SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS AND MOTHER'S MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS IN THE INCIDENCE OF STUNTING IN THE SASAQ TRIBE COMMUNITY IN CENTRAL LOMBOK, WEST NUSA TENGGARA

Objectives: to evaluate the association between alcohol and tobacco consumption during pregnancy with maternal and child health conditions. Methods: cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample of pregnant women living in Santa Catarina who conducted prenatal care and childbirth in the public national health service in 2019. A face-to-face survey questionnaire was applied to 3,580 pregnant women including maternal health issues during pregnancy and perinatal health of the newborn. Crude logistic regression analyzes were performed and adjusted for socio-demographic and maternal health conditions. Results: the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption during pregnancy was 7.2% and 9.3%, respectively. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy increased the chance of maternal anemia by 45% (CI95%=1.09-1.91), increased the chance of gestational diabetes by 73% (CI95%=1.14-2.63) and reduced the chance of hypertension (OR=0.59; CI95%=0.37-0.94). Tobacco consumption doubled the chance of low birth weight (OR=2.16; CI95%=1.33-3.51). Conclusion: the consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy increased the chance of maternal health complications, such as anemia and gestational diabetes, while tobacco increased the chance of low birth weight.

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. 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. 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. 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.

BackgroundDespite a growing body of evidence on maternal mental health in Africa, significant gaps remain in understanding its overall landscape, risk factors/determinants, immediate and long-term effects, accessibility to healthcare and services, and availability of practicable/effective interventions. This paper provides a thorough review of both peer-reviewed and grey literature and makes key recommendations and directions for future research and development.MethodsWe systematically reviewed extant evidence using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. Peer-reviewed studies published in English between 2010, and June 2024 were included based on a priori criteria. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Critical Appraisal Skill Program (CASP) quality assessment tools were used to critically appraise the reliability, validity and overall quality of included articles. A qualitative narrative synthesis was perfomed to summarize the findings effectively.ResultsA total of 206 full-text articles evaluated for eligibility and inclusion in the systematic review, predominantly observational studies with a minority employing randomized controlled trial (RCT) designs, were included, with 70%, 22%, and 8% of the articles rated as good, fair, and poor quality, respectively. Women in Africa experience a wide range of common perinatal mental disorders, including major depressive disorders and psychosis, either discretely or comorbid. Socioeconomic disadvantages and other intertwined poverty-related factors at the individual, family, social, and environmental levels are implicated in maternal mental health disorders. Currently, there is insufficient evidence regarding the short- and long-term health, development, and social impacts of maternal mental health. Addtionally, there is limited knowledge about the availability and accessibility of mental healthcare, evidence-based context-specific interventions, and healthcare-seeking behaviors of women in Africa, as well as their access to and utilization of mental health services.ConclusionThe evidence base on maternal mental health in Africa suffers from considerable variability, inconsistency, and equivocal findings resulting from heterogeneity across the studies. This restricts generalizability and the ability to draw valid conclusions. Published studies also likely underestimate the scale and health impacts of perinatal mental disorders. Evidence from these studies are rarely used to inform policies and programs. The maternal mental health ecosystem in Africa needs to be better understood. More rigorous study designs should be implemented to focus on evidence generation and the evaluation of interventions, alongside robust integration of mental health services within health systems. Policy initiatives aimed at reducing socioeconomic disparities in maternal, newborn, and child health, particularly concerning maternal mental health, must be supported by these studies.Article Highlights• Women across Africa suffer from various mental health problems, including major depressive disorders, anxiety, and psychosis, occurring separately or in combination.• The evidence base on maternal mental health in Africa displays significant variability, inconsistency, and ambiguous findings, largely attributed to study heterogeneity.• Factors at the individual, familial, societal, and environmental levels contribute to poverty-related issues that can lead to or worsen maternal mental health disorders.• Current evidence has not been synthesized to improve our understanding of the short- and long-term health impacts, developmental consequences, and social implications of maternal mental health conditions, as well as the healthcare-seeking behaviors and access to mental health services.• Insufficient policy prioritization and funding for maternal mental health in Africa hinder the development, evaluation, and sustainability of interventions.• There is an urgent need to integrate mental health services into primary healthcare, particularly in resource-limited settings across Africa. This integration should be guided by evidence from rigorous research that uses longitudinal designs. It is also essential to emphasize the importance of investing in digital and community-based approaches to improve the accessibility to mental health services.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00737-025-01563-4.

