Journal of Midwifery & Reproductive health
Volume:5 Issue: 2, Apr 2017

Recent studies show that spirituality and spiritual intelligence in pregnant women is associated with their mental reactions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Spiritual counseling on pregnant women's spiritual intelligence and common mental reactions during pregnancy.
In this quasi-experimental study 80 pregnant women were selected via randomly sampling among pregnant women that had been screened and then randomly assigned into two intervention (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. The intervention group were divided into four groups of ten persons and then got spiritual counselingthrough 8 sessions and control group got only routine Care. Data collected by using of demographic questionnaire, DASS-21 questionnaire, King spiritual intelligence scale. Both groups were followed Immediately after and two months later.
Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in mean score of depression, anxiety, stress, spiritual intelligence and its components scores between two groups (p>0.05). Immediately after and two month later, The results showed a significant difference between the two groups on mean score of depression , anxiety, stress, Spiritual intelligence and its components (p0.05). The mean score of spiritual intelligence and its components significantly increased over time (before, immediately after and two month later), in the intervention group (p Spiritual counseling efficient on enhancing of Spiritual intelligence and controlling the depression, anxiety and stress in pregnant women.

The purpose of the screening of fetal anomalies in pregnancy is empowering women to make an informed choice and reduce uncertainty in decision making. On the other hand, screening may cause worry and anxiety in pregnant women. This study was conducted with aim to determine the relationship between informed choice in pregnant women about screening of fetal anomalies with worry and anxiety.
This cross sectional study was conducted on 160 pregnant women who referred to the health care centers of Mashhad in 2014. Data collection tool was the questionnaire of individual-pregnancy information, Informed choice, Cambridge worry and Spielberger anxiety inventory. Data was analyzed using statistical software SPSS (version 16) and Chi-square test, Spearman correlation coefficient and logistic regression. P
From total of 160 pregnant women participating in the study, 85.6% (n=137) had an informed choice about screening tests, and 14.4% (n=23) had uninformed choice. . Based on the logistic regression analysis, no statistically significant relationship was observed between worry (P=0.44), state (P=0.43) and trait (P=0.92) anxiety with informed choice of pregnant women.
The process of informed choice is a very important part of screening of fetal anomalies in pregnancy; therefore practitioners and midwives must ensure that pregnant women had informed choice for these tests, so that their choose had the highest level of satisfaction and the lowest amount of anxiety.

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) is among the most common problems in pregnant women. As explained in guidelines, combination of non-drug treatments, including nutritional modifications, lifestyle changes, and use of alternative medicine for the treatment of NVP has been less highlighted. The present study was performed with the aim of determining the effect of an educational intervention (based on the Ottawa nutritional guideline) on health-related quality of life in pregnant women with NVP.
This single-blind clinical trial was performed on 60 pregnant women, referred to Daneshamouz and Ahmadi health centers in Mashhad, Iran in 2015. The intervention group received two 60-min training sessions based on the Ottawa nutritional guideline, while the control group received routine care. The data collection tools included the subject selection form, demographic and midwifery information form, health-related quality of life for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVPQOL) questionnaire, and the Ottawa guideline checklist. For data analysis, Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney test, independent t-test, paired t-test, and ANOVA were performed, using SPSS version 16. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The demographic characteristics of the subjects such as education, occupational status, age, gestational age, and body mass index were homogenous in the two groups. The mean NVPQOL score was significantly different between the intervention and control groups after the study (P Based on the findings, training based on the Ottawa nutritional guideline could improve health-related quality of life in women with NVP; therefore, this type of training is recommended as an effective method.

Communication is a fundamental human need. Medical students and healthcare professionals must be attuned to the needs of patients using effective communication skills. With regards to medical training, currently the focus is on theoretical matters and communication skills are taken for granted. This problem has caused miscommunication with patients referred to teaching hospitals. We conducted this study to assess communication skills of midwives from the perspective of parturient women.
In this descriptive study, we evaluated 50 midwives working in maternity wards of Ghaem, Imam Reza, Omolbanin, and Hasheminejad hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. Three parturient women were selected per one midwife in a maternity ward. The parturient women participating in this study were in labor, delivery, admission or postpartum stages and completed the Interpersonal Communication Skills inventory by interview. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson product-moment correlation were performed, using SPSS 16.
The mean scores of communication behaviors of midwives with parturient in delivery, admission, and postpartum stages were 92.61±10.81, 93.31±10.59, and 94.19±8.26, respectively. Between the previous delivery of parturient, with communication behavior of midwives in the stage of admission or post-partum (P=0.015) and satisfaction of pregnancy with communication behavior of midwife in labor stage (P From the perspective of parturient women, the midwives’ communication was average. Today, the midwives’ communication skills is of optimal importance in health system development plan. Thus, implementing training programs on communication skills while utilizing modern methods and emphasizing on specific educational needs of midwives, as well as continuing to monitor their communication behaviors are recommended.

