Menstrual education is a vital aspect of adolescent health education. Culture, awareness, and socioeconomic status often exert profound influence on menstrual practices. However, health education programs for young women in developing countries do not often address menstrual hygiene, practices, and disorders. Developing culturally sensitive menstrual health education and hygiene programs for adolescent females has been recommended by professional health organizations like the World Health Organization and UNICEF. These programs cannot be developed without understanding existing myths and perceptions about menstruation in adolescent females of developing countries. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study from India was to document existing misconceptions regarding menstruation and perceptions about menarche and various menstrual restrictions that have been understudied. Out of the 612 students invited to participate by asking questions, 381 girls participated by asking specific questions about menstruation (response rate = 62%). The respondents consisted of 84 girls from sixth grade, 117 from seventh grade, and 180 from eighth grade. The questions asked were arranged into the following subthemes: anatomy and physiology, menstrual symptoms, menstrual myths and taboos, health and beauty, menstrual abnormalities, seeking medical advice and home remedies; sanitary pads usage and disposal; diet and lifestyle; and sex education. Results of our study indicate that students had substantial doubts about menstruation and were influenced by societal myths and taboos in relation to menstrual practices. Parents, adolescent care providers, and policy makers in developing countries should advocate for comprehensive sexuality education and resources (e.g., low-cost sanitary pads and school facilities) to promote menstrual health and hygiene promotion.

Introduction After initial studies suggested that pregnant women were not at a higher risk of complications due to COVID‐19 infection. Recent investigations from Sweden and the US have indicated that pregnant and postpartum women are at increased risk of severe complications associated with COVID‐19. This study aims to find out the prevalence of maternal mortality and the clinical course of maternal mortality cases due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1st, 2020, to April 30th, 2021, at Postgraduate Institute and YCM Hospital Pimpri Pune (Maharashtra), a dedicated COVID hospital during COVID pandemic. During study period, all pregnant women who were diagnosed to have COVID-19 infection by RT PCR/Rapid Antigen Test were admitted and were enrolled for the study. Aim To audit the maternal mortality due to COVID-19 infection. Primary To estimate the prevalence of maternal mortality due to COVID-19 infection in obstetric patients. Secondary To systematically study and analyze the clinical course of infection in mothers who had mortality due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Data collected in standard format regarding Demography, clinical presentation, need for ICU/HDU, CXR findings, laboratory parameters and cases with maternal mortality were studied in detail to fulfill the study objectives. Results Among 871 COVID-19 cases diagnosed during pregnancy, nine patients had maternal mortality due to covid pneumonia. There was no obvious obstetric cause for mortality in these cases. The prevalence of maternal mortality was 0.01 (1.03%). Cases with maternal mortality were mostly in 3rd Trimester (5 of 9 cases) and presented with moderate to severe illness with breathlessness and myalgia in all 9 cases, cough and fever in 7 out of 9 cases, Tachypneoa was noted in all patients. Saturation below 90 in 6 cases and below 94 in 3 cases. Chest X-ray showed bilateral lung affection in all 9 cases. Leukocytosis with raised N:L ratio was predominantly seen, thrombocytopenia noted in 5 cases and elevated levels of acute phase reactants and inflammatory markers such as CRP, S. ferritin, ESR, LDH, D-dimer and S. fibrinogen was observed. None of the study participants received vaccine for COVID-19. Conclusions COVID-19 pneumonia is an additional toll for maternal mortality. Obstetric patients in 2nd and 3rd trimester having COVID-19 infection with late presentation to hospital, moderate to severe disease (RR > 30 min), with raised inflammatory markers (N:L ratio, CRP, Ferritin, d-Dimer, etc.) at presentation, having bilateral lung affection are at risk of poor maternal outcome.

Background: Preterm birth is the most significant problem in current obstetric practice and according to the World Health Organization is the direct cause accounting for 24% of neonatal deaths. Prevalence of preterm birth range between 7-16% and are similar worldwide. There is scarcity of data on preterm birth in India despite having highest number of births and neonatal deaths in the world. The available data indicate that 15% of all neonatal deaths are caused by prematurity and its complication. Methods: A cross sectional study was done in order to find out incidence of preterm labour and resultant mortality and morbidity associated with preterm deliveries. Over a period of 3 years from 01.01.2008 to 31.12.2010, 3843 pregnant mothers delivered in rural MIMER Medical College, Pune out of which there were 27 cases of twins (24 preterm twins and 3 term twins) and 2 cases of triplets (preterm). Out of 3874 newborns, 476(12.2%) were preterm after excluding the babies with lethal congenital anomalies. 448 mothers (24 preterm twins and 2 preterm triplets) giving birth to 476 preterm babies excluding the lethal congenital malformations were studied. Results: The overall perinatal mortality amongst preterm births for the 3 years were 426.4/ 1000 preterm birth. Preterm deliveries contributed to 61.50 % of perinatal deaths. Out of 476 preterm babies 83 were stillborn and 120 had early neonatal deaths; thus giving a perinatal mortality rate of 426.4 per thousand preterm births. The main cause of perinatal morbidity was LBW, followed by RDS, septicemia, IUGR and birth asphyxia. The mortality of babies was strongly associated with RDS (18.32%), septicaemia (22.5%), extreme prematurity (14.16%) and birth asphyxia (26%). Conclusion: This manuscript describes the design, methodology used and the three years result of this cross sectional study to analyze and audit the perinatal mortality and morbidity due to preterm deliveries in a tertiary care teaching hospital of rural area of Maharashtra.

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Background: Tuberculosis is an airborne infection that causes lung damage, and it is particularly harmful to patients with weakened immune systems or other health problems. Allopathic medications are associated with development of cross resistance or multidrug resistance in diseases such as TB, making treatment more difficult. In this case, Herbal remedies are the most effective in treating this disease. Medicinal plants with antituberculotic qualities provide pharmacists with a new supply of medicine, allowing them to create novel drugs depending on their active constituents or intermediate metabolites. Objective: Many recent studies have shown that ayurvedic medicines can reduce mortality dramatically when administered in such situations because they interact with the body's natural environment. Ayurvedic medicine is growing in popularity due to its low toxicity study and lack of side effects when compared to allopathic treatments. Conclusion: Considering botanical categorization and anti-tubercular action, Anti-tubercular medicinal herbs have been chosen from scientific literature for this review. A primary objective of this study is to highlight antituberculosis plants, their chemical compounds, and their anti-tubercular properties.