Postpartum visits (PPVs) are still underutilized in rural China, and identification of factors that influence PPV use is important in ensuring the utilization of maternal health services and for wellbeing of women. A cross-section study was undertaken to collect related data from 347 rural women interviewed six weeks or more after delivery, and an ANOVA was performed to find whether there were significant differences in the number of PPVs among different rural areas in China. According to Andersen\'s socio-behavioral model of health service use, factors were divided into equitable and inequitable ones. Chi-squared test, univariate and multiple analyses were used to determine the equity of PPV use by identifying factors that were most strongly associated with the use of a PPV. The results showed that 20.2% of the respondents (n=70) did not receive any PPVs, and 62.5% (n=173) of those who had PPVs (n=277) did not receive standard PPVs (referring to at least 3 visits). There was no significant difference among different rural areas in terms of the number of PPVs (F=1.514, P=0.211). Multiple regression analyses revealed that enabling factors such as compensation for delivery expense [OR (95% CI)=2.825 (1.331, 5.995)], village type [OR (95% CI)=1.802 (1.021, 3.182)] and service quality [OR (95% CI)=1.847 (1.074, 3.176)] were strongly associated with PPV use. Both enabling factors such as home visits [OR (95% CI)=1.855 (1.085, 3.174)], service quality [OR (95% CI)=1.993 (1.155, 3.439)] and need factors such as low birth weight [OR (95% CI)=4.424 (1.482, 13.203)] were significantly associated with standard PPV use. Our results suggested that the equitable access to PPVs has been considerably improved in rural areas in China. The associations between inequitable factors and PPV use warrant further exploration, and policies aimed at improving quality and patterns of service supply are needed in order to ensure a full equitable access to maternal health services.

BACKGROUND: Despite the global burden of morbidity and mortality associated with preterm birth, little evidence is available for use of antenatal corticosteroids and tocolytic drugs in preterm births in low-income and middle-income countries. We analysed data from the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health (WHOMCS) to assess coverage for these interventions in preterm deliveries.
METHODS: WHOMCS is a facility-based, cross-sectional survey database of birth outcomes in 359 facilities in 29 countries, with data collected prospectively from May 1, 2010, to Dec 31, 2011. For this analysis, we included deliveries after 22 weeks\' gestation and we excluded births that occurred outside a facility or quicker than 3 h after arrival. We calculated use of antenatal corticosteroids in women who gave birth between 26 and 34 weeks\' gestation, when antenatal corticosteroids are known to be most beneficial. We also calculated use in women at 22-25 weeks\' and 34-36 weeks\' gestation. We assessed tocolytic drug use, with and without antenatal corticosteroids, in spontaneous, uncomplicated preterm deliveries at 26-34 weeks\' gestation.
RESULTS: Of 303,842 recorded deliveries after 22 weeks\' gestation, 17,705 (6%) were preterm. 3900 (52%) of 7547 women who gave birth at 26-34 weeks\' gestation, 94 (19%) of 497 women who gave birth at 22-25 weeks\' gestation, and 2276 (24%) of 9661 women who gave birth at 35-36 weeks\' gestation received antenatal corticosteroids. Rates of antenatal corticosteroid use varied between countries (median 54%, range 16-91%; IQR 30-68%). Of 4677 women who were potentially eligible for tocolysis drugs, 1276 (27%) were treated with bed rest or hydration and 2248 (48%) received no treatment. β-agonists alone (n=346, 7%) were the most frequently used tocolytic drug. Only 848 (18%) of potentially eligible women received both a tocolytic drug and antenatal corticosteroids.
CONCLUSIONS: Use of interventions was generally poor, despite evidence for their benefit for newborn babies. A substantial proportion of antenatal corticosteroid use occurred at gestational ages at which benefit is controversial, and use of less effective or potentially harmful tocolytic drugs was common. Implementation research and contextualised health policies are needed to improve drug availability and increase compliance with best obstetric practice.
BACKGROUND: UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP); WHO; USAID; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan; Gynuity Health Projects.

