Breastfeeding Among People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in North America: A Multisite Study.

BACKGROUND: In North American countries, national guidelines have strongly recommended formula over breastmilk for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) because of concern for HIV transmission. However, data from resource-limited settings suggest the risk is <1% among virally suppressed people. Information regarding breastfeeding experience in high-resource settings is lacking. METHODS: A retrospective multisite study was performed for individuals with HIV who breastfed during 2014-2022 in the United States (8 sites) and Canada (3 sites). Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Among the 72 cases reported, most had been diagnosed with HIV and were on antiretroviral therapy prior to the index pregnancy and had undetectable viral loads at delivery. Most commonly reported reasons for choosing to breastfeed were health benefits, community expectations, and parent-child bonding. Median duration of breastfeeding was 24 weeks (range, 1 day to 72 weeks). Regimens for infant prophylaxis and protocols for testing of infants and birthing parents varied widely among institutions. No neonatal transmissions occurred among the 94% of infants for whom results were available ≥6 weeks after weaning. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the largest cohort to date of people with HIV who breastfed in North America. Findings demonstrate high variability among institutions in policies, infant prophylaxis, and infant and parental testing practices. The study describes challenges in weighing the potential risks of transmission with personal and community factors. Finally, this study highlights the relatively small numbers of patients with HIV who chose to breastfeed at any 1 location, and the need for further multisite studies to identify best care practices.

From Cervical Cap to Mobile App: Examining the Potential Reproductive Health Impacts of New Technologies.

Web- and application-based prescription services have been heralded as "Uber for birth control," offering patients the convenience of obtaining hormonal contraceptives at the touch of a smartphone screen. This innovation stands poised to disrupt a system that currently fails to meet the contraceptive needs of many women, particularly adolescents and those who are rural or low-income. The creation of online contraceptive prescribers provides a new and promising avenue for increased access to hormonal birth control. However, the reach and coverage of these services, as well as their implications for public health goals, including unintended pregnancy and various health screenings, remains unclear. In this article, we describe the current landscape of online contraceptive services and identify the potential impacts on unplanned pregnancy and other health outcomes. We find these services may reduce geographic and logistical barriers for rural and low-income populations. However, their impact on access for adolescents is likely to be minimal, as more than half the services do not prescribe to minors. Furthermore, increasing use of telemedicine may reduce rates of screening for public health concerns, including interpartner violence, sexually transmitted infections, and cervical cancer. We offer specific recommendations for future research to evaluate the impact of these services on unplanned pregnancy and other public health outcomes.

Paratubal Cyst Recurrence in Children and Adolescents.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between patient characteristics and risk for recurrence risk of paratubal cysts (PTC) in children and adolescents. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review at a single institution. SETTING: Single academic children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Pediatric patients presenting to Texas Children's Hospital between July 2007 and March 2019. Patients were identified for the study by reviewing pathology reports and were included if they met inclusion criteria of a pathologic diagnosis of a paratubal or paraovarian cyst removed during any surgical procedure between July 2007 and March 2019. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects with pathologic diagnoses of a paratubal cyst during the study period underwent chart review for the following data points: age at presentation, ethnicity, pathologic recurrence of paratubal cysts, pubertal status, body mass index (BMI), diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), size of cyst, laterality of cysts, and number of cysts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Recurrence, Pathology types. RESULTS: Of the 627 patients that met inclusion criteria, the incidence of recurrence was 11.3%. Group 1 included those with recurrence of PTC (N = 70). Group 2 was identified as those without recurrence of PTC (N = 557). There were no differences related to age, BMI, ethnicity, history of PCOS, cyst size, laterality or number of cysts present. PTC NOS and serous PTC occurred most frequently. Of the unique cases involving recurrence, 70.1% recurred on the ipsilateral side. There were no cases of paratubal cyst malignancies in this cohort. The range of pathology diagnoses included pathologies that may occur in ovarian cysts. This is particularly interesting, given the known origins of ovarian cancer from fallopian tube transformations. Rare pathology diagnoses likely did not occur with frequency to determine definitive risks of recurrence in these cases. CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a baseline recurrence risk for PTC, for which patients can be counseled. Recurrence does not appear to be associated with any particular pathology type, cyst size, number of cysts, BMI, PCOS, or puberty stage. Recurrence, should it occur, appears to occur more commonly on the ipsilateral side.