Browsing by Subject "infant death"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Is the Day of Last Menstrual Period a Predictor of Preterm Birth?
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2016-04-08) Singhal, Ahaan; Proctor, Cathy; Ying, Jun; Winchester, Paul
    Background: Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death and disability in the US. Previous studies have demonstrated that preterm birth rates (PTBR) are seasonal and linked to month of last menstrual period (LMP). We wondered whether LMP day (LMPD) might correlate with PTBR. Objective: Is preterm birth risk positively correlated with LMPD? Design/Methods: CDC natality data from 1990-2008 were analyzed. Included were continental US residents, 22-43 weeks. Excluded were pregnancies with no prenatal care, non-US residence and LMP unknown. PTBR was calculated for each LMPD across all LMP months and years. Maternal age, race, parity, education, tobacco, alcohol, diabetes, hypertension, induction, delivery route, meconium, plurality, gestation, assisted ventilation were abstracted. PTBR was aggregated by year, month and LMPD after adjusting for month and year. Analysis was repeated in subpopulations stratified by abstracted risk factors. Random effects were used to account for within unit correlation caused by repeated measurements over months and years. Results: 64,872,927 records were reviewed. PTBR was positively correlated with LMPD(slope±SE0.08±0.01(p‹0.001). PTBR rose by 0.08% for each LMP day from 1-31. This relationship remained significant in each year from 1990-2008 and in all months except October. Subgroup analysis showed that the correlation remained significant for every demographic and pregnancy outcome variable tested. That is, regardless of race or maternal demographics, PTBR can be predicted by LMPD with lower to higher risk associated with lower to higher PTBR. LMPD represents a covariate in predicting preterm birth rates. Conclusions: PTBR increases with increasing LMPD. The correlation was remarkably strong and persisted throughout all risk categories. Despite its biological implausibility we were unable to find an explanation for this correlation within the usual risk categories. LMPD was removed from the birth certificate in 2008. These data suggest that LMPD may be more important than was previously thought.
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    Memory and connection in maternal grief: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson, and the bereaved mother
    (2017-12) Provenzano, Retawnya M.; Schultz, Jane
    This essay explores a broad range of literary works that treat long-term grief as a natural response to the death of a child. Literary examples show gaps in the medical and social sciences’ considerations of grief, since these disciplines judge bereaved mothers’ grief as excessive or label it bereavement disorder. By contrast, authors who employ the ancient storyline of child death illuminate maternal grieving practices, which are commonly marked with a vigilance that expresses itself in wildness. Many of these authors treat grief as a forced pilgrimage, but question the possibility of returning to a previous state of psychological balance. Instead, the mothers in their stories and poems resist external pressure for closure and silence and favor lasting memory. Harriet Beecher Stowe, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Emily Dickinson, in letters to bereaved mother Susan Gilbert Dickinson and in the poetry included in these letters, represent maternal child loss as compelling a movement into a new state and emphasize the lasting pain and disruption of this loss.
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    A Synthesis of Coping Experiences After Infant Death
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2017-03) Stiffler, Deborah; Birch, Nicole; Campbell, Hailey; Cullen, Deborah; School of Nursing
    The purpose of this article was to synthesize qualitative research data that examine parental coping strategies following infant death. This qualitative synthesis found that parents who effectively cope with the death of their infant would continue the bond with the deceased child, have differences in the way they manage their emotions about the loss, and have intergenerational support in the form of family being present, acknowledging the death, performing immediate tasks, and providing helpful information. Nurses should be vigilant to ensure parents receive “memories” of their infant after an in-hospital death. Knowledge of the coping process can assist nurses and clinicians to better care and support parents following an infant death and, in turn, facilitate the healing process.