Use of qualitative research in World Health Organisation guidelines: a document analysis.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines depend on effect estimates, usually derived from randomised controlled trials, to inform their decisions. Qualitative research evidence may improve decisions made but where in the process and the methods to do this have not been so clearly established. We sought to describe and appraise how qualitative research has been used to inform World Heath Organization guidance since 2020. METHODS: We conducted a document analysis of WHO guidelines from 2020 to 2022. We purposely sampled guidelines on the topics of maternal and newborn health (MANH) and infectious diseases, as most of the qualitative synthesis to date has been conducted on these topics, likely representing the 'best case' scenario. We searched the in-built repository feature of the WHO website and used standardised search terms to identify qualitative reporting. Using deductive frameworks, we described how qualitative evidence was used to inform guidelines and appraised the standards of this use. RESULTS: Of the 29 guidelines, over half used qualitative research to help guide decisions (18/29). A total of 8 of these used qualitative research to inform the guideline scope, all 18 to inform recommendations, and 1 to inform implementation considerations. All guidelines drew on qualitative evidence syntheses (QES), and five further supplemented this with primary qualitative research. Qualitative findings reported in guidelines were typically descriptive, identifying people's perception of the benefits and harms of interventions or logistical barriers and facilitators to programme success. No guideline provided transparent reporting of how qualitative research was interpreted and weighed used alongside other evidence when informing decisions, and only one guideline reported the inclusion of qualitative methods experts on the panel. Only a few guidelines contextualised their recommendations by indicating which populations and settings qualitative findings could be applied. CONCLUSIONS: Qualitative research frequently informed WHO guideline decisions particularly in the field of MANH. However, the process often lacked transparency. We identified unmet potential in informing implementation considerations and contextualisation of the recommendations. Use in these areas needs further methods development.

Patient navigation in women's health care for maternal health and noncancerous gynecologic conditions: a scoping review.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the scope of patient navigation studies on women's health care for maternal health and noncancerous gynecologic conditions and aimed to report the characteristics of the identified patient navigation programs. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's framework. Five electronic databases were searched for relevant studies published in English: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PsycInfo. There were no restrictions on the publication date and the search was completed in July 2023. RESULTS: This scoping review included 14 studies, which collectively examined seven patient navigation programs. All selected studies were related to maternal health issues (e.g., perinatal health problems and contraception for birth spacing). Close to two-thirds of the patient navigation services were provided by women (n=9, 64.3%) and half by lay navigators (n=7, 50.0%). The majority incorporated the use of mobile health technologies (n=11, 78.6%). All of the patient navigation programs included in the review coordinated the necessary clinical and social support services to improve women's access to care. CONCLUSION: Patient navigation appears to be in its nascent phase in the field of maternal health. The results of this study suggest that the implementation of patient navigation services could potentially improve access to care for socially disadvantaged women and families. Furthermore, providing patient navigation services that are specifically tailored to meet women's needs could improve the quality of maternity care.

Understanding the language barriers to translating informed consent documents for maternal health trials in Zambia: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: Providing comprehensible information is essential to the process of valid informed consent. Recruitment materials designed by sponsoring institutions in English-speaking, high-income countries are commonly translated for use in global health studies in other countries; however, key concepts are often missed, misunderstood or 'lost in translation'. The aim of this study was to explore the language barriers to informed consent, focusing on the challenges of translating recruitment materials for maternal health studies into Zambian languages. DESIGN: We used a qualitative approach, which incorporated a multistakeholder workshop (11 participants), in-depth interviews with researchers and translators (8 participants) and two community-based focus groups with volunteers from community advisory boards (20 participants). Content analysis was used to identify terms commonly occurring in recruitment materials prior to the workshop. The framework analysis approach was used to analyse interview data, and a simple inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse focus group data. SETTING: The study was based in Lusaka, Zambia. RESULTS: The workshop highlighted difficulties in translating research terms and pregnancy-specific terms, as well as widespread concern that current templates are too long, use overly formal language and are designed with little input from local teams. Framework analysis of in-depth interviews identified barriers to participant understanding relating to design and development of recruitment materials, language, local context and communication styles. Focus group participants confirmed these findings and suggested potential solutions to ensure the language and content of recruitment materials can be better understood. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that the way in which recruitment materials are currently designed, translated and disseminated may not enable potential trial participants to fully understand the information provided. Instead of using overly complex institutional templates, recruitment materials should be created through an iterative and interactive process that provides truly comprehensible information in a format appropriate for its intended participants.

