Background/Aims: The vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are essential public health problems. In this study, we aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of the aforementioned infections among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This study was done retrospectively on pregnant women who presented for antenatal follow-up and delivery between 2013 and 2016. Data were collected from the hospital’s electronic health records and patient files. Blood samples were analyzed at the microbiology laboratory of the hospital. HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV titers were tested using the chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay method (Architect, Abbott Laboratories, USA). Results: HBsAg and anti-HBs levels were tested in 35,295 pregnant women aged 18-45 years. The HBsAg and anti-HBs levels were positive in 425 (1.2%) and 9583 (27.7%) patients, respectively. From 2013 to 2016, the HBV carrier rates have continuously decreased from 1.4% to 0.8%, whereas the anti-HBs positivity has increased from 25.4% to 30.2%. Anti-HCV was detected in 6 of the 9709 (0.06%) patients. All the 7113 pregnant women screened for HIV showed negative results. Conclusion: Hepatitis B carrier rates among pregnant women gradually decreased with a simultaneous increase in the immunity rates. HCV seroprevalence was low and HIV positivity was not encountered in the study population. Cite this article as: Çınar Tanrıverdi E, Özkurt Z, Göktuğ Kadıoğlu B, et al. Seroprevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV in pregnant women from Eastern Turkey. Turk J Gastroenterol 2019; 30(3): 260-5.

We aimed to investigate the Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity in pregnant women who referred to Erzurum Nenehatun Hospital for antenatal care, and to compare our data with other regions of Turkey. In this retrospective study we evaluated Anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM and anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG screening results of pregnant women who admitted to our hospital between January 2013 and December 2016 for antenatal care. The data was obtained from hospital's digital data system and patient folders. Blood samples were investigated in microbiology laboratory with Macro-ELISA (Architect System, Abbott Diagnostics, Germany) method. Anti-Toxoplasma IgM positive cases were also evaluated with anti-Toxoplasma IgG avidity test. The results were evaluated as case numbers and percentages. In 151 (0.6%) of the 25525 pregnant women, who were aged between 18 and 45, Anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM positivity was detected. In 5119 (31%) of the 16433 pregnant women, Anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG positivity was detected. Our data was similar to the rest of the country. We suppose that every pregnant women should be educated about the disease and the transmission routes to raise an awareness and while the ones in the risk group should be screened instead of the whole group.

ÖZET Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı gebe okulunda doğuma hazırlık eğitimi alarak doğum yapmış lohusalarda eğitimin duygu durumu üzerine etkisini belirlemekti. Yöntem: Bu çalışma bir devlet hastanesinin gebe okulunda eğitim almış 100 ve eğitim almamış 100 olmak üzere toplam 200 lohusada gerçekleştirildi.Verilerin elde edilmesinde lohusaların veri toplama formu ve doğum duygulanım ölçeği kullanıldı. Anneler taburcu olmadan hemen önce veriler toplandı. Veriler SPSS 16 paket programı ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Her iki grupta da sosyo-demografik özellikler benzerdi. 35 yaş altındaki gebeler çoğunluktaydı (%84 ve %81). Her iki grupta da katılımcıların üniversite mezunu olma oranları yüksekti (%44 ve %33). Okula katılanların %49’unun, katılmayanların %38’inin ilk doğumuydu. Okula katılanların %78’i, katılmayanların %56’sı gebeliği planlamışlardı. Okula katılanlarda abdominal doğum oranı katılmayanlara göre anlamlı seviyede düşüktü (p0.05). Sonuç: Gebe okullarının, anne adaylarının farkındalığını ve vajinal doğum yapma konusunda çabalarını artırdığı ancak doğum anındaki duygu durumlarına fazla etki etmediği tespit edildi. Gebe okullarındaki eğitim içerikleri psikolojik destek çalışmalarıyla güçlendirilmelidir. Anahtar kelimeler: Lohusalık; gebe okulu; doğum; duygulanım. ABSTRACT The Effect of Birth Preparation Education on Delivery Mood: A Study on Postpartum Women Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of education on the mood of postpartum women, who delivered their babies after taking prenatal classes in pregnancy school. Method: The study was conducted on 200 pregnant women, 50% of whom took prenatal classes. The data collection form and labor affectivity scale were used. Data were collected just before the patients were discharged. Data were evaluated by SPSS 16 package program. Results: Socio-demographic information of both groups was similar. The ones who were younger than 35 years were the majority (84%, 81%). The number of university graduates was high in both groups (44%, 33%). It was the first labor of 49% of the participants and 38% of the non-participants. The pregnancy was planned by 78% of the participants and by 56% of non-participants. The rate of abdominal labor was significantly low in the participants compared to non-participants (p0.05). Conclusions: Although pregnancy schools increased the awareness of the pregnant women and their efforts for vaginal delivery, it did not significantly impact their mood during labor. The content of the classes should be enhanced by including psychological support studies. Keywords: Postpartum period; pregnancy; school; labor; mood.

Iniencephaly is an uncommon neural tube defect, having retroflexion of the head without a neck and severe distortion of the spine. Iniencephaly is classified into two groups, iniencephaly apertus (with encephalocele) and iniencephaly clausus (without encephalocele). Incidence ranges from 0.1 to 10 in 10.000 pregnancies and it is seen more frequently in girls. Most of the fetuses with this defect die before birth or soon after birth, while those with the milder forms may live through childhood. Recurrence risk is around 15%. Family should be offered termination to reduce maternal risks and counseled for folic acid supplementation before the next planned pregnancy. Here we present a rare case of iniencephaly clausus which was diagnosed at 18th week of gestation by ultrasonography and delivered in the third trimester of pregnancy due to rejection of termination. Iniencephaly is an uncommon neural tube defect, having retroflexion of the head without a neck and severe distortion of the spine. Iniencephaly is classified into two groups, iniencephaly apertus (with encephalocele) and iniencephaly clausus (without encephalocele). Incidence ranges from 0.1 to 10 in 10.000 pregnancies and it is seen more frequently in girls. Most of the fetuses with this defect die before birth or soon after birth, while those with the milder forms may live through childhood. Recurrence risk is around 15%. Family should be offered termination to reduce maternal risks and counseled for folic acid supplementation before the next planned pregnancy. Here we present a rare case of iniencephaly clausus which was diagnosed at 18th week of gestation by ultrasonography and delivered in the third trimester of pregnancy due to rejection of termination.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to determine the impacts of the prenatal classes on pregnant women while determining the type of delivery and coping with pain during delivery.Methods: This study is descriptive. It involves analysis of 247 participants that were selected as samples from a known population of 653 pregnant women who participated in prenatal classes of our hospital. The prenatal classes took place for 3 weeks and 16 hours in total. They filled the forms regarding the class activities before and after the class. The data were evaluated by using SPSS 16.0 packaged software.Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was 27.50 ± 4.60 years. The women, who had their first pregnancy, were 73.3%. Before the class, 62.8% declared that they were planning to have a vaginal delivery. The ones, who stated that they were afraid of pain, were 78.9%. In interviews after the classes, 89.5% of the participants stated that the classes affected their choice of delivery type. The rate of participants that found classes relieving for their anxiety and concerns was 94.70%. The rate of participants that had a vaginal delivery was 81.80%. The influence of the prenatal classes while determining the type of delivery was statistically significant. (p < 0.001 by Mc Nemar test).Conclusions: Participation with the prenatal class removes the anxiety of the pregnant women, encourages them to have vaginal delivery and contributes to decreasing the rate of cesarean sections.