The proportion of infants in the United States who are breastfed at 1 year remains well below the Healthy People 2030 target. The health implications of suboptimal breastfeeding durations are significant, including increased risk of childhood leukemia and maternal Type 2 diabetes. Prenatal breastfeeding education provides an opportunity to improve…

In sub-Saharan African countries, teenage pregnancy received less attention and weak policy responses, and the pooled prevalence of teenage pregnancy is not yet studied. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence and determinants of teenage pregnancy in sub-Saharan African countries. A total weighted sample of 96,185 teenage…

Women seeking higher education frequently do so during peak childbearing years and women with higher levels of education are more likely to postpone motherhood until a later age. Fertility rate, defined as the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime, has decreased globally. The decrease in birthrate has been partially…

Maintaining sound reproductive health is crucial for achieving and sustaining optimal overall well-being. Reproductive health encompasses various physical, emotional, and social factors that significantly impact an individual's quality of life. The present study used a descriptive-correlational research design to determine and explore the…

In 2020, a professor of gender, sexuality, and feminist studies at Middlebury College in the United States invited me as a visiting scholar-artist to help students stage the docudrama "Jane: Abortion and the Underground." The mission: to "both" rethink normative constructs of gender, sexuality, and abortion "and also"…

Fetal androgen exposure may be associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We studied 1777 mother-child pairs in the prospective Odense Child Cohort. Prenatal androgen exposure was assessed by maternal 3rd trimester testosterone concentrations, maternal polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and 3 months offspring anogenital distance. ASD traits…

This study focuses on how self-selecting Muslim women navigated Irish maternity services and uncovers ways in which their care was shaped by often unconscious but nonetheless harmful discriminatory policies and practices. We share examples of overt racism, negative attitudes and a failure to support often basic cultural needs. Some healthcare…

The image of dancing into the spotlight alludes to glamor, which clouds the artists' back-breaking work and practice. Meanwhile, there is scant research on the lived experiences of professional female dancers. To address this gap, this study explores the lived experiences of eight Vietnamese professional female dancers who are married with…

This longitudinal study examined the development of mother-infant objective and reported sleep quality and duration in solo-mother families (i.e., mothers who decided to parent alone) in comparison to two-parent families. We recruited 134 solo mothers and 161 married mothers during pregnancy, most representing the middle to upper socioeconomic…

Objective: To determine whether university students are aware of the sexual health services offered by the student health center. Participants: 522 undergraduate students at a southeast public university. Methods: Students were given a list of 19 sexual health services and tests and were instructed that for each one to check "offered,"…

In 2019, Native youth had the highest rate of teen pregnancy of all racial/ethnic groups. "Respecting the Circle of Life" (RCL) is one of the first evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs for Native teens and there is interest in replicating the program across tribal communities. To inform replication, it is important to…

We provide experimental evidence on the intergenerational impacts of secondary education subsidies in a low-income context, leveraging a randomized controlled trial and 15-year longitudinal follow-up. For young women, receiving a scholarship for secondary school delays childbearing and marriage, and reduces unwanted pregnancies. Female scholarship…

Most studies of sex education center on local Anglo-Euro-American contexts, tracing the origin of sex education to a coordinated response to the spread of venereal diseases. These neglect the circumstances in which sex education developed in the developing world between the 1950s and 1980s: a growing collective anxiety about rising birth rates…

Nursing students participating in labor support training need to learn core clinical skills to assess the delivery process to reduce the risk and labor pain of pregnant women. We proposed an approach to integrate scenario game-based learning with the experiential learning strategy to facilitate nursing students' learning performance and six core…

This report analyzes the parental leave policies of secondary Catholic schools across the United States. Current research suggests Catholic schools lack the ability to provide parental leave, which aligns with the methods and length recommended by various organizations, including the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and…