The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship- between prenatal weight gain relative to initial weight and change in smoking habits relative to prepregnancy smoking habits on infant birth weight. The convenience sample was 100 women who had been prenatal clients at a clinic for low income women and who delivered term infants during a one year period. Women were selected who had term deliveries and were without medical problems during the pregnancy.Prepregnancy weight-for-height was determined using the 1959 Metropolitan Life Insurance Table. Weight gain throughout the pregnancy was charted on the appropriate graph. Changes in smoking habits during the pregnancy were evaluated verbally. Roy's Adaptation Model was the conceptual framework for this study. The physiological mode of this model depicts people as individuals who are constantly adapting to a changing environment. Procedures for the protection of human subjects were followed.The first research question illustrated that women who gained adequate weight and reduced or quit smoking had infants with higher birth weights. The second research question showed that, overall, women who quit or reduced the amount smoked early in pregnancy had infants with higher birth weights than women who quit or reduced later in pregnancy or-who did not change smoking habits. The third research question determined that nonsmokers had infants with higher birth weights than smokers.Women who smoke will have infants with lower birth weights than those that do not smoke. Women with inadequate weight gains during pregnancy are more likely to have infants: with lower birth weights than women with adequate weight gains. Health care providers must be able to relay, the risks of inadequate weight gain and smoking to pregnant women. / School of Nursing

Thesis (M.P.H.M. (Primary Health Care Management))- - Mahidol University, 2005.

Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-188). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-188). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.DS)--University of the Free State, 2006. / "January 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99)

Dissertation (D.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree in Masters of Technology in Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / Introduction: Evidence suggests that pregnant women who lead sedentary lifestyles and have a poor knowledge of exercise during pregnancy are at risk of developing diseases like gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and low back pain along with many other chronic conditions. An exercise program during pregnancy has benefits for both the mother and the child. No studies have ascertained the knowledge and practices of exercise in pregnant women in South Africa, furthermore, there was a need to conduct research regarding exercise amongst South African pregnant women, particularly to determine whether any barriers to physical activity exist. Aim: To compare the knowledge and practices of pregnant women regarding exercise during pregnancy between a selected private practice and public clinic. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive, cross sectional survey was used in this research study. The population consisted of pregnant women (n = 400) attending both public and private sector antenatal care in the Ethekwini municipal area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Public sector participants were drawn from the Addington Hospital public antenatal clinic and private sector participants were drawn from the gynaecological practice of Dr D Sankar. Purposive, stratified sampling was used. Following the signing of an informed consent form, data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. A minimum sample size of 324 patients was calculated by the statistician. Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and percentages were used to describe the demographic profile of respondents and their physical activities. Inferential statistics, including Chi-Square tests of association and student t-tests were used to determine differences in proportions and means respectively between the two categories of participants. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to ascertain the measure of association between a risk factor and an outcome. Results: There were 198 (57.6%) participants from the private gynaecological practice and 146 (42.4%) from the public clinic at Addington Hospital. The mean age of the study population was 27.65 ± 5.3 years. Almost half of the study population were Indians (46.2%). Blacks made up the second largest proportion of the study population (39.2%). More than half of the study participants were involved in exercise during their pregnancy (57.1%). However, only 37% of the study population met the international criteria of physical activity, which is 30 minutes of moderate -intensity aerobic exercise, per day, for 5 days a week, during pregnancy as set out by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (2002). However, there was evidence of unstructured physical activity which increased the level of acceptable physical activity in the majority of participants 82.1%. Walking was the most common activity that the women engaged in from both the private sector (88.8%) and public clinic (89.3%). The average time spent on walking was more than 30 minutes a day. Household chores and climbing stairs also increased the levels of physical activity within the participants. Only a minority of participants (35.4%) stated that they were diagnosed with an adverse health condition, which prevented them from exercising. Some participants who did not exercise reported that fatigue was the reason for not being physically active (51.6%). Conclusion: Interventions need to be implemented to increase the knowledge of physical activity amongst pregnant women and the benefits that are associated with it. An attempt needs to be made by health practitioners to try and increase the level of physical activity among pregnant women, so that they may benefit from its effects. / M

