• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.242-253
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to assess immigrant women's needs for pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and to test the reliability and validity of the scale. Methods: To construct scale items, critical issues and difficulties associated with pregnancy and postpartum adaptation of immigrant women were identified and categorized through a literature review. Fifty-two scale items were constructed, and data for validity and reliability testing was collected with a questionnaire survey from 367 immigrant women. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and reliability coefficients. Results: The final measurement scale to assess immigrant women's pregnancy and postpartum adaptation consisted of 48 items and 7 factors (adaptation to daily activity during pregnancy, cross-cultural understanding and personal respect, understanding of the process of pregnancy and delivery, baby rearing and family support, physical and emotional adaptation after childbirth, nutrition during pregnancy, and sexual life adaptation). The seven factors accounted for 64.26% of the variance, and Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ was .96. Conclusion: The scale developed by this study is a reliable and valid instrument and can be used to assess needs of pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and can be utilized in providing nursing interventions for immigrant women.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.103-111
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• 2024

In this study, the problem of child care gaps has arisen due to the expansion of women's entry into the workforce and the increase in working couples, and the care cliff phenomenon after children enter elementary school has been identified as one of the causes of women's career disconnection and low birth rates, and child care services have been initiated to solve care problems and balance work and family. The importance of childcare services to the safety and well-being of children has been highlighted by the restrictions on school attendance and the absence of caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has been making policy efforts to reduce the gap in child care, but problems with the effectiveness and efficiency of the child care system have arisen due to unstable target selection and delivery systems by ministries and projects in the implementation of child care services. Therefore, this study examines the child care services implemented by each ministry to reduce the blind spots of after-school care services in the community and prepare efficient operation plans for various delivery systems, and seeks directions for the development of child care services.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop a couple-centered antenatal education program and to test the program's feasibility. Methods: With a preliminary-experimental study design, 33 pregnant couples who were expecting their first child participated in this study. The program consisted of four sessions (1 hour/session/week) of education and counseling. Data were collected before and after the intervention from September 2018 to April 2019 at a women's hospital in Daejeon, Korea, with demographic data forms, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale, Korean Newborn Care Confidence Scale, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale-10. Results: The pregnant women and their husbands were on average 32.30±3.10 and 33.21±6.25 years old, respectively. The mean marriage duration was 2.34±1.63 years, the gestational age was 31.30±2.66 weeks, and 78.8% of the couples had a planned pregnancy. After the program, both the pregnant women and their husbands showed significant improvements in attachment to the fetus and confidence in providing infant care. Prenatal depression, prenatal stress, and fear of childbirth in pregnant women significantly decreased after completing the program. However, the dyadic adjustment score did not change significantly either in the pregnant women or their husbands. Conclusion: A couple-centered antenatal education program seems to be effective for couples adjusting to parenthood, but further studies should explore ways to have a positive impact on couples' relationships.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.23-43
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyse factors related to the actual status and practice of breast-feeding during an infant period to grasp elements detrimental to breast-feeding and, therefore, provide basic information useful for its effective practice and encouragement. Method: From April 1 to June 30, 2001, this study was carried out with the mothers of 337 who were 6 months old, as of the surveyed date, of infants born in 2002 and registered in Seongju-gun Public Health Center, Gyeongsangbug-do Province. The method for its survey included both of the visiting and telephone interviews, and questions were mainly about the mothers' general characteristics(3 questions), infants' general characteristics(3 questions), environmental characteristics of infant delivery( 4 questions), support to breast-feeding(4 questions), understanding of breast-feeding(5 questions), and feeding type during the 1 to 6-month period after birth. Result: 1. The feeding type during the I-month period after birth showed that the breast-feeding accounted for 42.4%, which was higher than dry milk-feeding(30%) or mixed milk-feeding(26.8%). However, it began to be lower than the dry milk-feeding from the 2-month period after birth. During the 6-month period, the breast-feeding accounted for 28.6% which was lower than 56.5% of the dry milk-feeding. 2. The mothers who were encouraged by their delivery clinic to and were educated to breast-feed infants accounted for 55.4% and 41.4%, respectively, which were relatively low. The understanding of breast-feeding indicated that the responses were positive from the view point of mother ＆ infant health, but negative from mother's physical form. 3. It was shown that the lower the educational background of mother(p〈0.05) and the higher the unemployment of mother(p〈0.001), the higher the positive understanding of breast-feeding, and that the higher the entire support to breast-feeding, the more positive their understanding. 4. It was also shown that the lower the educational background of mother(p〈0.05), the higher the unemployment of mother(p〈0.001), the more the experience in breast-feeding at a delivery clinic(p〈0.01) and the faster the initial feeding(p〈0.001), the higher the rate of breast-feeding. 5. The factor having an effect on breast-feeding included a delivery clinic's encouragement to breast-feed(p〈0.001), understanding of breast-feeding(p〈0.01), father's comment on feeding method(p〈0.05) and mother's employment(p〈0.05). Discussion: In order to encourage the breast-feeding, as shown above, it is required, fist of all, to offer pregnant women an education about importance and excellence of breast-feeding and its appropriate method before delivery in advance to result in a positive comprehension of the breast-feeding. To do that, both the publicity activities and program development designed to encourage the breast-feeding must be performed in advance at the government level. In addition to that, the mother-infant space as ‘rooming-in’ available for breast-feeding immediately after delivery must be prepared on the basis of legal and administrative support. Finally, female employees' leave after childbirth must be performed for the purpose of productive welfare and circumstances also be prepared for breast-feeding, such as a children's home at work.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2008