Effectiveness of trained religious leaders' engagement in maternal health education on improving maternal health service utilizations: Protocol of cluster randomized controlled trial in Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Despite the many supply- and demand-side interventions aimed at increasing uptake of maternal health service utilizations, the maternal and new-born health service utilizations remains low. Religious leaders have the power to inhibit or facilitate effective adoption of maternal health service utilizations to promote maternal health. However, evidence on the roles of religious leaders in promoting maternal health in developing world is not fully known. Therefore this cluster-randomized trial is designed to evaluate the effects of trained religious leaders' engagement in maternal health education in improving maternal health service utilization and knowledge of obstetric danger signs. METHODS: A community based cluster randomized control trial in which the study kebeles are randomly assigned into intervention and control groups will be conducted. The sample size is calculated using stata software. Three hundred six pregnant mothers will be enrolled in each group. A baseline study will be conducted before the intervention and post-intervention evaluation will be conducted after four months of intervention. Religious leaders will be selected and trained to lead participatory sessions on maternal health. Data on maternal health service utilizations, knowledge about obstetric danger signs, attitude towards skilled delivery service utilization and perception of pregnancy risk will be collected from a repeated cross sectional household survey. Effect of intervention will be assessed using multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equation model. Data will be analyzed using STATA software. For qualitative study, coded transcripts will be further analyzed and summarized in narratives for each theme and sub-themes. DISCUSSION: This is one of the first trials to evaluate the effectiveness of trained religious leaders' engagement in maternal health education and will provide much needed evidence to policy makers about aspects of functionality and the religious leaders engagement required as they scale-up this programme in Ethiopia.

Parto domiciliar planeado em Portugal: Assistência e desafios na prática do enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem de saúde materna e obstétrica / Planned home birth in Portugal: Assistance and challenges in the practice of nurses specialising in maternal health and obstetric nursing

Enquadramento: No âmbito da unidade curricular "Estágio com Relatório," integrada no X Curso de Mestrado em Enfermagem de Saúde Materna e Obstétrica, foi elaborado um relatório final que engloba uma descrição e reflexão acerca da componente de estágio, bem como uma abordagem à componente de investigação. No que concerne à vertente investigativa, o estudo teve como tema o "Parto Domiciliário Planeado em Portugal: Assistência e Desafios na Prática do Enfermeiro Especialista em Enfermagem de Saúde Materna e Obstétrica." Objetivos: Conhecer a prática profissional dos EEESMO em contexto de PDP; identificar as motivações dos EEESMO perante a opção de exercerem em contexto de PDP e descrever os desafios e obstáculos que os EEESMO enfrentaram na sua prática profissional em contexto de PDP. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo exploratório e descritivo com abordagem qualitativa. Participaram da pesquisa oito (8) profissionais com cédula profissional EEESMO em Portugal, que atuam em contexto de PDP há pelo menos um ano. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, e a análise foi conduzida seguindo a metodologia de análise de conteúdo proposta por Minayo (2007). Resultados: O estudo revelou a experiência profissional das EEESMO em contexto do parto domiciliar planeado. Foram explorados temas relacionados à acessibilidade das utentes ao serviço, medidas de segurança, material clínico para assistência ao parto, emergências e transferência para o hospital, bem como os contributos da entidade reguladora da profissão (Ordem dos Enfermeiros) para a prática profissional nesse contexto. Além disso, foram identificadas as motivações iniciais das participantes que optaram exercer a sua prática profissional no âmbito do parto domiciliar planeado, categorizadas em desejo de infância, desde a formação de EEESMO, experiência do seu parto no domicílio e preferência por um modelo de assistência diferente do hospitalar. No que concerne aos desafios e obstáculos enfrentados pelas participantes no contexto do PDP, ficou evidente que estes são diversos e abrangem várias esferas. Esses desafios foram categorizados nos âmbitos da formação, social, profissional e pessoal. Conclusão: Conclui-se que os desafios expostos pelas participantes revelam a complexidade do trabalho no contexto do PDP, ressaltando a importância de promover mudanças nesse contexto. A superação desses desafios contribuirá para uma prática mais segura, valorizada e efetiva no cuidado às mulheres e seus bebés durante o parto domiciliário. Considera-se que este estudo contribui de forma significativa para enriquecer a reflexão e o debate em torno desse tema, especialmente no meio acadêmico, ao estimular o desenvolvimento de estudos aprofundados relacionados à assistência das EEESMO no contexto do PDP.