There is a growing body of research aimed at understanding social support during pregnancy in South Africa. Pregnancy is constantly referred to as one of the challenging and stressful periods affecting women’s physical and psychological well-being. Various research studies on social support argue that social support is paramount at this stage. Research on social support indicates that having adequate and quality social support impacts on how pregnant women experience pregnancy. My interest in social support comes in the wake of absent fathers in South Africa and with the emerging trend of “new” fathers. Although there is a volume of research on social support, it tends to be realist. Using a social constructionist framework, I explore other ways of talking about social support in an attempt to expand the discourse around social support. I explore how pregnant women talk about social support during pregnancy from their intimate partners in the small rural municipality of Elundini, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Intimate partner support was limited to heterosexual partners regardless of their marital status. The sampling procedure followed a non-probability sampling method. Participants of the study were between 24 and 32 years old. Their gestational age ranged between five and eight months. Fourteen in-depth interviews using photo-elicitation were conducted with seven participants and were analysed using a social constructionist informed thematic analysis. The major theme that emerged from the analysis was partner involvement and absence during pregnancy. The analysis of results suggests that expectant father presence translates to social support. Participants constructed his presence as reassurance in the context of possible abandonment. Absence was constructed in different ways: participants constructed absence as unjust and unfair, absence and marriage, temporary absence in the form of cultural phenomenon of ukwaliswa/ukubukubazana, absence as normal but burdening to the pregnant women’s social network. Participants reported that social support from the expectant father affected pregnancy wantedness.

Best Mom es un centro especializado para el entrenamiento físico de las gestantes teniendo en cuenta la fisiología del embarazo y la capacidad funcional del cuerpo en dicho estado, liderado por profesionales de la salud (Obstetra), este servicio fortalecerá y beneficia el proceso de gestación de las gestantes, ya que su atención en prevenir los dolores lumbares, mejora la tensión arterial, reduce las molestias digestivas, ayuda a controlar el peso y ayuda a recuperar la silueta de las gestantes. Nuestro servicio, atiene a las madres gestantes entre 25 y 35 años, con un estilo de vida moderno y sofisticado, desarrollando ejercicios físicos, clases de natacias y yoga, beneficianto el proceso de gestación, este atenderá un nicho de mercado que aún no ha sido atendido. Nuestra porpuesta de valor es el servicio personalizado a las mujeres gestantes, con controles diarios de la mejora que se va generando con los ejercicios que se realizan, lo cual permitirá un mejor embarazo y preparándola para el parto. El equipo es multidisciplinario, conformado por profesionales que se encuentran cursando la carrera de administración de empresa, la carrera de negocios internacionales y la de marketing, por otro lado, estos mismos profesionales aportaren con su experiencia profesional desarrollados en varios sectores, para la ejecución del proyecto. El análisis financiero del proyecto muestra que los resultados son convervadores con una tasa interna de rendimiento de 65.21% para los inversionistas, además los flujos de caja de los próximos años son positivos. / Best Mom is a specialized center for the physical training of pregnant women taking into account the physiology of pregnancy and the functional capacity of the body in said state, led by health professionals (Obstetrician), this service will strengthen and benefit the gestation process of pregnant women, since their attention to preventing low back pain, improves blood pressure, reduces digestive discomfort, helps to control weight and helps to recover the shape of pregnant women. Our service, caters to pregnant mothers between 25 and 35 years old, with a modern and sophisticated lifestyle, developing physical exercises, swimming classes and yoga, benefiting the gestation process, this will serve a market niche that has not yet been attended. Our value proposition is the personalized service to pregnant women, with daily controls of the improvement that is generated with the exercises that are carried out, which will allow a better pregnancy and prepare it for delivery. The team is multidisciplinary, made up of professionals who are studying business administration, international business and marketing, on the other hand, these same professionals will contribute with their professional experience developed in various sectors, for the execution of the draft. The financial analysis of the project shows that the results are converging with an internal rate of return of 65.21% for investors, and also the cash flows in the coming years are positive. / Trabajo de investigación