Despite growing interest in maternal oral health, research aimed at this population is scant. To date, no qualitative studies of adolescent maternal oral health exist. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive, exploratory, concurrent, mixed-methods study was to explore oral health status, beliefs, and practices, and pregnancy and parenting outcomes in this population by triangulating both quantitative and qualitative data. A non-probability, convenience sample of 46 pregnant and parenting adolescents was recruited. Five questionnaires were administered and visual oral examinations were conducted. Twenty-four of these 46 participants also participated in the qualitative component of the study. Adolescents in this study were both pregnant (n = 20; 43.5%) and parenting (n = 26; 56.5%), and primarily of Hispanic decent (n = 38; 83%). Of the 20 adolescents who were pregnant, four had been told by a nurse or physician that they had a pregnancy complication(s). Among the parenting adolescents, the most common past pregnancy complications were self-reported as prematurity (n = 6; 35%) and high blood pressure (n = 3; 18%). Thirty-three (72%) participants reported ever having dental insurance. While 16 (35%) participants had seen a dentist in the past 6 months, another 15 (33%) did not recall their last dental visit. One adolescent reported never having been to a dentist. Associations among visual oral health status and selected contextual variables were non-significant, which may be attributed to the small sample size. However, moderate significant correlations were found between social connectedness and oral-health-related quality of life, as well as between visual oral health status and measures of self-reported dental health. For the qualitative component, six themes related to oral health value and well-being, oral health knowledge, practices, myths, and barriers to accessing oral health services emerged. Triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative data did not produce statistical significance; however, discrepancies were found between the overall objective, visual oral health status, and the subjective perception of oral health status, which supports the overall findings. Future research should focus on larger studies to further explore associations between social connectedness, oral-health-related quality of life, and objective and subjective measures of oral health status and behaviors. / text

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This study was conducted to determine whether or not a significant difference exists in pregnant women among those receiving therapeutic touch, mock therapeutic touch, or no touch on measurements of anxiety and well-being. Thirty third trimester primigravida subjects were tested pre- and postintervention using the State-Anxiety Inventory and a Well-Being Visual Analog; heart and respiratory rates were monitored before, during, and after the treatment. No significant differences were found using analysis of covariance with the pre-test scores as the covariate. The findings indicate that therapeutic touch may not be useful in reducing state anxiety or enhancing subjective well-being in pregnancy. Study limitations include a small sample size, use of an instrument without established reliability and validity, and a study environment that may have increased anxiety.

Genetic counseling for women with advanced maternal age is well established medical standard of care. However, only one study has yet been done to test the validity of that policy. Records of 283 patients referred for genetic counseling with advanced maternal age as a primary indication were examined. Of these, 57.6% had at least one additional indication. This value did differ significantly from Rubin's data which reported a 43.3% rate (X2 = 13.01, p > 0.001). The additional indications were broken down according to McKusick's system, and a statistical difference between my and Rubin's data was found in the autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, potential teratogenic exposure and miscellaneous categories. There was no significant statistical difference between my and Rubin's data in the X-linked, chromosomal anomalies and multifactorial groups. These data underscore the need for physicians to refer patients with advanced maternal age for genetic counseling, and provides a scientific basis for doing so.