Despite growing research on disaster-related health impacts, pregnant individuals remain understudied. This study explores the sociodemographic characteristics of pregnant women affected by Hurricane Harvey.

A cross-sectional analysis of 4,951 pregnant individuals (511 directly impacted) was conducted to identify predictors of disrupted healthcare, financial loss, and mental health outcomes.

Social and structural vulnerabilities significantly influenced disaster impact. Pregnant individuals who were foreign-born racial/ethnic minorities (16.7% non-Latinx Black, 10.2% Latinx vs. 8.3% non-Latinx White), low-income (13.0% vs. 8.0%), less educated (12.5% vs. 7.6%), reliant on public healthcare (81% vs. 33.5%), or with limited maternity care access (11.4% vs. 54.8%) were disproportionately affected (all p < 0.001). Conversely, post-disaster anxiety was more common among U.S.-born (14.8% vs. 8.0%), college-educated (19.0% vs. 9.8%), and higher-income individuals (21.2% vs. 7.9%) (all p < 0.01).

Disadvantaged pregnant populations face greater disruption during disasters, while those with fewer vulnerabilities may experience more prolonged anxiety.

Nutrition education plays a crucial role in improving the nutritional status of pregnant women, yet evidence of its impact in low-income settings like Ethiopia is limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of facility-based nutrition education and counseling on pregnant women’s knowledge, dietary practices, and Fe-folic acid supplement use.

A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, involving 683 pregnant women across twenty health centres assigned to intervention or control groups. Antenatal care providers in the intervention group received training on pregnancy nutrition and counseling, while the control group continued standard care per national guidelines. A total of 683 pregnant women were enrolled during their first and second antenatal care (ANC) visits. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to evaluate outcomes.

The study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from August to December 2017.

Pregnant women attending ANC follow-ups and healthcare providers working in ANC units.

The intervention group demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge, including iodised salt use (difference-in-differences (DID) 23 %), correct Fe-folic acid supplementation duration (DID 68 %) and the need for additional meals during pregnancy (DID 49·9 %). Dietary practices improved with higher dietary diversity (DID 32·3 %), increased dairy consumption (MD 1·2 v. –0·1; DID 1·2 per week) and higher Fe-folic acid supplementation (MD 4·9 v. 1·6; DID 3·2 per week).

Nutrition education and counseling during ANC visits significantly improved pregnant women’s knowledge and dietary practices. Integrating and strengthening these interventions into routine ANC services could effectively enhance dietary intake and health outcomes.

The inner ear is a complex sensory organ with finely balanced physiology; disrupting this may cause hearing changes or vestibular symptoms. Pregnancy involves multiple significant reversible alterations in physiological state. This study reviews literature on the inner ear in pregnancy.

The review was pre-registered on the PROSPERO database CRD42023446898. Robust searches were conducted by two independent researchers according to the PRISMA 2020 guideline.

A total of 69 studies were filtered into the final analysis. Consistent evidence of subclinical hearing loss in pregnancy was identified, which resolved following childbirth. Auditory processing is affected by pregnancy. Vestibular dysfunction may contribute to pregnancy nausea. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss does not occur more frequently in pregnancy.

This review summarises evidence for reversible and irreversible changes to hearing and vestibular function in pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, reviewing aetiological theories and offering insight to audiovestibular physiology and explaining audiovestibular symptoms in the pregnant patient.

Physiologic changes in the peripartum period put women with CHD at increased risk for morbidity. This study examines factors associated with peripartum complications and length of stay compared to patients without CHD.

This single-institution retrospective case-control study included women with CHD (2000–2017) and a control population without CHD. A review of clinical and echocardiographic data was used to assign baseline characteristics, disease severity, and adverse outcomes. Primary outcomes were composite variables of cardiac and obstetric adverse events, along with peripartum length of stay. The relationship between maternal CHD, baseline characteristics, and peripartum adverse events was evaluated by multivariable regression.

The cohort and control groups included 162 deliveries among 113 women and 321 deliveries among 321 women, respectively. Cardiac complications, including arrhythmia, heart failure, pulmonary oedema, and thromboembolic events, occurred in 8.6% of the cohort (RR 2.52, 95% CI 1.17–5.42), with the most common event being arrhythmia. Obstetric events, such as caesarean delivery, assisted vaginal delivery, preterm birth, and pre-eclampsia, occurred in 67.9% versus 56.1% in the control group (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.05–1.40). In multivariable models, increasing age was associated with increased composite cardiac events. Length of stay was longer in the cohort group (p < 0.001) and significantly associated with modified World Health Organization classification (p = 0.016).

Women with CHD experience increased cardiac and obstetric morbidity compared to controls during peripartum admission. Those with CHD have longer hospital stays around delivery, which is associated with disease severity.