This scoping review will map the extent and type of evidence in relation to the association between maternal long term health conditions (LTCs), including multimorbidity, and child oral health. Newer theories are emerging that detail the many factors that can influence child oral health at child, family and community levels. More recently, the association between maternal general health and child oral health has been explored, with preliminary evidence suggesting a link between shared environmental factors and diet/substance use during pregnancy causing childhood caries. All published studies that describe the relationship between maternal LTCs (including multimorbidity) and child oral health. There will be no limitation on the date of publication due to the limited number of studies available from the initial search of PubMed. The review will exclude case studies, abstracts, and grey literature. Literature must be in English language. The following databases will be searched; CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Maternity and Infant Care, Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science. The search will include sources in English only and will be undertaken between April and July 2024. Studies to be included will be of any type of study design that describe a relationship between maternal long term health conditions, including maternal long term oral health conditions, and child oral health. Data extraction will be undertaken using tabulation of results by at least two independent reviewers. Narrative analysis of the evidence will be undertaken, and results will be presented in a narrative and tabular manner due to the heterogenous and limited evidence base found in the test search. This review has been registered prospectively on Open Science Framework, ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ECSWJ). The review will also inform an Evidence Gap Map (EGM) to illustrate the current evidence base regarding maternal health factors that influence child oral health.

Child and maternal nutritional and health status is a very much concerning issue of Bangladesh. To summarize the specific conditions of Bangladeshi child and maternal health and related issues. This is a descriptive review and overall analysis and description of the literature was done regarding child and maternal health of the general population living in Bangladesh. The evidence reflected that infant, child, and maternal mortality in Bangladesh have declined gradually at least over the past years. It is found that infant mortality 2 times, child mortality 6 times, and under five mortality rates 3 times declined comparatively than the last two decades but it is noted that maternal assassination circumstance has not declined. Knowledge on child and maternal health carries an important role in education. Health knowledge index significantly improve child and maternal health although differentially. It is obvious that poverty is one of the root causes that have led to a high child and maternal mortalities and morbidities faced by the people of Bangladesh. The requirement for socio economic relief for those living in rural Bangladesh remains one of the core issues. Recently, Bangladesh is successfully declining the total number of childhood and nutrition related mortalities despites various complexities, but maternal health status is not improving at the same pace. Nongovernment and government funded organizations and policymakers should come forward for running some effective programs to conquer the situation completely in Bangladesh.

BackgroundMaternal mental health (MMH) problems, such as perinatal depression, maternal anxiety, suicide ideation and puerperal psychosis among others, have a significant impact on maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as the health and development of children. One in every four pregnant women and one in every five postpartum women in low-income countries, suffer from maternal mental health (MMH) problems. Despite this, MMH screening, diagnosis, and reporting remain scanty in Uganda. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge, practices, and impediments that maternity care workers face when screening and managing women with maternal mental health disorders in health facilities in south-western Uganda.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted with 22 health-care professionals who work in maternity care departments in primary and tertiary healthcare facilities in southwestern Uganda to investigate their medical knowledge, clinical practices, and challenges related to the screening and management of maternal mental health problems. Using qualitative content analysis, distinct categories and subcategories were found.ResultsMedical staff especially midwives lacked specialized training in screening and managing women with maternal mental health problems They screened and managed MMH problems solely based on history and physical examination, and they referred nearly every mother displaying signs of mental illness because they felt ill-prepared to handle them. On the other hand, medical staff with some level of specialized training in mental health particularly staff working in mental health units, were more likely to use a mental health screening tool in addition to history and physical examination; and to treat any women exhibiting signs and symptoms of maternal mental problems without referring them. Lack of in-service training on maternal mental health, poorly coordinated referral systems, reluctance of mentally ill to visit medical facilities, scarcity of mental health specialists, and shortage of relevant medications were identified as the major challenges. Age, experience level, or gender had no effect on screening or management practices.ConclusionsThe results suggest that specialized training in mental health, and particularly maternal mental health, is essential for the effective screening and management of maternal mental health conditions in South Western Uganda.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have about a 20-fold increased risk of developing leukemia. Early childhood infections may protect against acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) in children with and without DS. We examined whether maternal infections and health conditions during pregnancy were associated with acute leukemia in children with DS. We conducted a case-control study of 158 children with DS and leukemia (including 97 cases with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 61 cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML)) and 173 children with DS during the period 1997-2002. Maternal interview included information about 14 maternal conditions during gestation that are likely to induce an inflammatory response. We evaluated their prevalence in cases and controls. Five of these were common enough to allow analyses by leukemia subtype. Vaginal bleeding was the most frequent (18% cases, 25% controls) and was associated with a reduced risk (odds ratio (OR) = 0.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.33-0.99) for all cases combined. Other variables, while showing a potential trend toward reduced risk had effect estimates, which were imprecise and not statistically significant. In contrast, amniocentesis was marginally associated with an increased risk of AML (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 0.90-4.69). Data from this exploratory investigation suggest that some health conditions during pregnancy may be relevant in childhood leukemogenesis. Larger epidemiological studies and other model systems (animal, clinical studies) may provide a clearer picture of the potential association and mechanisms.

