Challenges for Midwives' Healthcare Practice in the Next Decade: COVID-19 - Global Climate Changes - Aging and Pregnancy - Gestational Alcohol Abuse.

Midwives are multifaceted healthcare professionals whose competence spectrum includes a large variety of knowledge and skills going from antenatal care to education and research. The aim of this review is to suggest the future challenges midwives are going to face in the upcoming decade of this Century. COVID-19 and other infections will reasonably impact healthcare workers all over the world. Midwives are frontline healthcare professionals who are constantly at risk of contagion as their job implies close contact with women, physical support and hand touch. Also, menstruation waste plays a large role in the pollution of waters, severely impacting hygiene in the developing countries and fueling climate change. Appropriate disposal of used menstrual material is still insufficient in many countries of the world especially because of lack of sanitary education on girls. As educators, midwives will be more involved into preventing inappropriate disposal of menstrual hygiene devices by educating girls around the world about the green alternatives to the commercial ones. Despite the evidences about the fertility decrement that occurs with aging, women keep postponing reproduction and increasing their chance being childless or suffering complications related to the advanced maternal age. Teen pregnancies are as well an important issue for midwives who will be called to face more age-related issues and use a tailored case to case approach, enhancing their family planning skills. Another crucial role of midwifery regards the information about the risk of drinking alcohol during gestation. Alcohol assumption during pregnancy is responsible for serious damage to the fetus causing a wide range of pathological conditions related to Fetal Alcoholic Spectrum Disorder, leading cause of mental retardation in children of western countries. On the whole, midwives have demonstrated their willingness to expand their practice through continuing professional development, and through specialist and advanced roles especially in preventive and educational positions.

Intravaginal practices and microbicide acceptability in Papua New Guinea: implications for HIV prevention in a moderate-prevalence setting.

BACKGROUND: The acceptability of female-controlled biomedical prevention technologies has not been established in Papua New Guinea, the only country in the Pacific region experiencing a generalised, moderate-prevalence HIV epidemic. Socio-cultural factors likely to impact on future product uptake and effectiveness, such as women's ability to negotiate safer sexual choices, and intravaginal hygiene and menstrual practices (IVP), remain unclear in this setting. METHODS: A mixed-method qualitative study was conducted among women and men attending a sexual health clinic in Port Moresby. During in-depth interviews, participants used copies of a hand-drawn template to indicate how they wash/clean the vulva and/or vagina. Interviewers pre-filled commercially available vaginal applicators with 2-3mL KY Jelly® to create a surrogate vaginal microbicide product, which was demonstrated to study participants. RESULTS: A total of 28 IDIs were conducted (women=16; men=12). A diverse range of IVP were reported. The majority of women described washing the vulva only with soap and water as part of their daily routine; in preparation for sex; and following sexual intercourse. Several women described cleaning inside the vagina using fingers and soap at these same times. Others reported cleaning inside the vagina using a hose connected to a tap; using vaginal inserts, such as crushed garlic; customary menstrual 'steaming' practices; and the use of material fragments, cloth and newspaper to absorb menstrual blood. Unprotected sex during menstruation was common. The majority of both women and men said that they would use a vaginal microbicide gel for HIV/STI protection, should a safe and effective product become available. Microbicide use was considered most appropriate in 'high-risk' situations, such as sex with non-regular, transactional or commercial partners. Most women felt confident that they would be able to negotiate vaginal microbicide use with male sexual partners but if necessary would be prepared to use product covertly. CONCLUSIONS: Notional acceptability of a vaginal microbicide gel for HIV/STI prevention was high among both women and men. IVP were diverse in nature, socio-cultural dimensions and motivators. These factors are likely to impact on the future acceptability and uptake of vaginal microbicides and other biomedical HIV prevention technologies in this setting.

Management of recurrent vulvo-vaginal candidosis as a chronic illness.