The objective of this work is to study transdermal delivery of levodopa using iontophoresis and evaluate various factors which affect the transdermal transport. Levodopa is unstable in aqueous solution, and, in order to establish a stable condition for levodopa for the duration of experiment, we investigated the stability of levodopa in aqueous solutions of different pHs with/without the addition of dextrose or the application of current. Using stable aqueous solution, we have studied the effect of pH, polarity and penetration enhancer (ethanol) on transdermal flux and compared the results. We also investigated the iontophoretic flux from hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) hydrogel. In vitro flux study was performed at $33^{\circ}C$, using side-by-side diffusion cell. Full thickness hairless mouse skin and rat skin were used for this work. Current densities applied were 0.4 or $0.6mA/cm^2$ and current was off after 6 hour application. Stability study showed that levodopa solution with a pH 2.5 or 4.5 maintained the initial concentration of levodopa for 24 hours with the addition of 5% dextrose. However, at pH 9.5, levodopa was unstable and 30 to 40% of levodopa degraded within 24 hours, even with the addition of 5% dextrose. Hydrogel swollen with dextrose added levodopa solution maintained about 97% of the initial concentration of levodopa for 13 days, when stored in $4^{\circ}C$. The application of current did not affect the stability of levodopa in hydrogel. Flux study from levodopa solution with pH 2.5 showed that cathodal delivery of levodopa was higher than passive or anodal delivery. When the pH of the donor solution was 4.5, anodal delivery of levodopa was higher than passive or cathodal delivery. These results seem to indicate that electroosmosis plays more dominant role than electrorepulsion in the flux of levodopa at pH 2.5, and the reverse situation applies for pH 4.5. The passive flux was unexpectedly high for the ionized levodopa. Similar to the results from aqueous solution, cumulative amount of levodopa transported trom HPC hydrogel by cathodal delivery was significantly higher than passive or anodal delivery. The treatment of 70% ethanol cotton ball by scrubbing increased passive, anodal and cathodal flux, with the largest increase for anodal flux. These results indicate that iontophoretic delivery of zwitterion such as levodopa is much complicated than that can be expected from small ionic molecules with single charge. The results also indicate that the balance between electroosmosis and electrorepulsion plays a very important role in the transport through skin.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.87-97
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Doula support during labor on anxiety, labor pain, and perceived childbirth experience of primiparas. Method: Of 65 primiparas who were hospitalized in LDR from March 1 to September 30, 2007. 32 women were placed in the Doula group and 33 in the control group. VAS was used to measure the degree of labor pain and anxiety in the latent, active, and transitional phases. Perceived childbirth experience was measured within 2 hours after birth. Results: The Doula group had a significantly lower anxiety level than the control group in the active phase (t=-2.13, p=.04) and the transitional phase (t=-3.99, p=.000). The degree of labor pain of the Doula group was significantly lower than that of the control group for the active phase (t=-3.10, p=.003) and the transitional phase (t=-7.24, p=.000). Also, There was no significant difference in perceived childbirth experience between the two groups (t=.19, p=.85). Conclusion: The results of this study show Doula support in LDR decreases not only anxiety of primiparas but also labor pain in the active and transitional phases. Therefore Doula support by nurses in LDR can be a useful intervention during childbirth.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.369-377
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• 2011

