Motherhood: Female Perspectives and Experiences of Being a Parent with ASC

Little is known about the emotional pressures and practical management of daily challenges and, intra and interpersonal demands of raising a child as a parent with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Conditions. The present study utilised a qualitative approach to understand perceptions of females diagnosed on the autistic spectrum of ‘being a parent’. Eight semi-structured interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Benefits and challenges of being a parent were highlighted alongside population-specific skill and characteristics associated with strength and resilience, love, nurture, routine and sensory considerations. Findings identify the need for population-specific specialist parenting support, provide direction for professionals in clinical settings and expand the paucity of research in this area

The genesis and consequences of stress among midwifery students

This study investigated various sources of stress among junior and senior midwifery students in Iran. It also explored the effect of stress on the students’ performance and physical and mental health. Ninety junior and senior midwifery students participated in this survey. Data were collected using self-created questionnaires and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data showed that the most stressful activity for juniors was nursing care practice. Prenatal health care practice was identified as the second most common cause of stress in juniors. For seniors, nursing care practice and prenatal health care practice were equally stressful. The preceptor (mentor) as well as the clinical setting and staff have been identified as two major factors causing stress, somewhat more in juniors than in seniors. The most common physiological and behavioural demonstrations of stress in the students were palpitation, exacerbated asthma, fatigue, unusual behaviour and dizziness. It is evident that efforts need to be made to minimize the negative effect of stress on students by creating and establishing healthy learning environments

Effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on heavy menstrual bleeding: A placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial

Objective: A wide range of herbal plants have been reported to treat various gynecological problems of women. This studywas set out to investigate the effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in high school girls. Methods: Ninety-two young women who experienced HMB and met the inclusion criteria were recruited in this study. Participants were evaluated for six consecutive menstrual cycles. During 3 assessment cycles, their HMB was confirmed by Pictorial Blood Assessment Chart. They were then randomly allocated to two study groups to receive either ginger or placebo capsules. The participants filled in the same chart during three intervention cycles. Results: The level of menstrual blood loss dramatically declined during the three intervention cycles in ginger-receiving group. The decrease of blood loss in ginger-receiving group was significantly more remarkable than that of participants receiving placebo (p < 0.001). Minimum number of participants reported adverse effects. Conclusion: HMB is highly prevalent among young women. Considering the significance of appropriate and timely treatment and also the importance of prevention of unwanted consequences, ginger may be considered as an effective therapeutic option for HMB. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Comparison of the effect of ginger and zinc sulfate on primary dysmenorrhea: A placebo-controlled randomized trial

Primary dysmenorrhea is common among young women and results in their incapacitation; it can be accompanied by various symptoms that can disrupt their lives. The aim of this randomized trial was to compare the effect of ginger, zinc sulfate, and placebo on the severity of primary dysmenorrhea in young women. One hundred and fifty high school students were recruited. The participants were divided into three groups. The first group received ginger capsules, the second group received zinc sulfate capsules, and the third group received placebo capsules. All participants took the medications for four days, from the day before the commencement of menstruation to the third day of their menstrual bleeding. The severity of dysmenorrhea was assessed every 24 hours by the pain visual analog scale. The severity of pain was significantly different between, before, and after the intervention in both the ginger and the zinc sulfate groups (p < .001). Compared with the placebo receiving group, participants receiving ginger and zinc sulfate reported more alleviation of pain during the intervention (p < .05). Ginger and zinc sulfate had similar positive effects on the improvement of primary dysmenorrheal pain in young women

A Comparison of Sexual Outcomes in Primiparous Women Experiencing Vaginal and Caesarean Births

<b>Background and Objective:</b> We conducted this study to evaluate and compare postpartum sexual functioning after vaginal and caesarean births. <b> Materials and Methods:</b> This was a cross-sectional study that was carried out in postnatal health care in a hospital. A total of 50 primiprous women who had given birth 6-12 months ago and came to the hospital for postnatal care were asked to join the study. Forty of the women completed the entire questionnaire. Among these women, 20 delivered spontaneously with mediolateral episiotomy and 20 had elective caesarean section. Sexual function was evaluated by a validated, self-created questionnaire. A statistical evaluation was carried out by SPSS v.11. A two-part self-created validated questionnaire for data collection was administered regarding sexual function prior to pregnancy and 6-12 months postpartum. <b> Results:</b> The median time to restart intercourse in the normal vaginal delivery with episiotomy (NVD/epi) group was 40 days and in the caesarean section (C/S) group was 10 days postpartum. The most common problems in the NVD/epi group was decreased libido (80&#x0025;), sexual dissatisfaction (65&#x0025;), and vaginal looseness (55&#x0025;). In the C/S group, the most common problems were vaginal dryness (85&#x0025;), sexual dissatisfaction (60&#x0025;), and decreased libido (35&#x0025;). There were clinically significant differences between the two groups regarding sexual outcomes, but these differences were not statically significant. <b> Conclusion: </b> Postnatal sexual problems were very common after both NVD/epi and C/S. Because sexual problems are so prevalent during the postpartum period, clinicians should draw more attention to the women&#x2032;s sexual life and try to improve their quality of life after delivery

Improved multi‐model ensemble forecasts of Iran's precipitation and temperature using a hybrid dynamical‐statistical approach during fall and winter seasons

Skillful seasonal climate forecasts can support decision making in water resources management and agricultural planning. In arid and semi-arid regions, tailoring reliable forecasts has the potential to improve water management by using key hydroclimate variables months in advance. This article analyses and compares the performance of two common approaches (empirical and hybrid dynamical-statistical) in seasonal climate forecasting over a drought-prone area located in Southwest Asia including Iran. Empirical models are framed as a baseline skill that hybrid models need to outperform. Both approaches provide probabilistic forecasts of precipitation and temperature using canonical correlation analysis to provide forecasts at 0.25° resolution. Empirical models are developed based on the large-scale observed atmosphere–ocean patterns for forecasting using antecedent climate anomalies as predictors, while the hybrid approach makes use of model output statistics to correct systematic errors in dynamical climate model forecast outputs. Eight state-of-the-art dynamical models from the North American Multi-Model Ensemble project are analysed. Individual models with the highest goodness index are weighted to develop seven different hybrid dynamical-statistical Multi-model Ensembles. In this study, (October–December) and (January–February) are considered as target seasons which are the most important periods within the water year for water resource allocation to the agriculture sector. The results show that the hybrid approach has improved performance compared to the raw general circulation models and purely empirical models, and that the performance of the hybrid models is season-dependent. Seasonal forecasts of precipitation (temperature) have a higher skill in OND (JFM). In addition, in most cases, Multi-model Ensemble (MME) is more skillful than the empirical models and outperforms individual dynamical models. However, the best individual model might be as skillful as the MME given the target season and region of interest