The dysphoric milk ejection reflex (D-MER) is a condition known to cause discomfort in nursing mothers just before the ejaculation reflex. However, there has been limited research on D-MER in Japan and internationally, and its current status remains unclear.
The results of this survey indicated that the incidence of D-MER was 1.6%. The most common times for discomfort awareness were “within 1 week postpartum” and “within 1 month postpartum.” The discomfort typically occurred “just before milk secretion,” “immediately after milk secretion,” and “during direct breastfeeding.” The discomfort lasted for 1–2 minutes. Half of the mothers who were aware of D-MER discontinued breastfeeding, and many of those distressed by D-MER had not consulted anyone.
Although hormonal dynamics are speculated to play a role, the underlying basis remains unclear, making appropriate support difficult to provide.

This study aimed to identify nursing practices used for parents to bond with infants hospitalized in the NICU/GCU during virtual visits. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with seven nurses, and an inductive qualitative analysis was carried out. This resulted in compiling the following six themes: “gaining trust from parents who are outside the NICU/GCU”, “active interest and empathy toward the on-screen responses of both parents and infants”, “attaching meaning to preterm infants’ signs during live communication”, “creating parent-infant time through the screen”, “family-centered virtual visits” and “facilitating envisioning home life after discharge from the NICU/GCU”. During virtual visits, when communication is based solely on audiovisual information, nurses also used non-verbal communication to empathize with parents’ thoughts and gain their trust. In addition, they took an interest in both parents and infants, and promoted positive parental understanding and envisioning life after discharge by attaching meaning to the preterm infant’s signs, creating parent-infant time under their watchful eye.

We conducted a survey questionnaire targeting families of infants and nurses to clarify how the awareness of hybrid nursing care and health literacy are related and compared the results between families and nurses. Responses were obtained from 345 families and 56 nurses (response rate/valid response rate: 7.67%/97.73% for families, 37.66%/96.55% for nurses). Of the 16 nursing items for families of infants, face-to-face methods were most frequently selected by both families and nurses (11 items) including health checkups for mothers and infants, while multiple nursing methods were selected for items related to information provision. The number of methods selected for nursing care was significantly higher for nurses than for families, thereby suggesting the possibility of hybrid nursing care in which nursing care is provided to families using various methods. In addition, health literacy was significantly higher among families and nurses who chose educational material provision, thus indicating that health literacy was related to the choice of nursing method.

This study examined the appropriateness, importance, and feasibility of a proposed quality indicator of midwifery care in stay-type postpartum care (hereafter referred to as “quality indicator”), and develop a quality indicator.
Based on previous research, a draft quality indicator was created, its appropriateness was reviewed during an expert meeting, and Quality Indicator ver. 1 was developed. Subsequently, 108 midwives were asked to examine the importance and feasibility of Quality Indicator ver. 1 using the Delphi method. Seventy-four and 61 valid responses were obtained for the primary and secondary surveys, respectively. All items met the agreement criteria in terms of importance, but opinions did not converge on the feasibility of one item. Importance and feasibility of Quality Indicator ver. 2, comprising 83 items, was supported. These included seven items for “promotion of mothers’ physical recovery and response to sudden changes,” seven items for “support for mothers’ feelings and mother–child relationship,” three items for “understanding and caring for mothers’ desire to be cared for”, and two items for “confirmation and understanding of mothers child-rearing experiences.” We believe that the newly developed quality indicators can be used for the self-evaluation of midwives after further review.

This study aimed to explore the physical activity during pregnancy, and the awareness of physical fitness, amount of muscle mass, and amount of hand strength in the early postpartum period. The participants were 500 women in the early postpartum period who had given birth between 37- and 42-weeks of gestation. The methods employed were a self-administered questionnaire and a measurement of muscle mass and hand strength. Muscle mass was defined as the skeletal muscle mass index, which was calculated from measurements of the whole body, including the upper limbs, lower limbs, and trunk.
Data from 477 participants were analyzed, and the following results were obtained. In the group that felt less physically active during pregnancy, there was a significant reduction in the time spent “walking/standing” after 37 weeks of pregnancy (p= .021). Muscle mass and hand strength results indicated that the “non-preterm managed hospitalization” group had significantly less trunk muscle mass than the “no-rest” group (p= .003). Participants who were involved in childcare or were caregivers during pregnancy had significantly more muscle mass and hand strength than those who were not (p‹ .001, p= .043).
The results suggest that providing specific guidance on physical activity during mid- to late pregnancy is important to maintain physical activity levels in pregnant women.