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2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare
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2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 21008

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hideya Kodama

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Maternity Child Nursing, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Science, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita-shi 010-8543, Japan
Interests: lifelong developmental nursing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of today’s maternal healthcare and perinatal medicine is not merely ending pregnancy and parturition safely. The goal of fostering a healthy next generation is becoming more important than ever. This is why, in recent years, there has been an increasing interest in maternal mental health, nursing by exclusive breastfeeding and natural parenting styles worldwide. In addition, the epidemiological observation that an adverse intrauterine environment affects the psychophysiological development of infants by the programming effects and may lead to the future development of lifestyle-related diseases reaffirms the importance of maternal healthcare for the next generation.

This Special Issue seeks papers on the health science of pregnant women and children, new clinical approaches for perinatal and parental care, and epidemiological surveys concerning the life of the mother and children. We also welcome high-quality systematic reviews related to these matters. I would be very happy if this Special Issue serves as a trigger for considering more effective methods of maternal and child healthcare in the future.

Prof. Dr. Hideya Kodama
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • maternal healthcare
  • perinatal care
  • maternal physiology
  • maternal mental health
  • childcare environment
  • breastfeeding
  • parenting style
  • programming effects
  • development of infant
  • epidemiological survey for mother and children

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1083 KiB  
Article
Music Therapy in Preterm Infants Reduces Maternal Distress
by Susann Kobus, Marlis Diezel, Monia Vanessa Dewan, Britta Huening, Anne-Kathrin Dathe, Peter B. Marschik, Ursula Felderhoff-Mueser and Nora Bruns
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 731; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010731 - 30 Dec 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5283
Abstract
Preterm delivery is a stressful event for mothers, posing them at risk for post-traumatic stress reactions. This study examined the degree of depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress in mothers of preterm infants born before 32 gestational weeks depending on whether the infant received [...] Read more.
Preterm delivery is a stressful event for mothers, posing them at risk for post-traumatic stress reactions. This study examined the degree of depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress in mothers of preterm infants born before 32 gestational weeks depending on whether the infant received music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or not. We included 33 mothers of preterm infants enrolled in a previously described prospective randomized controlled trial, of whom 18 received music therapy (mean mothers’ age 34.1 ± 4.6 years) and 15 did not (mean mothers’ age 29.6 ± 4.2). The degree of depressive symptoms, anxiety and acute stress reactions of these mothers were measured by using the German version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) one week after birth (T1) and at infants’ hospital discharge (T2). 605 music therapy sessions with a mean duration of 24.2 ± 8.6 min (range 10 to 50 min) were conducted two times a week from the second week of life (T1) until discharge (T2) to the infants from the intervention group. The infants from the control group received standard medical care without music therapy. The mean total CES-D score decreased from T1 (mean 34.7, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 31.1–38.1) until T2 in all mothers (mean 16.3, 95% CI 12.6–20.1). Mothers whose infants received music therapy showed stronger declines of depressive and stress symptoms (with music therapy: CES-D mean difference of total score 25.7, 95% CI 20.0–31.3, IES-R mean difference of total score 1.7, 95% CI 0.9–2.5, IES-R mean difference of subcategory hyperarousal 10.2, 95% CI 6.2–14.3; without music therapy: CES-D mean difference of total score 9.5, 95% CI 3.8–15.3, IES-R mean difference of total score 0.1, 95% CI −1.0–1.2, IES-R mean difference of subcategory hyperarousal 1.6, 95% CI −4.7–7.9). Effect sizes were strong for CES-D, IES-R, and the hyperarousal subcategory, moderate for intrusion, and low for avoidance. These findings show that mothers of preterm infants are highly susceptible to supportive non-medical interventions such as music therapy to reduce psychological symptoms and distress during their infants’ NICU stay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare)
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9 pages, 1188 KiB  
Article
Impact of Physical Contact on Preterm Infants’ Vital Sign Response to Live Music Therapy
by Susann Kobus, Marlis Diezel, Monia Vanessa Dewan, Britta Huening, Anne-Kathrin Dathe, Ursula Felderhoff-Mueser and Nora Bruns
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9524; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159524 - 3 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2119
Abstract
Evidence that music therapy stabilises vital parameters in preterm infants is growing, but the optimal setting for therapy is still under investigation. Our study aimed to quantify the effect of physical contact during live music therapy in preterm infants born < 32 weeks’ [...] Read more.
Evidence that music therapy stabilises vital parameters in preterm infants is growing, but the optimal setting for therapy is still under investigation. Our study aimed to quantify the effect of physical contact during live music therapy in preterm infants born < 32 weeks’ gestational age (GA) on post-therapy vital sign values. Live music therapy was delivered twice-weekly until discharge from hospital to 40 stable infants < 32 weeks’ GA. Baseline and post-therapy heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and physical contact during each session were recorded. 159 sessions were performed with, and 444 sessions without, physical contact. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses based on directed acyclic graphs were performed. The mean GA was 28.6 ± 2.6 weeks, and 26 (65%) infants were male. Mean absolute values for heart and respiratory rates lowered during music therapy regardless of physical contact. The mean post-therapy SaO2 was higher compared to baseline values regardless of physical contact (mean differences −8.6 beats/min; −13.3 breaths/min and +2.0%). There were no clinically relevant changes in vital sign responses between therapy sessions, with or without physical contact, or adjusted post-therapy values for any of the studied vital signs. Physical contact caused better baseline and post-therapy vital sign values but did not enhance the vital sign response to music therapy. Thus, the effect of music therapy on preterm infants’ vital signs is independent of physical contact and parents’ presence during music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare)
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15 pages, 2487 KiB  
Article
Cognitive-Based Interventions Break Gender Stereotypes in Kindergarten Children
by Yi Chung and Hsin-Hui Huang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(24), 13052; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413052 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5034
Abstract
Despite the growing recognition of gender equality worldwide, plausible strategies that reduce young children’s gender stereotypes remain limited. Cognitive-based interventions have been widely used in school settings and have been suggested to play important roles in children’s gender stereotyping and in their processing [...] Read more.
Despite the growing recognition of gender equality worldwide, plausible strategies that reduce young children’s gender stereotypes remain limited. Cognitive-based interventions have been widely used in school settings and have been suggested to play important roles in children’s gender stereotyping and in their processing of counter-stereotypic information. We aimed to determine whether exposure to counter-stereotypical information could break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children. Fifty-four children (61–79 months old) from two public kindergarten classes in northern Taiwan participated in this study. One of the two classes was randomly selected as the experimental group (n = 28), and the other was the control group (n = 26). The experimental group consisted of a gender equality curriculum including script relationship training for two months, while the control group continued their regular curriculum. The picture classification task (PCT) was measured before and after the intervention to assess gender stereotypes. Before interventions, 87.50% of the children chose a gender stereotypic relationship, while 12.50% chose script/other relationships in PCT. After the interventions, the gender stereotypic relationship dropped to 73.22% in the experimental group. Children in the control group were more likely to maintain their gender stereotypic relationship choices in PCTs. Our findings suggest that cognitive-based interventions, such as a gender equality curriculum, have the potential to break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare)
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Review