BackgroundThere has been an unprecedented rise in infant mortality rates in the UK since 2014, especially in disadvantaged areas. This trend is concerning since infant mortality is a sensitive indicator...

Disparities in spatiotemporal clustering of maternal mental health conditions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective The objective of this scoping review is to map the extent and type of evidence in relation to the association between maternal health conditions, including multimorbidity and child oral health. Introduction Child oral health research has historically focussed on toothbrushing, diet and neglect of care, including not taking children to dental appointments. Newer theories are emerging that detail the many factors that can influence child oral health at child, family and community levels 1 . More recently, the association between maternal general health and child oral health has been explored, with preliminary evidence suggesting a link between shared environmental factors and direct maternal-to-child transfer of bacteria and diet/substance use during pregnancy causing childhood caries 2,3 . Inclusion criteria This review will include all published studies that describe the relationship between maternal health (including multimorbidity) and child oral health. There will be no limitation on the date of publication due to the limited number of studies available from the initial search of PubMed. The review will exclude case studies, abstracts, and grey literature. Literature must be in English language. Methods The following databases will be searched; CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Maternity and Infant Care, Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science. The search will include sources in English only and will be undertaken between April and July 2024. Studies to be included will be of any type of study design that describe a relationship between maternal health factors, including maternal oral health, and child oral health. Data extraction will be undertaken using tabulation of results by at least two independent reviewers. Narrative analysis of the evidence will be undertaken, and results will be presented in a narrative and tabular manner due to the heterogenous and limited evidence base found in the test search. This review has been registered prospectively on Open Science Framework, (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ECSWJ). The review will also inform an Evidence Gap Map (EGM) to illustrate the current evidence base regarding maternal health factors that influence child oral health.

Based on secondary analysis, this paper places a critical discussion looking back in history of maternal health achievements by Bangladesh, future adaptability and potentials forwarding to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by United Nations. Since the transition from MDGs to SDGs, Bangladesh achieved a many progress in maternal health development but still grappling with many structural and cultural barriers. Implementation of policy documents in community level, lack of better infrastructure, health bureaucracy induced delays, culture of absenteeism among practitioners and lack good health governance are some major challenges still hindering a fostered progress in achieving the expected improvement in maternal and child health condition in community and broader level. Evidences discussed in this paper suggests that, the clauses related to implementation and maintenance need to be stronger in the maternal health policy for future direction and sustainable progress in maternal health. The policy should act in practice, not as a document, to improve maternal health and reducing mortality that would finally speed up the progress in achieving SDGs target in more pragmatic sense.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. September 2017, 3(3): 298-304

BackgroundThe population-based classification of asthma severity is varied and needs further classification. This study identified clusters of asthma and related comorbidities of Australian children aged 12–13 years; determined health outcome differences among clusters; and investigated the associations between maternal asthma and other health conditions during pregnancy and the children’s clustered groups.MethodsParticipants were 1777 children in the birth cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) who participated in the Health CheckPoint survey and the LSAC 7th Wave. A latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify clusters of children afflicted with eight diseases, such as asthma (ever diagnosed or current), wheezing, eczema, sleep problem/snoring/breathing problem, general health status, having any health condition and food allergy. Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate the association between maternal asthma or other health conditions and LCA clusters.ResultsThe study identified four clusters: (i) had asthma – currently healthy (11.0%), (ii) never asthmatic & healthy (64.9%), (iii) early-onset asthmatic or allergic (10.7%), and (iv) asthmatic unhealthy (13.4%). The asthmatic unhealthy cluster was in poor health in terms of health-related quality of life, general wellbeing and lung functions compared to other clusters. Children whose mothers had asthma during pregnancy were 3.31 times (OR 3.31, 95% CI: 2.06–5.30) more likely to be in the asthmatic unhealthy cluster than children whose mothers were non-asthmatic during pregnancy.ConclusionUsing LCA analysis, this study improved a classification strategy for children with asthma and related morbidities to identify the most vulnerable groups within a population-based sample.