BACKGROUND: The adverse effects on offspring of diabetic and/or obese mothers can be passed to the next generation. However, the mechanisms behind this are still unclear. Epigenetics may play a key role during this process.
METHODS: To confirm the hypothesis, we investigated the DNA methylation of several imprinted genes in spermatozoa of offspring from diabetic and/or obese mothers utilizing streptozotocin (STZ)- and high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced mouse models.
RESULTS: We found that the DNA methylation of Peg3 was significantly increased in spermatozoa of offspring of obese mothers compared to that in spermatozoa of offspring of normal mothers. The DNA methylation of H19 was significantly higher in spermatozoa of offspring of diabetic mothers than that in spermatozoa of offspring of non-diabetic mothers.
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that pre-gestational diabetes and/or obesity can alter DNA methylation in offspring spermatozoa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate applicability of lives saved tool (LiST) in projecting effects of maternal health interventions on reducing maternal mortality in the rural area of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, and provide evidence for promoting LiST in China.
METHODS: By using maternal intervention coverage and other information collected through the cross-sectional household survey, literature review and expert consultation, LiST projection was performed and modeled. The maternal mortality reduction and causes of death were measured and compared, and the differences were analyzed. SPSS 19.0 was used in the household survey data analysis.
RESULTS: Coverage of calcium supplementation, MgSO4-management of pre-eclampsia and institutional delivery reached 51.9%, 99.0% and 98.4% respectively in rural Guangxi in 2011. The LiST captured the general trend of maternal mortality in rural Guangxi. The modeled maternal mortality rate was 4.71%, lower than the measured in 2009 and 10.43% higher in 2010. Maternal mortality rate would decreased to 18/100 000 in 2015 assuming all relevant interventions reached full coverage, and 90% of the maternal morality reduction was attributed to the labor and delivery management.
CONCLUSIONS: LiST can be applied to project effects of maternal health interventions on reducing the maternal mortality in rural Guangxi, but its accuracy was limited by the fact that the effect of relevant interventions on some major causes of maternal death, such as amniotic embolism, was not calculated in LiST and maternal deaths caused by those causes varied by the year in the area. Based on the LiST projection, labor and delivery management was found to be the priority intervention in improving maternal health in rural Guangxi. Improving the quality of obstetric care in township hospitals and facilitating referral of high-risk pregnant women were highly recommended.

OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of maternal body mass index (BMI) on the association between folic acid supplementation and neural tube defects (NTDs) risk in offspring.
METHODS: A hospital-based, case-control study was conducted between 2006 and 2008 on 459 mothers with NTDs-affected births and 459 mothers without NTDs-affected births. Logistic regression models examined the associations between folic acid supplementation and the NTDs risk in offspring for all mothers, underweight/normal weight mothers (BMI<24.0) and overweight/obese mothers (BMI ≥24.0). The effects were evaluated by adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with SAS 9.1.3 software.
RESULTS: The overall AOR for periconceptional folic acid supplementation was 0.315 (95% CI = 0.172-0.577) when compared with no supplements. Stratified by maternal BMI, the AOR for periconceptional folic acid supplementation in overweight/obese mothers was greater than in underweight/normal weight mothers (0.646 vs. 0.208). The AOR for folic acid supplementation within 3 months before conception was 0.711 (95% CI = 0.323-1.563) in all mothers. Stratified by maternal BMI, the AOR for folic acid supplementation within 3 months before conception in overweight/obese mothers was greater than in underweight/normal weight mothers (0.658 vs. 0.527).
CONCLUSIONS: The association between folic acid supplementation and the reduced NTDs risk was weaker in overweight/obese mothers (BMI ≥24.0) than in underweight/normal weight mothers (BMI <24.0).

OBJECTIVE: The double burden of undernutrition and overnutrition is recognized as a global devastating problem. However, few studies have investigated the maternal nutritional status among different ethnicities and the socio-demographic characteristics in rural areas of western China. This study attempted to fill this gap.
METHODS: Data on 10,495 women with children under three years old were collected using a three-stage probability proportion to size sampling from 45 counties of 10 provinces in western China. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) was used to assess the maternal nutrition conditions, including chronic energy deficiency (CED) and overweight/obesity.
RESULTS: According to the WHO BMI standard, the prevalences of CED and overweight/obesity were 12.3% (BMI≤18.5 kg/m2) and 12.4% (BMI≥25 kg/m2), respectively, while overweight/obesity rate was 18.5% (BMI≥24 kg/m2) based on the Chinese standard. A significant difference in malnutrition between Han and Minority was not observed. The relationship between breastfeeding and CED was inverse (OR 0.64, 95%CI: 0.48, 0.87), but higher parity were positively correlated with CED (OR 1.57, 95%CI: 1.36, 1.82). The highest odds of CED were observed in the group with 1-5 years of education (OR 1.21, 95%CI: 1.03, 1.43). Higher parity was also associated with overweight/obesity (OR 0.78, 95%CI: 0.67, 0.91), and rural women aged 30-39 years old were more likely to be overweight/obese (OR 2.21, 95%CI: 1.47, 3.32). In addition, higher socioeconomic status was positively related to overweight women (OR 1.19, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.43), and inversely associated with CED (OR 0.83, 95%CI: 0.72, 0.97).
CONCLUSIONS: The coexistence of undernutrition and overweight among women of reproductive age are determined in rural western China. It appears that socio-demographic factors considerably influence maternal nutritional status in the study. These findings have important policy implications for recommendations on maternal health intervention in China.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the trends and influential factors on infant mortality in Henan province from 2000 to 2010.
METHODS: Descriptive method, Cox-Stuart trend test and multiple linear regression were used to study the infant mortality trends and related influential factors in the regions with monitoring programs of Henan province, from 2000 to 2010.
RESULTS: The total urban and rural infant mortality rates dropped significantly, from 30.91 per thousand, 10.05 per thousand, 33.99 per thousand in 2000 to 7.12 per thousand, 5.51 per thousand, 8.03 per thousand in 2010, respectively. The average annual rates of decrease were 13.65 percent, 5.83 percent and 13.44 percent. The downward trends were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The infant mortality rates dropped more significantly in rural areas (25.96%) than in the urban areas (4.54%). Difference between urban and rural areas reduced from 23.49% to 2.52%. Rates on factors as setting up maternal record cards, carrying on postpartum visits, hospital delivery, or under help by new midwives and low birth weight rate etc. were remarkably influencing the rate on infant mortality (F = 229.738, P = 0.004). In order, the impact of strengths on those factors showed as: hospitalized delivery rate, low birth weight rate, the rate of \'clean\' delivery, setting up record cards on postpartum visits.
CONCLUSIONS: Total provincial, urban and rural infant mortality rates all showed downward trends. The infant mortality rates dropped more significantly in rural areas than in urban areas. Difference between urban and rural areas was gradually getting small. Rates on setting up maternal record cards, carrying on postpartum visit, hospital delivery and under help by new midwives rate were important factors that significantly impacting the infant mortality rate. Work on setting up record cards and hospital delivery should be further strengthened.