For sporadic acute Candida vaginitis, any oral or local antifungal therapy can be used. For women with recurrent vulvo-vaginal candidosis (RVC), on the other hand, such simple approaches are insufficient, regardless of the product chosen. Instead, RVC should be managed as any other chronic disease and requires long-term, prophylactic, suppressive antifungal treatment. A regimen using individualized, decreasing doses of oral fluconazole (the ReCiDiF regimen) was proven to be highly efficient and offered great comfort to the patients. During this regimen, it is crucial that patients are carefully examined by anamnestic, clinical, microscopic and culture-proven absence of Candida. If a relapse occurs, the medication is adjusted and efforts are taken to find a possible triggering factor for the reactivation of the infection. Care has to be taken not to accumulate 'don't do's', unless the efficiency of a measure has been proven, by trying to eliminate one risk factor at a time for 2 months. Known possible triggers to be kept in mind are (1) antibiotic use, (2) use of specific contraceptives, especially combined contraceptive pills, (3) disturbed glucose metabolism, (4) the use of personal hygienic products, and (5) tight clothing or plastic panty liners. In therapy-resistant cases, non-albicans infection must be ruled out, and alternative therapies should be tried. Boric acid is proven to be efficient in most of these resistant cases, but other non-azoles like amphotericin B, flucytosine, gentian violet, and even caspofungin may have to be tried. As a final remark it has to be said that many patients feel poorly understood and inefficiently managed by many care-givers, increasing their feelings of guilt and sexual inferiority. Therefore, attention has to be given to take the disease seriously, follow strict treatment regimens, and advise precisely and based on individual evidence concerning any possible risk factors for recurrence. In case of therapy-resistant vulvo-vaginitis, reconsider your diagnosis and/or consider referral to specialized therapists.

The sociocultural context of gynecological health among Haitian immigrant women in Florida: applying ethnographic methods to public health inquiry.

OBJECTIVE: Twalet deba, a culturally mediated feminine hygiene practice, is widespread in Little Haiti, the predominately Haitian neighborhood in Miami, Florida. This practice may have important implications for susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections, including human papillomavirus, the principal cause of cervical cancer. Previous research has not examined the full context of twalet deba in consideration of cultural beliefs and norms about women's hygiene and sexual health. DESIGN: Ethnographic methods guided two phases of exploratory research. The first phase included observation, participant observation, and semi-structured in-depth interviews, which were conducted with key consultants (n=6) and a subsequent purposive sample of 35 women regarding gynecological health beliefs, hygiene practices, and associated home remedy agents. These data informed the second research phase, which involved observation and informal interviews with owners of botanicas in Little Haiti, Miami, FL, USA, to assess the availability of various ethnomedical remedies, their preparation, and preferred uses. All data were analyzed qualitatively to discern patterns in interview responses and using grounded theory to identify key themes. RESULTS: Cultural constructions of gynecological health and illness were generally incongruent with the biomedical model and emphasized the control of self-defined non-specific vaginal infections through routine hygienic practices using ethnobotanical and commercial agents to avert illness, including cancer. Such practices also encourage vaginal tightness and dryness, characteristics desired by male sexual partners, on whom women were frequently economically dependent. Data from the second phase of research reinforced these findings and revealed a wide variety of feminine hygiene agents available for purchase in local botanicas. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that cultural beliefs about gynecological health and dependence on male partners influence women's routine feminine hygiene practices. Botanicas are culturally salient sites for health information. Ethnographic methods were critical for collecting personal sensitive data that are necessary to inform future intervention.

Beliefs about the causes of cervical cancer in Botswana: implications for nursing.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality and morbidity for women in Botswana. Yet, little is known about what women believe to be the causes of the disease. AIM: This paper presents data on factors women in Botswana believe are responsible for the high incidence of cervical cancer in their country. Data were part of a larger study that explored knowledge and perceptions about cervical cancer and Pap smear screening from the perspectives of the clients and the healthcare providers. METHODS: The study that generated the data included 30 women of all socio-economic levels, recruited by network sampling. The women's ages ranged from 31 to 54 years. Demographic data were analysed descriptively. Individualized interview data were content-analysed. FINDINGS: The identified causes of cervical cancer were classified as cervical irritants and non-irritants. The most commonly cited cervical irritants were vaginally inserted chemical agents and traditional medicine. DISCUSSIONS: Participants identified vaginally inserted chemical substances and traditional medicines as possible explanations for the high incidence of cervical cancer in Botswana. They reported that women used these substances for sexual and hygienic purposes. Although these factors are believed to be the causes of cervical cancer and have not yet been medically acknowledged, verbal reports suggest that their use is problematic. CONCLUSION: There is a need for health education and for further research to affirm women's beliefs about the harmful effects of intravaginal agents.