Advancing Equity in Maternal Health Care.

Actionable strategies nurses can implement at the bedside.

The impact of maternal health on child's health outcomes during the first five years of child's life in countries with health systems similar to Australia: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The first five years of life is an important developmental period that establishes the foundation for future health and well-being. Mothers play a primary role in providing emotional and physical nourishment during early childhood. This systematic review aims to explore the association between maternal health and child health in the first five years of the child's life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: As primary aims, we systematically synthesised published evidence relating to the first five years of life for associations between maternal health exposures (mental, physical and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and child health outcomes (physical health, mental health, HRQoL and Health Service Use (HSU) /cost). As a secondary aim, we explored how the above associations vary between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged populations. The search was limited to studies that published and collected data from 2010 to 2022. The systematic review was specific to countries with similar health systems to Australia. The search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, GLOBAL HEALTH, and EMBASE databases. The quality of the included studies was assessed by The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tool. RESULTS: Thirteen articles were included in the final synthesis from the identified 9439 articles in the primary search. Six (46%) explored the association between maternal mental health and child's physical health, two (15%) explored maternal and child's physical health, one (8%) explored maternal and child's mental health, one (8%) explored maternal physical health and child's HRQoL, and three (23%) explored maternal mental health and child's HSU. We found an association between maternal health and child health (physical and mental) and HSU outcomes but no association between maternal health and child's overall HRQoL. The results for disadvantaged communities did not show any difference from the general population. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our review findings show that maternal health influences the child's health in the first five years. However, the current evidence is limited, and the findings were primarily related to a specific maternal or child's health condition. There was no evidence of associations of child health outcomes in healthy mothers. There is an extensive research gap investigating maternal health exposures and child outcomes in quality of life and overall health.

Realist evaluation of maternity waiting home intervention models in Inhambane, Mozambique: protocol for a comparative embedded case study, the Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health Project.

INTRODUCTION: This is a study protocol that tests and refines realist theories regarding the uptake and scale-up of the linked maternity waiting home (hereafter MWH) and facility birth intervention in the Mozambican context. The theories were developed through a realist review of MWH-facility birth literature from low-income and middle-income countries. The aim of the proposed study is to contribute to a contextually refined understanding of the causal chains underlying MWH-facility birth adoption by pregnant women and their families, communities, the health system and donors. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The overarching methodology is mixed-methods realist evaluation. The study will adopt a comparative embedded case study design comparing three new masonry MWHs built by the Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health Project in Inhambane province with three older MWHs selected based on variation in the built environment. Baseline data on participating MWH-facility birth interventions will be collected through observations, reviews of routine data and analysis of statistics and reports from provincial and district health authorities and the Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health project. Realist interviews will be conducted with MWH users and non-users, companions of MWH users and non-users, partners of MWH users and non-users, and stakeholders within the health system and the non-governmental organisation sector. Realist focus groups will be used to collect data from community-level implementers. The analysis will be retroductive and use the context-mechanism-outcome configuration heuristic tool to represent generative causation. We will analyse data from intervention and comparator MWHs independently and compare the resulting refined programme theories. Data analysis will be done in NVivo 12. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval for the project has been obtained from the Mozambique National Bioethics Committee (CNBS-Comité Nacional de Bioética para a Saúde) and the University of Saskatchewan Bioethical Research Ethics Board. The evaluation will adhere to the International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects and the African adaptation of evaluation ethics and principles. Evaluation results will be disseminated to stakeholders' practice audiences through peer-reviewed publications, plain-language briefs, theory validation/feedback meetings and conference presentations.

Recomendaciones para la atención de las principales emergencias obstétricas

Esta edición de Recomendaciones para la atención de las principales emergencias obstétricas incluye la actualización de los capítulos Estados hipertensivos del embarazo, Hemorragia postparto, Reanimación cardiovascular en el embarazo, Sistema de alerta temprano y equipos de respuesta rápida en Obstetricia. Siguiendo el sistema GRADE para definir la calidad de la evidencia y la fortaleza de la recomendación se plantean recomendaciones para el abordaje del tromboembolismo pulmonar y embarazo, embolismo de líquido amniótico, Covid-19 y embarazo, influenza y embarazo y sepsis materna. Con esta publicación se busca apoyar los esfuerzos para lograr la concretización de la meta 3.1 de los ODS de reducir la tasa mundial de mortalidad materna a menos de 70 por cada 100.00 nacidos vivos hasta el 2030.