Certain prescription drugs used during pregnancy are associated with offspring autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nonetheless, ASD risk following prenatal exposure to most drugs remains unknown. Furthermore, methodological challenges and ethical concerns hinder the scope for causal inference.

We used a case-cohort study design of a nationally representative sample from Israel to examine the associations between maternal prescription drug use during pregnancy and offspring ASD. To scrutinize these associations, the analyses were (a) adjusted for indication proxy (level 2 Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes), (b) repeated using shared pharmacological targets as exposures, and (c) inspected further through target-enrichment analysis.

The sample included 1,400 individuals with and 94,713 without an ASD diagnosis. Among all drugs prescribed during pregnancy, five were statistically significantly associated with increased offspring ASD risk after adjustment for indication proxy (e.g., hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] cyproterone = 2.71 [1.17–6.25] and prednisolone = 2.10 [1.27–3.49]), and two with decreased risk (ferrous sulfate = 0.82 [0.68, 0.99] and lynestrenol = 0.43 [0.2, 0.93]). Further analysis revealed four pharmacological targets shared by these drugs, which were themselves associated with ASD (e.g., neuronal acetylcholine receptor α4β4 = 1.45 [1.05–1.99] and serotonin 2b receptor = 1.31 [1.04–1.61]). Enrichment analysis suggested the association between ASD and medications affecting cholinergic and serotonergic signaling.

Increased ASD risk followed prenatal exposure to five prescription drugs, and decreased risk followed exposure to two. Subsequent analyses suggested no confounding by indication in these associations, but further studies are warranted.

Fear of childbirth (FoB) is a common experience during pregnancy which can cause clinically significant distress and impairment. To date, a number of investigations of FoB have assumed that clinically significant FoB is best understood as a type of specific phobia. However, preliminary evidence suggests that specific phobia may not be the only diagnostic category under which clinically significant symptoms of FoB are best described.

The current study is the first to investigate which DSM-5 diagnostic categories best describe clinically significant symptoms of FoB.

Pregnant people reporting high levels of FoB (n=18) were administered diagnostic interviews related to their experience of FoB.

Participants (n=18) were predominantly nulliparous (73.3%), cisgender women (83.3%). Of these, 14 (77.8%) met criteria for one or more DSM-5 anxiety-related disorders. Preliminary findings suggest that primary FoB may align with specific phobia criteria, whereas secondary FoB (following a traumatic birth) may be better classified under post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). FoB also featured in other anxiety-related disorders but was not the primary focus (e.g. obsessive-compulsive disorder). Four participants did not meet criteria for any DSM-5 disorder.

Findings provide preliminary evidence that clinically significant FoB fits within existing DSM-5 categories, in particular specific phobia and PTSD. Although FoB-related concerns appears in other anxiety-related disorder categories, it does not appear as the primary focus. Although informative, due to the small sample employed in this research, replication in larger and more diverse samples is needed.

To describe the nutritional intake and status of pregnant women in Bloemfontein and compare across different household food security categories.

Cross-sectional.

Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital.

427 pregnant women were interviewed using a standard questionnaire and a quantitative FFQ to collect socio-demographic, HIV status, household food security, supplement and dietary intake data. Weight and height were measured using standard anthropometric techniques and capillary blood taken by finger-prick for anaemia, Fe and inflammation status assessment.

26·7 % of participants were food secure, while 11·5 %, 32·1 % and 29·5 % experienced mild, moderate and severe food insecurity, respectively. 54·5 %, 41·7 % and 31·1 % were obese, anaemic and Fe deficient. Median energy intake was 8808 (6978–9223) KJ/d, with no significant differences between the food security groups (P = 0·517). Based on the dietary reference intakes, 98·1 % met the estimated average requirement (EAR) for carbohydrates, but the majority had sub-optimal intake of protein (58·3 %), fibre (60·9 %), pantothenic acid (67·0 %), vitamins C (65·6 %), D (68·4 %), E (59·0 %) and K (61·8 %), potassium (99·8 %), dietary Ca (95·8 %) and Fe (80·8 %). Compared with the moderately and severely food-insecure counterparts, food-secure participants had a higher intake of animal protein (P < 0·001), total fat (P = 0·014), monounsaturated fat (P = 0·002), vitamins B12 (P = 0·014), C (P < 0·001) and D (P = 0·003) and dietary Ca (P = 0·001). Dietary folate intake was below the EAR in 69·9 %, but was higher among severely food-insecure participants (463·94 (327·39, 609·71) µg than food secure (378·49 (265·99, 496·15) µg, P = 0·007)).

The findings show widespread inadequate nutrient intake among pregnant women in Bloemfontein, with food-insecure women showing significantly lower intake of specific nutrients.