Introduction: Shared decision-making is considered to be a key aspect of woman-centered care and a strategy to improve communication, respect, and satisfaction. This scoping review identified studies that used a shared decision-making support strategy as the primary intervention in the context of perinatal …

A growing number of women have paid jobs before and during pregnancy. Thus, increasingly more women are potentially exposed to occupational hazards by working with organic solvents, pollutants, toxins, or contaminated water. Working in these areas can lead to adverse effects on the health of young women …

Background Mother-to-infant bonding is defined as the emotional tie experienced by a mother towards her child, which is considered to be important for the socio emotional development of the child. Numerous studies on the correlates of both prenatal and postnatal mother-to-infant bonding quality have …

Background: A growing number of mobile health (mHealth) technology–based apps are being developed for personal lifestyle and medical health care support, of which several apps are related to pregnancy. Evidence on usability and effectiveness is limited but crucial for successful implementation. Objective: …

Objective in the promotion of periconceptional health, appropriate attention has to be given to the perceptions of those who are most vulnerable, such as women with a relatively low socioeconomic status based on their educational attainment. The aim of this study was to explore these women's perceptions …

Background: The importance of the preconception period and preconception care (PCC) are broadly acknowledged and the potential benefits regarding health promotion have been studied extensively. PCC provides the opportunity to identify, prevent, and treat modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors to optimize …

Background Geographical inequalities in perinatal health and child welfare require attention. To improve the identification, and care, of mothers and young children at risk of adverse health outcomes, the HP4All-2 program was developed. The program consists of three studies, focusing on creating a continuum …

Aim: To explore Dutch pregnant women’s experiences of shared-decision making about place of birth to better understand this process for midwifery care purposes. Design: Qualitative exploratory study with a constant comparison/grounded theory design. Methods: We performed semi-structured interviews, …

Objective reduction of physical activity (PA) during pregnancy is common but undesirable, as it is associated with negative outcomes, including excessive gestational weight gain. Our objective was to explore changes in five types of activity that occurred during pregnancy and the behavioural determinants …

Healthy gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with better pregnancy outcomes and with improved health in the later lives of women and babies. In this thesis the author describes the process of developing an intervention to help pregnant women reach a healthy GWG. The need for this intervention …