Women's autonomy and maternal health decision making in Kenya: implications for service delivery reform - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal and neonatal outcomes in, Kakamega County is characterized by a maternal mortality rate of 316 per 100,000 live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 19 per 1,000 live births. In 2018, approximately 70,000 births occurred in the county, with 35% at home, 28% in primary care facilities, and 37% in hospitals. A maternal and child health service delivery redesign (SDR) that aims to reorganize maternal and newborn health services is being implemented in Kakamega County in Kenya to improve the progress of these indicators. Research has shown that women's ability to make decisions (voice, agency, and autonomy) is critical for gender equality, empowerment and an important determinant of access and utilization. As part of the Kakamega SDR process evaluation, this study sought to understand women's processes of decision-making in seeking maternal health care and how these affect women's ability to access and use antenatal, delivery, and post-natal services. METHODS: We adapted the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) conceptual framework for reproductive empowerment to focus on the interrelated concepts of "female autonomy", and "women's agency" with the latter incorporating 'voice', 'choice' and 'power'. Our adaptation did not consider the influence of sexual relationships and leadership on SRH decision-making. We conducted key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, small group interviews and focus group discussions with pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics, women who had delivered, women attending post-natal clinics, and men in Kakamega County. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data in NVivo 12. RESULTS: The results revealed notable findings across three dimensions of agency. Women with previous birthing experiences, high self-esteem, and support from their social networks exhibited greater agency. Additionally, positive previous birthing experiences were associated with increased confidence in making reproductive health choices. Women who had control over financial resources and experienced respectful communication with their partners exhibited higher levels of agency within their households. Distance relational agency demonstrated the impact of health system factors and socio-cultural norms on women's agency and autonomy. Finally, women who faced barriers such as long waiting times or limited staff availability experienced reduced agency in seeking healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: Individual agency, immediate relational agency, and distance relational agency all play crucial roles in shaping women's decision-making power and control over their utilization of maternal health services. This study offers valuable insights that can guide the ongoing implementation of an innovative service delivery redesign model, emphasizing the critical need for developing context-specific strategies to promote women's voices for sustained use.

Perspectives of pregnant women on maternal health information handouts at KwaZulu-Natal sub-district.

BACKGROUND: Maternal health information handouts are used by midwives to facilitate health education of pregnant women during their antenatal care (ANC) period. South Africa's Saving Mothers Report 2014 showed that delay in accessing medical help, as a patient-related avoidable factor, accounted for 27% of maternal and neonatal mortality. AIM: To ascertain the perceptions of pregnant women attending ANC in the Msunduzi sub-district in uMgungundlovu District, towards the maternal health information handouts. SETTING: The study was conducted at three primary health care (PHC) clinics (two PHC and one CHC [Community Health Care]) that provided ANC in the Msunduzi sub-district KwaZulu-Natal, in 2019. METHODS: Using a qualitative approach, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 10 participants from each clinic. Data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The themes explored included: availability and access of handouts, usefulness, review of handouts, alternative methods available, and family involvement. CONCLUSION: The authors concluded that although the maternal information handouts were given to the mothers during their maternal health visits, few of them were aware of these handouts. New strategies should be employed to deliver this vital information, as suggested by mothers.Contribution: The awareness of pregnant mothers about the information handouts contributes to the positive perinatal outcomes at clinic levels.

