant women.
Our data suggests that timing and mode of delivery as well as last maternal methadone dose are significant risk factors for the development of NAS requiring treatment. Based on these clinical parameters, risk stratification for perinatal management of pregnancies associated with opioid dependency and risk prediction for the neonate might now be possible.
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