Clinical Research Directory

Use of Ritual Epost Postnatal Multivitamins During the Postpartum Period

Multivitamin/multimineral supplements (MVI) provide important nutrition supplement to the diet of pregnant women to cover potential deficiencies and optimize nutrition status of both mom and baby, especially when the diet is suboptimal or nutrient demand is high while absorption is hindered by various factors such as genetic variance and gastrointestinal function. It is, however, largely unknown whether using an MVI during the lactating period helps improve nutrition status of mom and baby. In this double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, the investigators will recruit 7- postpartum women who exclusively breastfeed at week 5 postpartum and randomly assign them to either receive the Ritual MVI which is commercially available or a blank placebo for 10 weeks. A blank placebo is appropriate because there is currently no recommendation or scientific consensus that lactating women who are healthy and eat a normal diet would have improved nutrition status or maternal-infant health outcomes from a nutrition supplement. The investigators will collect blood and breastmilk samples at baseline and end of the study to assess nutrient status. The investigators hypothesize that consumption of a Ritual MVI leads to better nutrition status and biomarkers in maternal-child dyads compared to control.

Comparing Integrative Midwife-led vs. Fragmented Inpatient Postpartum Care: Impact on Satisfaction and Transition to Motherhood

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two different forms of postnatal care to find out which is most beneficial for mothers and their children after birth and with which they are most satisfied. One is a nurse-led, seperate model of care and the other is a midwife-led, integrative model of care. Participants are healthy women between the ages of 18 and 50. They gave birth between 36+0 and 42+0 weeks of pregnancy and had a child. The type of birth is not an inclusion or exclusion criteria. Our hypotheses are: i) that maternal satisfaction with care in a midwife-led, integrative care model is higher than in separate maternal and infant care; ii) that a positive postpartum experience leads to earlier and increased maternity competence; iii) that a higher breastfeeding rate at the time of the survey in the fourth month can be achieved through integrative care. Participants will be randomly assigned, after birth of their child, to either the group cared for by a nurse or the group cared for by a midwife.