The interpersonal psychotherapy-oriented childbirth education program has the potential to promote social support and maternal role competence and prevent postpartum depression in Chinese women. The present study explored the perceptions of Chinese women about the delivery, content, and personal impact of the interpersonal psychotherapy-oriented childbirth education program. The study was conducted in a regional teaching hospital in China. The intervention was based on the principles of interpersonal psychotherapy, and consisted of two 90 min antenatal classes and a telephone follow up within 2 weeks after delivery. Ninety two women, pregnant for the first time, completed the program. The Program Satisfaction Questionnaires, with five open-ended questions, was used for the process evaluation (n = 83), and a one-on-one, in-depth interview was used for the outcome evaluation (n = 20). The findings suggested that the program could facilitate the participants\' adjustment to motherhood, help to establish or improve their relationships, and enhance their perceived social support and maternal role competence. Future programs could be strengthened by lengthening the program and adding more interactive learning.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and characterize the trajectories of depressive and fatigue symptoms and determine the relationship between these two trajectories and associated predictors.
METHODS: A prospective, follow-up study.
METHODS: A teaching medical center in central Taiwan.
METHODS: A convenience sample of 121 low-risk, childbearing women.
METHODS: Depressive and fatigue symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Fatigue Continuum Form respectively during the third trimester (time 1), one day postpartum (time 2), three days postpartum (time 3), and one week postpartum (time 4). Participants also completed structured questionnaires on demographic features, health status, and sleep quality.
RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 31.2 years. We observed four distinctive trajectories of depressive symptoms and three trajectories of fatigue using group-based trajectory modeling. A frequent conoccurrence of similar levels of these symptoms was found; that is, mothers in the high-risk depressive symptoms group were most likely to fall into the high-risk group for fatigue. Joint trajectories were predicted by poor sleep score (odds ratio = 2.96, 95% confidence interval = 1.2, 7.3) using multinomial logistic regression analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: Overlapping but distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms and fatigue were found. These results suggest that differentiation between depressive symptoms and fatigue is possible and important for improving care during the early postpartum period.

OBJECTIVE: The incidence of idiopathic precocious puberty (IPP) might have an increasing trend. But the causes and risk factors of IPP are unknown. The objective of our study is to evaluate the effects of growth environments and two environmental endocrine disruptors (EDCs), zearalenone (ZEA), and 1,1-dichloro-2,2,bisethylene (p,p\'-DDE), on patients with IPP.
METHODS: Case-control study.
METHODS: The study consisted of 78 IPP patients at diagnosis and 100 control children matched for age and sex. A questionnaire was designed to collect data on growth environments, and serum ZEA and p,p\'-DDE were tested in all subjects. We analyzed data on growth environments, two EDCs, and biological interaction between growth environments and EDCs.
RESULTS: In growth environments, small for gestational age, maternal physical disease during pregnancy, early maternal menarche, early puberty of same-degree relatives, and father\'s absence in 4- to 6-year olds were risk factors for children with IPP (P<0.05). Serum ZEA concentration, ZEA, and p,p\'-DDE-positive rates in the IPP group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). There was a biological interaction between growth environments and ZEA (relative excess risk due to interaction =34.562, attributable proportion due to interaction =0.745, synergy index =4.193).
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest possible effects of growth environments and two EDCs on the development of IPP. In addition, growth environments and ZEA have biological interaction that might increase the risk of developing IPP.