The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on women's access to maternal health and family planning services in Egypt: an exploratory study in two governorates.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been noted to decrease access to maternal health and family planning services globally. However, evidence from the Middle East and North Africa region is very scarce and limited. We qualitatively explored women's experiences in accessing maternal health and family planning services during the COVID-19 lockdown months in the two Egyptian governorates of Port Said and Souhag. METHODS: Using a case study design, semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with a total of 40 women aged 18-35 years from Port Said and Souhag governorates in Egypt. Interviews explored women's experiences in accessing maternal health and family planning services during COVID-19 lockdown months, their coping strategies, and impact of challenges and/or coping strategies on participants and their families. The collected data was analyzed manually using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Many participants were unable to access maternal health and family planning services during COVID-19 lockdown due to fear of contracting the virus, closure of health facilities, changing service hours, family planning method or drug stock-outs, and/or financial constraints. The above challenges in accessing services along with coping strategies that some women and their families used exposed women to additional health risks, including unintended pregnancies, and posed several social, emotional, and financial burdens to many. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures undermined women's access to maternal and family planning services and interfered with their ability to achieve their reproductive goals. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations to ensure access to maternal and family planning services at times of crisis. Those recommendations include: (1) adapting reliable guidelines from humanitarian settings, (2) providing adequate guidance to healthcare providers and the public to tackle fears and misinformation, (3) making self-care products available such as oral contraceptive pills, vaginal rings and self- administered injectables, (4) involving other health professionals in the provision of maternal and family planning services through task-sharing/shifting, (5) expanding the use of telemedicine and/or digital health services especially to those living in remote areas and (6) raising policymakers' awareness of the centrality of reproductive rights and the importance of protecting them at all times.

Unraveling reproductive and maternal health challenges of women living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a significant public health concern worldwide. Women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) have the additional and unique need to seek sexual and reproductive health services. WLHA's maternal health journeys can be shaped by the cultural norms and resources that exist in their society. This study sought to understand if and how WLHA's family planning, pregnancy, and motherhood experiences could be influenced by the patriarchal culture, gender roles, and HIV stigma in Vietnam, specifically. METHODS: Between December 2021 and March 2022, 30 WLHA with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and childbirth experiences were interviewed in Hanoi, Vietnam. These semi-structured interviews covered topics including HIV stigma, gender norms, pregnancy experiences, and child-rearing challenges. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: Qualitative analyses of participant quotes revealed how limited information on one's health prospects and reproductive options posed a significant challenge to family planning. Societal and familial expectations as well as economic circumstances also influenced reproductive decision-making. WLHA often encountered substandard healthcare during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Stigma and lack of provider attentiveness resulted in cases where women were denied pain relief and other medical services. Communication breakdowns resulted in failure to administer antiretroviral therapy for newborns. Motherhood for WLHA was shadowed by concerns for not only their own health, but also the wellbeing of their children, as HIV stigma affected their children at school and in society as well. Many WLHA highlighted the constructive or destructive role that family members could play in their childbirth decision-making and care-giving experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study underscores the complex ways that cultural expectations, family support, and stigma in healthcare impact WLHA. Efforts to educate and engage families and healthcare providers are warranted to better understand and address the needs of WLHA, ultimately improving their reproductive and maternal health.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination have consequential impacts on health and quality of life for women living with HIV (WLHA). WLHA in Vietnam must navigate the additional challenges of a traditionally patriarchal and hierarchical society. Women typically face less educational and occupational opportunities and are often expected to defer to expectations of family and virtue. Stigma among family members, friends, employers, and healthcare providers poses a significant challenge to WLHA autonomy, especially as it relates to their reproductive health decision-making and maternal health experiences. This study aims to better understand the experiences of WLHA throughout family planning, pregnancy, and motherhood. The findings will hopefully shed light on strategies to empower WLHA and to combat HIV- and gender-based stigma not only in Vietnam, but also globally.