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18 pages, 800 KiB  
Review
Exclusive Breastfeeding and Childhood Morbidity: A Narrative Review
by Saldana Hossain and Seema Mihrshahi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 14804; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214804 - 10 Nov 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4944
Abstract
Globally, diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years old. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in reducing the risk of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections are well documented. Optimal breastfeeding may potentially save [...] Read more.
Globally, diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years old. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in reducing the risk of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections are well documented. Optimal breastfeeding may potentially save the lives of about 800,000 children in low-income settings. Despite the evidence, around 63% of infants from birth to 6 months are not exclusively breastfed worldwide. We searched the literature published between 2010 and 2022 in Medline, Embase, and Scopus on the association between exclusive breastfeeding and infectious diseases. We selected and reviewed 70 relevant studies. Our findings expand and confirm the positive association between exclusive breastfeeding and reduced risk of a number of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and other infections in 60 out of 70 studies observed in both low- and high-income settings. Several studies analyzing exclusive breastfeeding duration reported that a longer exclusive breastfeeding duration is protective against many infectious diseases. This review also reported a lack of standardized definition for measuring exclusive breastfeeding in many studies. Overall, the results highlight the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in many studies and suggests reporting exclusive breastfeeding in future studies using a consistent definition to enable better monitoring of exclusive breastfeeding rates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare)
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Other

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17 pages, 1881 KiB  
Systematic Review
Food Parenting Practices and Feeding Styles and Their Relations with Weight Status in Children in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Luisa Pérez, Marcela Vizcarra, Sheryl O. Hughes and Maria A. Papaioannou
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2027; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042027 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2874
Abstract
While a growing body of literature looks at the associations between food parenting practices, and feeding styles, and child’s weight status in developed countries, little is known for less developed countries, in general, and the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, in [...] Read more.
While a growing body of literature looks at the associations between food parenting practices, and feeding styles, and child’s weight status in developed countries, little is known for less developed countries, in general, and the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, in particular. This study systemically reviews and synthesizes existing evidence on the associations between child caregivers’ food parenting practices and feeding styles and 2 to 12-year-old child weight status. Keywords were used to search in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Among the ten eligible articles, all of them reported significant associations between food parenting practices and feeding styles and child weight status. Existing studies have limitations, mainly related to cross-sectional convenience samples, which limit the generalization of the results. Additionally, small sample, heterogeneous feeding measures and weight related outcomes were other limitations. Future research is needed to understand caregiver–child interactions in the food situation and its link to child weight status in 2 to 12-year-old children in areas of LAC with diverse forms of malnutrition and contextual factors of countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition: Advances in Maternal and Child Healthcare)
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