Qualitative perspectives on Reproductive Health (RH) facilities, Adolescent Friendly Health Services (AFHS) still remain unexplored among Indian adolescents. The aim of our study was to explore the perceptions and awareness about reproductive health and its facilities among adolescents in two districts in India.
A qualitative study design using FGD was adopted. Stratified purposeful sampling was done to select participant (102 boys and 95 girls-aged 15-19 years) from two Indian districts in a series of 16 FGD. For data collection, a pre-tested FGD guide was used. All tape-recorded data was fully transcribed and thematic analysis using inductive coding was done.
A set of four themes, 12 subthemes, 52 open codes and 12 categories was developed. Proximity to parents to discuss adolescent changes in boys was least as compared to girls. They were totally unaware of state sponsored Reproductive health services. Girls had better access to health care schemes provided by the government.
Utilization of RH services by adolescents in two districts was poor. It would be advisable to carry out more research addressing the concerns of adolescent especially boys related to RH.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The awareness of HIV preventive measures and its transmission routes have an important role in controlling the HIV infection in the society. Regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the awareness and attitudes of the high school students regarding HIV/AIDS infection in Shiraz, Iran, in 2015.
This cross‐sectional study was conducted on 102 students, selected form six high schools. The students and schools were selected using the random sampling technique. The data were collected using a standard researcher-made questionnaire. The data analysis was performed using the Chi-square test through SPSS version 18.
As the results of the present study indicated, 55% of the participants were male, and the majority of them were about 17-18 years old. The participants’ general knowledge about HIV was found to be at moderate level. However, they had insufficient awareness of the associated transmission routes and major causes of this disease. The students majoring in biological sciences were more aware of this issue than other students. In addition, the majority of the students had highly positive attitudes towards the AIDS patients and confirmed their right to live and use all facilities. However, a large proportion of the students denied to share a location or personal items with these patients.
According to the findings of this study, almost all students had high level of general information about HIV. Nonetheless, given the students’ low awareness and knowledge levels about the HIV transmission routes, the administration of the related educational programs is an urgent need to correct the students’ misconceptions about the HIV patients and improve their knowledge in this regard.

One of the most important events in human life is marriage. Sexual satisfaction is one of the effective factors in a successful marriage. Accordingly, sexual health education is necessary. Sex education should be in line with the cultural, religious, and social infrastructures of the society. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of sex education with and without religious teachings on sexual performance of married women.
This clinical trial with a pretest-posttest design was performed in four health centers that were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling, in 2013. A total of 64 women were chosen with regard to the inclusion criteria, such as formal marriage and first marriage, age of marriage ≥ 1, married life with husband, monogamous marriage, and participating in training sessions (sexual health education and sexual health based on religious teachings) that were held for six weeks. Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and a demographic characteristics form were used to collect the data. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient in SPSS, version 16.
In the intervention group, the mean score of Female Sexual Function Index was significantly different before and after the training program (P=0.03). The subgroups of sexual desire, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction in the intervention group and subgroups of arousal and sexual satisfaction in the control group were significantly different after the intervention (P Considering the religious culture of Iran, sex education based on religious teachings can enhance sexual performance.

Various uterine disorders lead to infertility in women of reproductive ages. This study was performed to describe common uterine causes of infertility and sonographic evaluation of them for midwives.
To study the literatures, manuscripts published at “PubMed”, “Elsevier”, “Google Scholar”, “SID” and original text books, between 1985 and 2015, were carefully reviewed, using following keywords: infertility, uterus, ultrasound scan, transvaginalsonography, endometrial polyp, fibroma, leiomyoma, endometrial hyperplasia, intrauterine adhesion, Asherman’s syndrome, uterine synechiae, adenomyosis, congenital uterine anomalies, congenital uterine malformations.Several high-quality 2D/3D sonograms were used to illustrate uterine disorders which cause female infertility.
Total numbers of approximately 180 manuscripts were assessed. Of these, 44 articles were more related to our topic and were studied as suitable references. In addition, 11 published books on ultrasonography and infertility were evaluated to provide more precise knowledge on mentioned areas. As published at literatures,ultrasonography has a crucial role in the investigation and differentiation of uterine disorders inwomen with infertility. But, the diagnosis depends on the day of menstruation, clinical presentations and the suspected uterine disorder. In this review, we provided key notes about proper timing of the ultrasound examination.
Ultrasonography is the first step imaging modality in the investigation of female infertility and provides information for detecting uterine disorders. However, accurate diagnosis depends on the “time of evaluation”.Therefore, every midwife needs to learn about the “optimum timing” for ultrasound evaluation based on each patient.

Scar endometriosis is a rare form of extra-pelvic endometriosis that can occur after surgery involving the uterus. Direct mechanical implantation seems to be the most conceivable theory for scar endometriosis. Patient usually presents with lump and pain at surgical site. Often the diagnosis of endometriosis is not suggested until histology has been performed. We hereby present a case of scar endometriosis diagnosed preoperatively by fine-needle aspiration cytology. Scar endometriosis is a rare cause of painful scar; therefore, high index of suspicion is suggested in clinching the diagnosis. The recommended treatment is wide surgical excision with at least 1 cm margin on all sides. While performing lower segment caesarean section some preventive measures should be taken to prevent its occurrence. Histopathological examination is mandatory, as there is rare possibility of malignant transformation. Follow-up is advisable to diagnose recurrence.