Patient-informed outpatient intervention to improve pregnancy outcomes through connections to social services: protocol for the BETTER randomised controlled trial

Introduction
A substantial portion of the 3.6 million births per year in the USA (approximately 25%–30%) occur in the context of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs), including preterm birth (PTB), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth. Black individuals have a 2–3-fold higher risk of APOs and a similarly increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality compared with White individuals. Adverse social determinants of health (SDoH) are at the root of this disparity and contribute to it through multiple mechanisms. Maternal anaemia is an upstream factor associated with severe maternal morbidity, maternal mortality and other APOs and is also associated with adverse SDoH. Effectively and efficiently addressing social needs arising from adverse SDoH in the obstetric setting can be difficult due to varying patient preferences, resource accessibility and clinic workflows. The Better Birth Outcomes Through Technology, Education and Reporting (BETTER) intervention attempts to account for these barriers by encouraging patients to address social needs through motivational interviewing and by sending recurring text messages that provide links to multiple kinds of social service resources.

Methods and analysis
We will use a two-arm randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effects of providing patients with a motivational interviewing session and text messages with links to multiple resources to address their social needs compared with patients receiving usual care. We will recruit 550 pregnant individuals less than 21 weeks of gestation from two university prenatal clinics that primarily serve Medicaid-covered individuals in an urban city in the Midwestern USA. We will assess whether the intervention reduces the primary outcome of maternal anaemia measured as haemoglobin

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Cohort profile: Mother and Infant Metabolome and Microbiome (MIMM) study, a prospective cohort study of mothers and infants in Boston, Massachusetts

Purpose
Breastfeeding is beneficial to the health of both the mother and infant. Despite recommendations to breastfeed by organisations including the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics, rates of breastfeeding remain below public health goals. The Mother and Infant Metabolome and Microbiome (MIMM) study is a prospective cohort study of healthy mother-term infant dyads designed to comprehensively assess the perinatal, maternal, neonatal and infant factors that are associated with breastfeeding outcomes and human milk composition.

Participants
MIMM participants were recruited from two medical centres in Boston, Massachusetts, from 2019 to 2023 and are followed for 2 years. Dyads were included if the mother delivered a singleton infant at ≥37 weeks’ gestation, was discharged home

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Experiences of postnatal contraceptive care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multimethods cross-sectional study

Objectives
This study aimed to examine the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown period on access to postnatal contraception (PNC) and wider postnatal care and to explore the experiences of PNC care within the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Integrated Care System (ICS) during the same period.

Design
This study reports a subanalysis of the NENC Postnatal Contraception (PoCo) study, an online survey of a convenience sample of women in the NENC ICS who completed pregnancies between 2019 and 2023.

Setting
Women who completed pregnancies between 2019 and 2023 in the NENC ICS.

Participants
Out of the total 2509 eligible participants who completed the PoCo survey, women who delivered in April–June 2020, April–June 2021 and April–June 2022 were included within this subanalysis, resulting in 457 eligible survey responses. There were no additional exclusion criteria.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
Primary outcome measures were PNC uptake and number of healthcare professional contacts during the postnatal period. Secondary outcome measures were self-reported experiences of PNC care.

Results
Women who delivered in April–June 2020 had fewer postnatal contacts than women who delivered in subsequent non-lockdown cohorts and were less likely to be offered PNC prior to discharge. There were no significant differences in relation to PNC uptake. In qualitative analyses, several women who delivered in 2020 highlighted COVID-19 as a factor perceived to be associated with poor postnatal care. Across all three groups, experiences of PNC care were diverse; feeling pressured to accept PNC was frequently reported.

Conclusions
While the first COVID-19 lockdown appears to have had a significant impact on women’s experiences of postnatal care, this did not result in a substantive decrease in PNC provision, likely reflecting pre-existing shortcomings. These women and families may benefit from additional support postpandemic to mitigate the potential life course implications of restricted support in the postpartum period, and policy-makers and healthcare providers should continue to explore innovative and patient-centred approaches to improving PNC provision. Future research should continue to evaluate the longer-term impacts of these changes in non-pandemic contexts.

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Evaluating the efficacy and acceptability of a digital-based management system for diabetes during pregnancy: protocol for an observational cohort study

Introduction
Diabetes during pregnancy poses significant health risks for both mothers and their offspring and requires comprehensive management throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. The increasing global prevalence of diabetes during pregnancy requires effective and efficient management. The current healthcare system can be challenging because of need for frequent hospital visits and limited availability of gestational diabetes (GDM) specialists.
This study investigates the impact of a digital-based management system designed to support women with diabetes from pregnancy through the first year post partum. This system includes a mobile application (MomStart) that allows users to log health data, receive tailored educational content and communicate with healthcare providers. The primary objective of this study is to compare pregnancy outcomes with historical data. We will also investigate the usability of the MomStart application.

Methods and analysis
The study will enrol over 100 pregnant women with diabetes from two hospitals in South Korea for the main study and an additional 500 women from across the country for a supplementary usability study. Data will be collected and analysed to assess neonatal and maternal outcomes and the app’s retention and satisfaction rates.

Ethics and dissemination
The protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Catholic University of Korea (XC23OIDI0012). We will present our findings in a national conference and in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Clinical study registration number
This study was registered in Korea’s Clinical Research Information Service system (KCT0008483).

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Effectiveness of postpartum care to improve womens health and quality of life in Southeast Asia: a scoping review protocol

Introduction
The first 3 months post partum is a critical transition period for women and families, which is characterised by physical, psychological and social adaptation. The first year post partum is also a critical phase for women’s health, given their physical recovery and adjustment to motherhood. The WHO 2023 recommendations highlight the importance of a postnatal care focus, including maternal health assessment, mental health support, nutritional interventions, postpartum contraceptive use and home care visits. This scoping review aims to map the evidence of the effectiveness of postpartum care on women’s health and quality of life in the Southeast Asia region.

Methods and analysis
This scoping review will be guided by the methodological principles developed by Arksey and O’Malley. This review will also consider observational studies, including cohort studies, case-control studies and cross-sectional studies. For inclusion, studies should be selected for eligibility based on the following criteria: articles investigating the uptake of postpartum women (women who have had childbirth up to 42 days after delivery) in Southeast Asian countries. The search will comprise peer-reviewed articles from 2013 to 2023 from the following electronic databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, ProQuest, EBSCO, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. We use both keywords in the title and/or abstract and subject headings as appropriate. We will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Protocols to develop the protocol and use the PRISMA flow diagram to present the results for scoping reviews.

Ethics and dissemination
A scoping review is a novel approach for examining the breadth of literature regarding the connection between the effectiveness of postpartum care and women’s health and quality of life and, as a secondary analysis, does not require ethics approval. The results of this review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences.

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