Association of Maternity Care Deserts With Maternal and Pregnancy-Related Mortality.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the level of maternity care access and maternal and pregnancy-related mortality.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of county-level data in the United States from January 2018 to December 2021. Using the level of maternity care access, we categorized counties into desert, low access, moderate access, and full access.

Evaluation of Cesarean Delivery Risk by Physician Sex.

This study aimed to examine the association between physician sex, cesarean delivery, and neonatal complications.We analyzed the Consortium on Safe Labor database including 228,437 deliveries from 2002 to 2008. The study focused on singleton pregnancies with cephalic presentations, excluding cases with contraindications to vaginal delivery, elective cesarean deliveries, and nonobstetricians and gynecologists or maternal-fetal medicine physician management.

Association Between the Social Vulnerability Index and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.

Objective: To assess the association between the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes across U.S. counties and to quantify these racial disparities.

Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on the Incidence of No Prenatal Care.

This study aimed to examine the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the racial disparity in prenatal care utilization in the United States before and during the pandemic.This was a cross-sectional study using the National Vital Statistics Data from 2018 to 2022. Our focus was on low-risk individuals who delivered singleton pregnancies at term.

Reevaluating Associations between Prenatal Care Utilization and Current Trends in Preterm Birth.

Objective:  Studies have suggested an association between prenatal care (PNC) and preterm birth (PTB). We evaluated trends in PTB and association of PNC and PTB.

Study Design:  This was a retrospective cohort study of singleton, viable nonanomalous deliveries from 1991 to 2018.

Occipital Nerve Block Compared With Acetaminophen and Caffeine for Headache Treatment in Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of occipital nerve block compared with standard care , defined as acetaminophen with caffeine, for treatment of acute headache in pregnancy.

Methods: We conducted a single-center, unblinded, parallel, randomized controlled trial of pregnant patients with headache and pain score higher than 3 on the visual rating scale. Patients with secondary headache, preeclampsia, or allergy or contraindication to study medications were excluded.

All-Cause Mortality in Reproductive-Aged Females by State: An Analysis of the Effects of Abortion Legislation.

Objective: To estimate the association between state-level abortion legislation and all-cause mortality among all females of reproductive age and maternal, fetal, and infant mortality.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER (Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research) database. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between supportive, moderate, and restrictive state abortion regulations and all-cause mortality in reproductive-aged females.

Geographic disparities in peripartum cardiomyopathy outcomes.

Background: Cardiomyopathy causes more than a third of late postpartum pregnancy-related deaths in the United States, and racial disparities in outcomes among pregnant individuals with cardiomyopathy exist. Underlying community factors may contribute to disparities in peripartum cardiomyopathy outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the geographic distribution of and disparities in peripartum cardiomyopathy outcomes, hypothesizing that patients living in communities with higher social vulnerability may have worse outcomes.

Time Use of Youth during a Pandemic: Evidence from Mexico.

Studying how the pandemic affects the education and work of adolescents is a critical question with long lasting implications for well-being of the next generation, particularly in the developing world. The Covid-19 pandemic by mid-March 2020 had led to the closing of most educational institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the region has been one of the worst hit by the pandemic (Sanmarchi et al. 2021).

Intrapartum opioid analgesia and childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes among infants born preterm.

Background: There are concerns regarding neurobehavioral changes in infants exposed to parenteral opioids during labor; however, long-term neurodevelopment remains unstudied.

Objective: We aimed to examine the association between parenteral opioids used as labor analgesia and perinatal outcomes and childhood neurodevelopment until 2 years of age among infants born prematurely. We hypothesized that intrapartum exposure to parenteral opioids is associated with impaired neurodevelopment and adverse perinatal outcomes.

Prenatal Tobacco Exposure and Childhood Neurodevelopment among Infants Born Prematurely.

Objective: Nicotine is an established neuroteratogen, and prenatal tobacco exposure alters the structure of the developing nervous system. An association between prenatal tobacco exposure and impaired neurologic function is less well established. We examine the association between prenatal tobacco exposure and childhood neurodevelopment among infants born preterm.

Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction in a Postpartum Patient with Superimposed Preeclampsia and COVID-19.

Our understanding of COVID-19 in pregnant and postpartum women is rapidly evolving. We present a case from March 2020 of a 25-year-old G2P2002 whose delivery was complicated by preeclampsia with severe features who presented to the emergency department 9 days after cesarean delivery with chest tightness and dyspnea on exertion. On presentation she had severe hypertension, pulmonary edema, elevated brain natriuretic peptide, and high-sensitivity troponin-I, suggesting a diagnosis of hypertensive emergency leading to heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction resulting in pulmonary edema and abnormal cardiac screening tests.

Racial differences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival and treatment.

Objectives: To determine whether there are prehospital differences between blacks and whites experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and to ascertain which factors are responsible for any such differences.

Methods: Cohort study of 3869 adult patients (353 blacks and 3516 whites) in the Illinois Prehospital Database with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as a primary or secondary indication for emergency medical service (EMS) dispatch between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2004.

Results: Return of spontaneous circulation was lower for black patients (19.