Influenza-like illness among Hong Kong Chinese pregnant women

postprintWe assessed the self-reported prevalence of influenza-like illness (ILI) during pregnancy in two samples of 546 and 2764 new mothers who were pregnant during the 2009–10 and 2010–11 peak influenza seasons. During pregnancy, 11% of participants experienced an ILI. Cough, sore throat and nasal congestion were the most common reported symptoms. Only 4.6% and 9% of the participants in sample 1 and 2 had an underlying chronic illness, respectively, and 3.3% of mothers in both groups were smokers. Conducting regular surveillance on influenza prevalence during pregnancy is essential to evaluate the costs and benefits of influenza vaccination programmes

A comprehensive review of influenza and influenza vaccination during pregnancy

Influenza is a highly infectious respiratory disease that can impose significant health risks leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Receiving influenza vaccination is the most important and effective means of preventing the infection and its related complications. During pregnancy, physiological changes increase susceptibility to influenza infection, and women contracting infectious diseases during pregnancy are more likely to have adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Influenza vaccination during pregnancy is safe for both pregnant women and their fetus, and pregnant women are now the highest priority group for vaccination. Despite the accumulated evidence of the benefits and safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy, uptake among pregnant women remains suboptimal. Concerns about the vaccine's safety persist, and the fear of birth defects remains the predominant barrier to vaccination. Targeted interventions have been shown effective in enhancing influenza vaccination uptake among pregnant women. Reluctance to be vaccinated should be addressed by offering accurate information to counteract the misperceptions about the risk of influenza infection during pregnancy as well as to educate mothers about the safety and benefits of influenza vaccination. High-quality randomized controlled trials are recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of individual or multifaceted approaches to increase vaccine uptake.postprin

Perceptions of Hong Kong Chinese women toward influenza vaccination during pregnancy

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Paediatric preventative health care use by immigrants in Hong Kong: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Over 14,000 children arrived in Hong Kong from Mainland China last year to join their recently immigrated parents. The aims of this pilot study were to explore immigrant parents' knowledge and perceptions of the accessibility of paediatric preventative health care services. METHOD: A descriptive survey was administered to parents. Participants (N=27) were grouped by their child's point of entry into the health care system. RESULTS: Most participants lacked knowledge about well-child care and health education. Participants whose children lived in Hong Kong for longer than one year used services for well-child care significantly more than those with shorter stays (χ2=4.50; p=0.03). The major barrier in accessing services was lack of knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Although a preliminary study, the results suggest a population-based study is needed because lack of familiarity with available services was a reoccurring finding. A more comprehensive assessment of the learning needs of this population is needed so effective ways of familiarizing new immigrants and tracking these children can be developed.published_or_final_versio

Brief education to increase uptake of influenza vaccine among pregnant women: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

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Factors contributing to early breast-feeding cessation among Chinese mothers: An exploratory study

Background although more than 85% of all new mothers in Hong Kong now initiate breast feeding, few exclusively breast feed and the overall duration is short. More than one-third stop breast feeding within the first month post partum. Objective to explore the breast-feeding experiences of Hong Kong Chinese mothers who prematurely discontinue breast feeding and to identify contributing factors that might be remediated to help women breast feed longer. Design qualitative exploratory study. Methods in-depth, exploratory interviews were carried out with 24 new mothers who stopped breast feeding within one month after birth, and content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings five core themes emerged from the data: unnatural expectations, left to figure it out, uncertainty, unfulfilling experiences, and guilt versus relief. Because breast feeding is ‘natural’ participants expected that it would come naturally and thus be easy. When breast feeding did not happen naturally, however, midwives were too busy to provide breast-feeding support and mothers were left to figure it out on their own. Participants also reported difficulty in gauging whether the infant was getting adequate nutrition from their breastmilk. Few participants had positive breast-feeding experiences; while the decision to stop breast feeding caused guilt for most participants, others expressed relief at stopping breast feeding. Key conclusions and implications for practice greater postnatal breast-feeding support, both in the hospital and after the mother returns home, would likely increase the mother׳s confidence and enhance her mothering experience. Further antenatal and postnatal education on the realistic breast-feeding expectations and the amount of breastmilk required by babies is also important. More research is needed to test professional and peer support breast-feeding interventions to provide guidance to policy makers on the most effective breast-feeding support strategies.postprin

Association between Intrapartum Interventions and Breastfeeding Duration

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Factors associated with breastfeeding duration and exclusivity in mothers returning to paid employment postpartum

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Author’s reply re: Professional breastfeeding support for first-time mothers: a multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial

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Group versus individual professional antenatal breastfeeding education for extending breastfeeding duration and exclusivity

Although breastfeeding initiation rates have increased substantially in many developed countries over the past several decades, breastfeeding duration and exclusivity remain suboptimal. In the antenatal period, both group and individual education interventions have been implemented to improve breastfeeding. The purpose of this review was to compare the effectiveness of group and individual antenatal professional education on breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using Medline (1946-June 2014), PubMed (1883-June 2014), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1947-June 2014), EMBASE (1947-June 2014), British Nursing Index (1994-June 2014), Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library. Included studies were limited to health care professional-conducted education delivered to pregnant women only. Only studies reporting breastfeeding duration or exclusivity were included. Nineteen studies were included, of which 13 evaluated antenatal group education, 5 evaluated individual antenatal education, and 1 evaluated both a group and an individual antenatal education. When compared with standard care, 4 out of 12 studies supported the effectiveness of antenatal group education on breastfeeding duration or exclusivity, whereas 4 out of 6 studies supported the effectiveness of antenatal individual education. Two studies compared antenatal group education with peer-led education and neither study showed a significant difference in breastfeeding outcomes. The methodological heterogeneity and the small number of high quality studies limited our ability to draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of either mode of antenatal education.postprin