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“Objective: in this paper we offer new insights about the medicalisation of childbirth by closely examining the trends in obstetric intervention rates in Flanders and the Netherlands and by considering the influence of contextual factors – including the organisation of the medical system, professional guidelines, and cultural ideas – on the way maternity care is delivered.\n\nDesign: a comparative study using perinatal statistics from the National Perinatal Databases of the Netherlands and Flanders and historical and qualitative data about the organisation and culture of maternity care in each country.\n\nSetting

and participants: in the Netherlands data are gathered from practices of the participating midwives, general practitioners and obstetricians. In Flanders the registration selleck kinase inhibitor of data takes place in Flemish maternity units Copanlisib chemical structure and independent midwifery practices.\n\nMeasurements and findings: in the Netherlands the home birth rate is still by far the highest in Europe and some interventions (e.g. caesarean section and epidural) are among the lowest. However, some perinatal statistics – such as in the use of epidural analgesia during labour – suggest an increasingly medical approach to birth in the Netherlands. Other trends in the Netherlands include an increasing use of inductions

and augmentation in labour, and a decreasing number of births in primary care. The practice of home birth is being challenged by critical discussions in the popular media and ‘scientific’ debates among professionals. In Flanders, there have been some efforts to reduce medicalisation of childbirth, focussed on specific interventions such as induction and episiotomy.\n\nKey conclusions: in recent years the obstetric intervention rates in Belgium and the Netherlands are slowly converging.\n\nImplications

for practice: because https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mx69.html the lives of women, midwives, and obstetricians (among others) are significantly affected by patterns of medicalisation and de-medicalisation, it is important that we understand the drivers of the medicalising process. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Background: Collagenous colitis (CC) and lymphocytic colitis (LC) are chronic disorders characterized by watery diarrhea. Aim: To evaluate prospectively the clinical features, response to treatment and outcomes in a large group of patients with CC and LC. Patients and Methods: Patients with histologically confirmed CC and LC were prospectively enrolled to complete a questionnaire on onset and duration of diarrhea, stool frequency and consistency, other gastrointestinal symptoms including weight loss, drug history, treatment success and concomitant diseases. Results: A total of 494 patients (CC, n = 287, LC, n = 207) were available for analysis.