Validating the implementation of an indicator reporting policies and laws on free public maternal health-related services in the era of universal health coverage: A multi-country cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The concept of universal health coverage (UHC) encompasses both access to essential health services and freedom from financial harm. The World Health Organization's Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health (MNCAH) Policy Survey collects data on policies that have the potential to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. The indicator, "Are the following health services provided free of charge at point-of-use in the public sector for women of reproductive age?", captures the free provision of 13 key categories of maternal health-related services, to measure the success of UHC implementation with respect to maternal health. However, it is unknown whether it provides a valid measure of the provision of free care. Therefore, this study compared free maternal healthcare laws and policies against actual practice in three countries. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in four districts/provinces in Argentina, Ghana, and India. We performed desk reviews to identify free care laws and policies at the country level and compared those with reports at the global level. We conducted exit interviews with women aged 15-49 years who used a component service or their accompanying persons, as well as with facility chief financial officers or billing administrators, to determine if women had out-of-pocket expenditures associated with accessing services. For designated free services, prevalence of expenditures at the service level for women and reports by financial officers of women ever having expenditures associated with services designated as free were computed. These three sources of data (desk review, surveys of women and administrators) were triangulated, and chi-square analysis was conducted to determine if charges were levied differentially by standard equity stratifiers. Designation of services as free matched what was reported in the MNCAH Policy Survey for Argentina and Ghana. In India, insecticide-treated bed nets and testing and treatment for syphilis were only designated as free for selected populations, differing from the WHO MNCAH Policy Survey. Among 1046, 923, and 1102 women and accompanying persons who were interviewed in Argentina, Ghana, and India, respectively, the highest prevalence of associated expenditures among women who received a component service in each setting was for cesarean section in Argentina (26%, 24/92); family planning in Ghana (78.4%, 69/88); and postnatal maternal care in India (94.4%, 85/90). The highest prevalence of women ever having out of pocket expenditures associated with accessing any free service reported by financial officers was 9.1% (2/22) in Argentina, 64.1% (93/145) in Ghana, and 29.7% (47/158) in India. Across the three countries, self-reports of out of pocket expenditures were significantly associated with district/province and educational status of women. Additionally, wealth quintile in Argentina and age in India were significantly associated with women reporting out of pocket expenditures. CONCLUSIONS: Free care laws were largely accurately reported in the global MNCAH policy database. Notably, we found that women absorbed both direct and indirect costs and made both formal and informal payments for services designated as free. Therefore, the policy indicator does not provide a valid reflection of UHC in the three settings.

Maternal Cardiovascular Health Post-Dobbs.

Maternal Cardiovascular Health Post-DobbsPregnancy is associated with increasing morbidity and mortality in the United States. In the post-Dobbs era, many pregnant patients at highest risk no longer have access to abortion, which has been a crucial component of standard medical care.

Community Health Workers: Improving Home Visiting Engagement of High-Risk Birthing People in Segregated Neighborhoods.

CONTEXT: Racial and ethnic disparities in perinatal health remain a public health crisis. Despite improved outcomes from home visiting (HV) participation during pregnancy, most eligible individuals of color do not engage. Neighborhood segregation, a manifestation of structural racism, may impose constraints on engaging eligible individuals in HV. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether race, ethnicity, and/or language-concordant community health workers (CHWs) increased HV engagement for birthing people in segregated neighborhoods. DESIGN: Program evaluation using administrative linked data from birth records, Medicaid claims, and HV program participation. Strong Beginnings (SB), a program with HV provided by CHWs working with nurses and social workers, was compared with the Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP), a state Medicaid-sponsored HV program without CHW involvement. Data were analyzed using χ 2 tests and Poisson regressions. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4560 individuals with a Medicaid-eligible birth between 2016 and 2019, including 1172 from SB and 3388 from the MIHP. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Penetration (percentage of participants in HV among all Medicaid-eligible individuals across quintiles of neighborhood segregation) and dosage (the total number of home visits from both CHWs and nurses/social workers, and then restricted to those from nurses/social workers). RESULTS: SB penetrated more segregated neighborhoods than the MIHP (58.4% vs 48.3%; P < .001). SB participants received a higher dosage of home visits (mean [SD]: 11.9 [6.1]) than MIHP participants (mean [SD]: 4.4 [2.8], P < .001). Importantly, CHWs did not replace but moderately increased home visits from nurses and social workers (51.1% vs 35.2% with ≥5 intervention visits, P < .001), especially in more segregated neighborhoods. POLICY IMPLICATION: Community-informed HV models intentionally designed for people facing disparities may help facilitate program outreach to segregated neighborhoods with concentrated deprivation and reduce racial and ethnic disparities. CONCLUSIONS: An HV program provided by CHWs working with nurses and social workers was associated with an increase in penetration and dosage in segregated neighborhoods, compared with HV without CHW involvement. This underscores the value of CHWs partnering with licensed professional workers in improving HV engagement in disadvantaged communities.

Understanding the Psychological Risks to Maternal Mental Health, Maternal-Infant Bonding, and Infant Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This short review summarizes two recent U.S.-based studies in which researchers evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on postpartum outcomes. The first study examined the neurodevelopmental status of infants born to women infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the second examined psychological risks to maternal-infant bonding. Results indicated that pandemic-related stressors likely contributed to diminished maternal-infant health outcomes. It is imperative that nurses stay informed on the latest science exploring the impact the pandemic has had on the health and well-being of pregnant persons and infants.