BackgroundReproductive health outcomes are a measure of maternal and neonatal health. South Africa’s state of maternal health is of particular concern because of the two Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets for monitoring maternal health, namely MDG 5a, to reduce the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters, and MDG 5b, to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015. Maternal mortality ratio and universal access to reproductive health receive unequal responsiveness from government. Monitoring the maternal mortality ratio has received favourable attention compared to ensuring universal access to reproductive health, hence the limited published research findings on the latter.ObjectivesThe purpose of this article is to report on the insights from reproductive health experts and verbal autopsies on the determinants of poor reproductive health outcomes.MethodIndividual interviews with a purposively selected sample of six reproductive health experts were conducted, augmented by verbal autopsies of 12 next of kin of women and newborn babies who died within the previous 2 years period of the study. Burnard’s (1995) approach of content analysis was used to analyse the data.ResultsThe findings revealed lack of empowerment, inaccessible reproductive health services and separation of patients living with human immune deficiency virus and those patients diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.ConclusionTo meet the reproductive health needs, especially of the rural population, urgent attention is needed to reduce their vulnerability to the risks of poor reproductive outcomes.

Background To evaluate the association between home-based neonatal care interventions and the incidence of maternal health conditions as well as to estimate the longitudinal trend of the incidence of maternal health conditions over 13 years in 39 villages of the field program area of the of home-based neonatal care from rural Gadchiroli, India. Methods This was a before-after comparative analysis of a program implemented in thirty-nine villages in Gadchiroli, India. The home-based newborn care interventions were incrementally introduced during the field trial (1995 – 1998) and continued as a service program until 2008. Over thirteen years (1995–2008), pregnant women were recruited and followed up from the seventh month of pregnancy to 28 days postpartum by trained female community health workers who made antenatal, natal and post-natal home visits, provided health education to mothers for behavior change, managed normal and sick neonates as well as encouraged seeking medical care when necessary. They recorded maternal symptoms and signs, which a physician supervisor verified. Based on these symptoms and signs, a computer algorithm diagnosed 20 different maternal health conditions. The incidence of these conditions in the first year (1995-96) was compared with the intervention’s last two years (2006 - 2008). Result The mean coverage of home-based newborn care, assessed on eight indicators, increased from 48.5% in 1995 – 96 to 87.1% in 2006 – 08. The proportion of women with any maternal health conditions during pregnancy reduced by 44.76% (P<0.001), during labor by 44.59% (P <0.001) and during the postpartum period by 77.82% (P<0.001). The mean number of maternal conditions per 100 women reduced by 69% (P<0.001). The need for emergency obstetric care was reduced by 78.83% (P<0.001). The proportion of women free of any maternal health condition increased from 32.9 % to 64.6 %. Conclusions Home-based neonatal care interventions were associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of maternal health conditions. Developing a dedicated package of home-based maternal care in combination with neonatal care may further improve maternal health.

The prevalence of many psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and depression, is higher in individuals born extremely preterm (EP) than in term-born individuals during childhood and adolescence. In this prospective study of adolescents born EP, we examined associations between early-life risk factors (prenatal maternal health conditions, socioeconomic and social factors) and anxiety and depression at 15 years of age. We included 682 participants (53.2% White, 57.8% male) who were born <28 weeks gestation. Data on demographic factors, maternal health conditions and socioeconomic status (SES) were collected in the first postnatal month, and data on the outcomes (anxiety and depression) were collected at 15 years by a structured clinical diagnostic interview. At the 15-year visit, the mother reported on her own experiences of childhood trauma. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between maternal health indicators, SES factors and mothers' childhood trauma and adolescent outcome variables of anxiety, depression and both anxiety and/or depression, adjusting for potential confounding factors and expressed as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity was associated with anxiety (aOR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.15, 2.95) and depression (aOR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.17, 3.23) in adolescents at age 15. Maternal exposure to active or second-hand smoke was associated with depression (aOR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.08, 3.00) and with anxiety and depression (aOR: 2.83, 95% CI: 1.51, 5.31) at age 15. Other maternal pre-pregnancy health indicators of interest including asthma, hypertension and diabetes mellitus did not demonstrate significant associations with symptoms of anxiety or depression in adolescents at age 15 in univariable and multivariate analyses. Maternal childhood experience of parental upheaval was associated with anxiety and depression (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.01, 3.55) in adolescents, and maternal childhood experience of victim violence was linked with anxiety (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.22, 4.62) and anxiety and depression (OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.05, 5.42). These findings suggest that prenatal maternal health and socioeconomic factors contribute to psychiatric disorders among adolescents born EP. These factors could serve as targets for interventions to improve mental health of individuals born EP.