Purpose: Childbirth self-efficacy plays an important role in women's ability to cope with labor and delivery. Coaching has been gaining popularity as a way to promote cognitive, emotional and behavioral change. This study aimed to test the effects of a Coaching-based childbirth program on anxiety and childbirth self-efficacy among primigravida women. Methods: The study design was a quasi-experimental pre-post design. A coaching-based childbirth program was developed synthesizing concepts and techniques from the literature on coaching and was verified by an expert panel. It consisted of four weekly 2-hour small group sessions. Pregnant women were recruited from H hospital in Seoul. Childbirth self-efficacy and state anxiety were measured before and after the program. Results: Although there was a no significant reduction in anxiety, there were statistically significant increase for childbirth self-efficacy in the experimental group when compared to the control group. Conclusion: The program appears to increase childbirth self-efficacy for pregnant women. Future studies may benefit from using mixed coaching modalities and consider measuring health behaviors and obstetric outcomes to gain insights on its long-term impact.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to explore the structure of nursing needs during labor pain as perceived by women who have given birth. The phenomenological perspective of qualitative research theory guided the approach to the study. The sample consisted of 20 women who had undergone normal labor and had delivered a healthy baby at term. Collection of data was by means of in-depth interviews conducted 1-2 days after delivery in the admission room from March to may 1998. On average, the interviews lasted for about 30 minutes. Interviews were taken with the consent of the subjects. Data were analyzed by means of Giorgi's method and categorized according to the similarities of their contents. The investigator read the data repeatedly to identify themes and categories. Four categories were : 1) a sense of security 2) self esteem 3) willingness to learn 4) a sense of comfort. Under these categories there were twelve themes. I. A sense of security : (a) presence (b) conversation (c) touching II. Self esteem : (a) praise (b) encouragement (c) treating the women with respect (d) caregiver with good character III. Willingness to learn : (a) teaching (b) information IV. A sense of comfort : (a) self controlled pain relief (b) artificially controlled pain relief (c) skillfulness of caregiver The findings should sensitize nurses to the various needs of women in labor who are under their care. Further research should focus on developing instruments to assess the nursing needs of parturients. Researchers also need to identify ways to assess women's satisfaction with nursing needs.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.55-67
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• 2001

A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate the experiences of mothers pregnant via in vitro fertilization (IVF). Sample of nine mothers participated. Ten theme clusters emerged when the formulated meanings were organized into categories. During the infertility period, the participants were subject to self- depreciation, envy, anxiety, and depression. It changed their priorities in life from a job-oriented life to one where having a baby was the most important thing. After trying numerous alternative therapies, IVF became their last hope in having a baby. Since the success rate for IVF is low (only 20-30%), the participants for the treatment were overwhelmed with uncertainty, and it led to further anxiety, depression and despair. Success of pregnancy gave them extreme satisfaction, but they became very cautious in their day-to-day life because of their fear of abortion and early delivery. Some were even worried about the side effect of IVF during the pregnancy. Finally, the delivery of the baby gave them relief from the obligation of having a baby. Women did not have any difficulties in rearing a "test tube baby" except in the case of twins. Most women had no ethical difficulty in having a baby by IVF. However they did not wish this information to be revealed to other people. They again turned to IVF to have a son(s) when the resultory child(s) was a daughter(s). This is because of the strong preference for sons in Korean society.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.155-173
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• 1995

The purpose of this research was to obtain information about the performance of breast-feeding by employed mother and the supportive accommodation in the work place. The survey questionnaire was answered by 323 employed mothers who had child over the six months and visited the pediatric clinic in the hospital and the public health center in Seoul. The results were as follows : 1. Of the 323 employed mothers, 4.7% of mothers performed breast-feeding, 58.3% of mothers did artificial-feeding and 37% of mothers did mixed-feeding during the six months after birth of baby. 2. The characteristics of employed mothers found to be related breast-feeding include Age, Education, Number of Baby, Type of Delivery, Place of Delivery, Obtaining Information On Breast-Feeding. 3. The performance of breast-feeding during the work was different significantly according to the mother's job(medical and non-medical) and the method of feeding. 4. The reasons why they could not perform the breast-feeding include not enough time because of working(80.4%) and lack of knowledge about breast-feeding method with combining employment. 5. The results showed that the rest supports of the work environment was insufficient to perform breast-feeding in he workplace except maternal leave.