The effect of mindfulness as the psychological intervention on perceived stress among breastfeeding mothers with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) babies

Introduction: High cortisol level during pregnancy due to psychological stress could cause Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) towards baby which could affect the baby’s neurodevelopment and mental health. However, the epigenetic of the IUGR baby can be altered through breastfeeding and bonding between the mother and baby. Mindfulness intervention should be given to reduce the mother’s stress as mothers need to be supported for their children to be optimally breastfed. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness as a psychological intervention to reduce the level of perceived stress among breastfeeding mothers. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of mindfulness on perceived stress with measurement in baseline, pre-test, and post-test on 23 pregnant women with diagnosis of late-onset IUGR babies at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SASMEC @IIUM. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was measured during antenatal period as the baseline and after confinement as the pre-test. Later, a counselling session with mindfulness therapy as the psychological intervention was conducted, followed by another two follow up sessions with intervals of two to three weeks. PSS was measured again after the third counselling session as the post-test. Data collected was then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27. Results: Based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), there is no significant reduction in perceived stress following the psychological intervention with the mean score for pre-test (M=17.3, SD=4.9) and post-test (M=15.1, SD=5.8), (p<0.05) but still there is slight reduction as compared to the baseline (M=15.9, SD=4.6). Conclusion: Mindfulness can be considered as a coping technique to reduce the perceived stress among the breastfeeding mothers and consequently may improve the condition of the IUGR babies

Our experience in frozen-thaw embryo transfer cycles: The impact of different post-thaw vitrified embryo culture period.

Vitrification technique has shown great promise for human embryo cryopreservation due to its consistent cryosurvival. The selection of medium and period of post-thawed culture for embryos survival depends on IVF laboratories practice in order to achieve successful pregnancies. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of post-thawed vitrified embryo in different culture period on the outcome of frozen-thaw embryo transfer (FET) cycles. A total of 28 frozen embryo transfer (FET) cases were conducted at IIUM Fertility Centre, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. The frozen-thaw vitrified embryos were divided into two groups: short culture (<5 hours) and long culture (overnight culture). Eight pregnancies achieved in long culture whereas no pregnancies occurred in short culture. Out of the pregnancies, one had triplet, two twins and others are single babies. As for embryo grade, there is no difference on the clinical outcome. Our results showed that long culture for post-thawed vitrified embryos is more suitable in achieving successful clinical pregnancies

Semen antioxidant study in male patients at East Coast Malaysia

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is believed to be one of the factors that cause male infertility. Antioxidants in the seminal plasma plays important role in protecting sperm from ROS. The purpose of this study is to determine the antioxidants level in semen sample in male patients without antioxidant treatment at IIUM Fertility Centre, Malaysia. A total of 43 semen samples were taken and seminal fluid analysis (SFA) test was performed according to WHO 1999 guideline. Patients were 234 divided into two groups; normozoospermia and oligozoospermia. Semen samples were then stored in liquid nitrogen at 196 ?C using standard preservation technique. The samples were thawed and centrifuged to separate the seminal plasma and the sperm. The antioxidant levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin E in seminal plasma were measured using the spectrophotometer. Descriptive statistic was done for SFA to summarize the result of sperm parameters and antioxidant levels. It is shown in this study that the level of antioxidants, both Vitamin E and Vitamin C, are higher in the normozoospermia samples compared to the oligozoospermia samples (p<0.05). There is a positive correlation between the sperm concentration and the level of antioxidants

A preliminary study of the psychological differences in infertile couples and their relation to the coping styles

Background: Studies from Western countries have observed that couples undergoing infertility treatment suffer various physical and psychological difficulties at a higher frequency than the comparable general population. These relate to treatment challenges and other psychosocial stressors, often influenced by coping style, personality factors and available support systems. There is paucity of studies in non-Western populations. Objective: The aim of this pilot investigation was to evaluate characteristics and gender differences in perceived psychological difficulties reported by infertile Malaysian couples. In particular, depression, anxiety and stress, along with correlated coping styles, were examined between spouses. Methods: Demographic information, including age, ethnicity and duration and causes of infertility, were collected from participants treated within a fertility clinic. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS) were completed to measure psychological distress and coping styles. Results: Depression, anxiety and stress-related difficulties were reported at significantly higher frequency by wives than husbands (pb0.05). There were no significant differences in coping styles between wives and husbands. However, emotional-oriented coping style was associated with significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress (pb0.05) within the overall sample with odds ratios of 2.5, 3.0 and 1.5, respectively. Conclusion: The study confirms that, as with Western subjects, Malaysian infertile couples demonstrate the vulnerability to psychological distress that occurs more frequently among wives than husbands. As anticipated, emotional coping style was associated with greater distress in both genders

Quality of life among infertile individuals in Malaysia: How do we fair against other Asian countries?

Infertility is defined as failure to conceive following 12- months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Infertility problems has been shown to reduce quality of life and can affect a person’s overall health and wellbeing. The Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL) questionnaire has been translated into Malay and has been showed to have good properties with consistency in validity and reliability. This is the first study conducted in Malaysia and aims to measure the QoL among infertile individuals and to compare with other Asian countries