The Clinical Application and Prospect of Smart Prenatal Care and Postpartum Recovery

Scientific and technological advancement has increased the requirement for modern medical systems, leading to smartphone-based intelligent prenatal care and postpartum recovery. This kind of prenatal care and postpartum recovery including a remote monitoring system for fetal heart monitoring, blood glucose, and weight overcomes the restrictions of time and space and provides all-round, convenient, rapid, and accurate services to the medical systems, doctors, and pregnant women. This paper reviews the current research on intelligent medical services for pregnant women, particularly for prenatal care and postpartum recovery.

Assessing physical fitness during pregnancy: validity and reliability of fitness tests, and relationship with maternal and neonatal health-related outcomes. A systematic review

Background: Physical fitness (PF) is a powerful marker of health throughout the lifespan. In pregnant women, higher PF is associated with better maternal and fetal health, better delivery outcomes and earlier postpartum recovery. The assessment of PF during pregnancy requires special considerations to preserve fetal and maternal health; thus, providing a compilation of the most frequently used fitness tests, and assessing their validity, reliability, and association with maternal and neonatal health-related outcomes is of scientific and clinical interest. Objectives: To systematically review studies evaluating one or more components of PF in pregnant women, to answer two research questions: 1) What fitness tests have been previously employed in pregnant women? and 2) What is the validity and reliability of these tests and their relationship with health-related outcomes? Data Sources: PubMed and Web of Science. Methods: Two independent reviewers systematically examined the articles in each database. The information from the included articles was summarized by a single researcher. Results: A total of 149 articles containing a sum of 191 fitness tests were included. Among the 191 fitness tests, 99 (i.e.,52%) assessed cardiorespiratory fitness through 75 different protocols, 28 (15%) assessed muscular fitness through 16 different protocols, 14 (7%) assessed flexibility through 13 different protocols, 45 (24%) assessed balance through 40 different protocols, 2 assessed speed with the same protocol and 3 were multidimensional tests using one protocol. A total of 19 articles with 23 tests (13%) assessed either validity (n=4), reliability (n=6), or the relationship of PF with health-related outcomes (n=16). Conclusion: PF during pregnancy has been assessed through a wide variety of protocols, mostly lacking validity and reliability data.

Traditional food taboos and practices during pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and infant care of Zulu women in northern KwaZulu-Natal

Background Traditional practices and beliefs influence and support the behavior of women during pregnancy and childbirth in different parts of the world. Not much research has been conducted to examine whether and how cultural traditions continue to shape maternity experiences of Zulu women. The aim of this study is to establish the extent at which women in certain rural communities adhere to traditional food taboos and practices during pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and infants feeding, in comparison to what is recommended by health care workers. Methods A survey was conducted in the rural northern KwaZulu-Natal between 2017 and 2020. A total of 140 women between the ages of 18 and 90 years were interviewed and they were chosen purposively based on their experiences in pregnancy, postpartum recovery, infant care, and their willingness to share the knowledge. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Most (64%) of the participants said that they adhered to these cultural food taboos and practices. The most common foods avoided were certain fruits [mango, naartjie, orange, papaya, and peach], butternut, eggs, sweets (sugar, commercial juice, sweet food, and honey), chili, ice, and alcohol. The most recommended foods during pregnancy were leafy vegetables, fruits (except the avoided ones), liver, and fish. For postpartum recovery, women mostly consumed soft porridge, all fruits and vegetables, beetroot, and tea. Food not allowed for children younger than 2 years included meat, sugar and sweets, and chewable foods. Conclusion Differences on food taboos and practices between participants who received formal education and those who did not received it were insignificant. The beliefs about the detrimental effects of some foods were not backed up by scientific research. Restriction of some orange/yellow colored fruits during pregnancy that are rich in vitamin A and/or C may affect daily requirements of these micronutrients, and the foods recommended during pregnancy and postpartum period would not provide all the essential nutrients required for successful pregnancy. However, some of the food taboos would protect women from unhealthy eating. Our findings provide a basis for developing culturally appropriate nutritional mediation programs for Zulu women with a view to provide effective nutritional counseling.