Conectar
The postnatal period is critical for preventing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Globally, a significant proportion of maternal and neonatal deaths occur within the first 6 weeks after delivery. Timely and adequate postnatal care (PNC) can detect and manage life-threatening complications; however, service utilisation remains alarmingly low in many low- and middle-income countries, including Saudi Arabia. Addressing the behavioural and perceptual factors that influence service use is essential for improving health outcomes.
This study aimed to assess mothers’ utilisation of PNC services and examine how their health beliefs and sociodemographic characteristics influence this behaviour.
A cross-sectional study guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM) was conducted to explore predictors of PNC utilisation.
Eight primary healthcare (PHC) centres were randomly selected from 179 PHC centres distributed in the different governorates of the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia.
A total of 464 mothers were surveyed between October and December 2023 using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
The primary outcome was PNC utilisation, defined by the number of postnatal visits. The independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics and HBM constructs (perceived susceptibility, benefits, barriers and cues to action).
In terms of PNC utilisation, 80.0% of participants had two or fewer postnatal visits, whereas 20.0% had three or more postnatal visits. Perceived barriers had the strongest influence (mean score 2.51±0.87), followed by cues to action (2.43±0.89), susceptibility (1.92±0.72) and benefits (1.86±0.64). In the multivariate analysis, perceived barriers, cues to action and perceived susceptibility were significantly associated with PNC utilisation, with adjusted ORs of 1.679 (95% CI: 1.007 to 2.799), 0.470 (95% CI: 0.256 to 0.863) and 0.405 (95% CI: 0.197 to 0.832), respectively.
PNC utilisation in the Jazan region remains suboptimal. Perceptual factors, particularly barriers and cues to action, play a central role in service use. Health interventions targeting these beliefs and improving follow-up mechanisms may help increase PNC engagement and improve maternal and infant health outcomes in Saudi Arabia.
by Abdallah Tageldein Mansour, Safaa I. Khater, Hemmat M. Eissa, Helal F. Al-Harthi, Areej A. Eskandrani, Mohammed Ageeli Hakami, Wafa S. Alansari, Amirah Albaqami, Hanan M. Alharbi, Tarek Khamis, Doaa Ibrahim
The medicinal application of pomegranate peel extract enriched with polyphenols (PPE) as a therapeutic strategy for managing inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is still limited. Integrating pomegranate peel extract (PPE) into an effective nanocarrier system could enhance its mechanistic actions, potentially aiding in the remission of colitis. Therefore, this approach aimed to enhance PPE’s stability and bioavailability and investigate mitigating impact of pomegranate peel extract-loaded nanoparticles (PPE-NPs) in a colitis model. Colonic injury was induced by 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and efficacy of disease progression after oral administration of PPE-NPs for 14 days was assessed by evaluating clinical signs severity, antioxidant and inflammatory markers, expressions of endoplasmic reticulum associated genes and histopathological and immunostaining analysis in colonic tissues. Clinical signs and disease activity index were effectively reduced, and the levels of fecal calprotectin were decreased in groups treated with PPE-NPs compared to DSS group. The colitic group showed a significant increase (P IL-17, TNF-α, and IL-1β (increased up to 2.99, 4.36 and 4.90 respectively unlike PPE-NPsIII that recorded reduced levels of CRP, MPO and NO (8,96, 78.30 and 123 nmol/g tissue respectively) and much lower (P CHOP, JUNK, ATF6, BIP, and Elf-2) and immunostaining expression regulation of key markers regulating autophagy (Beclin-2) in this group. The histopathological changes in the colon were less severe in the PPE-NPs received groups (especially at the level of 150 mg/kg) compared to DSS group. Collectively, these findings suggest that the nanoencapsulation of PPE enhances its effectiveness in promoting recovery of colonic tissue damage and achieving remission of colitis.
FreshRSS 