1/2. Prematurity and adult minor illness.The long term impact of being born premature has received limited scientific investigation. Studies that have been carried out, focus on outcomes in childhood, with very few considering the impact on adult physical health. Three case studies are presented here, investigating differences in adult minor illness and psychological variables between adult participants born preterm, fullterm but small and fullterm with normal birthweight. This is a retrospective design using questionnaires and checklist to gather relevant information. Minor illness symptoms, daily hassles, anxiety, depression and general self-efficacy were measured. The participant born preterm scored higher on all measures. Data were applied to the Equilibrium Model for Minor Illness. Being born early appears to have a greater impact on later adult outcomes measured than being born fullterm but small or fullterm but of normal weight. In this article the authors reflect upon possible explanations for the different outcomes of each of the participants within the foetal origins of disease theory.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/2. Factors predisposing to difficult labor in primiparas.Why do some women have difficult labor whereas other women have relatively easy labor? A study of possible predisposing factors was conducted in 398 and 383 primiparas admitted for uncomplicated spontaneous labor at two hospitals. Psychosocial factors, notably anxiety about childbirth, and physical factors, especially maternal height and body mass index, were measured before the onset of labor. Difficult labor was defined in primiparas admitted to the hospital for spontaneous uncomplicated labor as (1) prolonged labor that was longer than 15 hours from admission until full dilation with vaginal delivery or (2) cesarean section. anxiety about childbirth as self-reported before the onset of labor did not predispose to difficult labor at either hospital. Short height and heavy body mass index predisposed to difficult labor. Further work is needed to elucidate psychosocial factors predisposing to difficult labor.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |