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CDC Issues Fact Sheet On Oral Sex, HIV Transmission
The CDC has released a fact sheet informing people that there is some risk of transmitting HIV to others through oral sex, even though it is much lower than the risk of transmission from vaginal or anal intercourse, the Lakeland Ledger"s "Robin"s Rx: Medical Blogging in Polk County" reports. According to the CDC, many people believe that oral sex is safe or has no risk of transmitting disease. The CDC fact sheet said that abstaining from any sexual activity or engaging in mutual monogamy where both partners are uninfected are the only ways to completely prevent HIV transmission, but that condoms and other barriers between the mouth and genitals can reduce the risk of transmission through oral sex (Adams, "Robin"s Rx: Medical Blogging in Polk County," Lakeland Ledger, 6/4).

Reports From The White House And Kaiser Family Foundation Address Health Care Disparities
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House Health Czar Nancy Ann DeParle held a discussion of minority health issues at the White House yesterday, where Sebelius "said the Obama administration is committed to addressing the "alarming disparity in the delivery of quality health care"," which she said was necessary to lower costs, the Associated Press reports. The White House also "issued a summary report on minority health care showing that African-Americans are seven times more likely as whites to have HIV/AIDS, that blacks and Hispanics have diabetes rates nearly twice as high as whites, and that black men are 50 percent more likely than whites to have prostate cancer" (Evans, 6/9).
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Pilot Study Removes Standard Hospital Bed As Focal Point Of Labor

A University of Toronto pilot study that re-conceptualized the hospital labour room by removing the standard, clinical bed and adding relaxation-promoting equipment had a 28 per cent drop in infusions of artificial oxytocin, a powerful drug used to advance slow labours. The study, called PLACE (Pregnant and Labouring in an Ambient Clinical Environment) was published in the current edition of the journal Birth. In addition, more than 65 percent of the labouring women in the ambient room, compared to 13 per cent in the standard labour room, reported they spent less than half their hospital labour in the standard labour bed. Led by Dr. Ellen Hodnett, Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing professor and Heather M. Reisman Chair in Perinatal Nursing Research at the University of Toronto, PLACE included 62 women at two Toronto teaching hospitals. Hodnett devised a set of simple, but radical modifications to the standard hospital labour room, with the intention of surrounding the women and their caregivers with specific types of auditory, visual and tactile stimuli. "The removal of the standard hospital bed sent a message that this was not the only place a woman could labour," says Hodnett. A portable, double-sized mattress with several large, comfortable cushions was set up in the corner of the ambient room. Fluorescent lighting was dimmed, and DVDs of ocean beaches, waterfalls and other soothing vistas were projected onto a wall. A wide variety of music was also made available. "The intent was to allow the women the ability to move about freely during their labour, to permit close contact with their support people, and to promote feelings of calm and confidence," says Hodnett. Reaction to the ambient room was overwhelmingly positive, as respondents were pleased to have options for mobility and for helping to cope with their labour. They also indicated they received greater one-on-one attention and support from their nurses. "This study raises questions about the assumptions underlying the design of the typical hospital labour room," says Hodnett. "The birth environment seems to affect the behaviour of everyone in it - the laboring women as well as those who provide care for her. Hodnett hopes to further this study with a larger, randomized controlled trial. Lucianna Ciccocioppo University of Toronto


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