Domestic violence against infertile women is a considerable yet unreported problem. Clinicians should identify the abused women and provide them with medical care and supportive counseling.

Table S1. Associations of S-Anxiety scores on Weeks 1 versus 3 and 3 versus 6. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for the analyses.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common disorder. Although the etiology of PMS is not clear, to relieve from this syndrome different methods are recommended. One of them is use of medicinal herbs. This study was carried out to evaluate effects of ginger on severity of symptoms of PMS. This study was a clinical trial, double-blinded work, and participants were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 35) and control (n = 35) groups. To determine persons suffering from PMS, participants completed daily record scale questionnaire for two consecutive cycles. After identification, each participant received two ginger capsules daily from seven days before menstruation to three days after menstruation for three cycles and they recorded severity of the symptoms by daily record scale questionnaire. Data before intervention were compared with date 1, 2, and 3 months after intervention. Before intervention, there were no significant differences between the mean scores of PMS symptoms in the two groups, but after 1, 2, and 3 months of treatment, there was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.0001). Based on the results of this study, maybe ginger is effective in the reduction of severity of mood and physical and behavioral symptoms of PMS and we suggest ginger as treatment for PMS.

Background:The application of family planning methods to people with HIV not only prevents unwanted pregnancy, but also leads to a reduction in the possibility of transmission of the virus from the patient to the sexual partner and the fetus. In order to prevent the spread of HIV and enhance reproductive rights, it is necessary to inform women with HIV of the contraception methods.Objective:The aim of this study was to explore experiences of HIV positive women about contraception use.Method:This qualitative study was conducted on 18 women with HIV who were at reproductive age and had referred the Center for clients with Risky Behavior in Imam Khomeini Hospital. Data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis method in MAXQDA 10.Results:The following two themes were derived from descriptions of the use of contraception methods by women with HIV: 1) Contraception is the forgotten component of reproductive health services; 2) inconsistent condom use. Each theme also contained three sub-themes.Conclusion:Results of investigations showed that Risky Behavior consultation Centers mostly stress the use of condom for husband/sexual partners without HIV. In addition, since health care practitioners play an important role in provision of reproductive health services, their lack of knowledge and cooperation considerably contribute to the spread of the disease and violation of patient rights.

Breast self-examination (BSE) is one of many first-line screening practices aimed at early detection and prevention of fatal outcomes of breast cancer. The present study aimed to identify Palestinian women’s practices, awareness, and barriers to BSE. Using descriptive-analytical methods, a previously validated questionnaire was administered to a conveniently selected sample of women. The study was conducted among women who visited primary health clinics (PHCs) in Gaza City. A total of 390 participants who met the selection criteria answered the self-administered questionnaires. We used SPSS version 24.0 to analyze the data. The findings suggest that the practice of BSE among women in Gaza is low, with only 40% of the study participants reporting that they never practiced BSE before, even though 76.7% reported that they were aware of BSE. In general, the main barriers to BSE practices were that participants had wrong perceptions and lacked knowledge about BSE. Others also reported fear of detecting breast cancer as a barrier. The practice of BSE among Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip is low and marred with trivial issues as barriers that could be eliminated with dedicated and extensive educational campaigns in the area.

Objective:Youth is defined as the time of transition into adulthood and an important period in a person’s life. During this period new behavior is learned easier than adulthood. Therefore, special attention has to be necessarily paid to this period in order to promote the health. Addressing adolescent reproductive health issues is also a critical factorMethods:This research was a qualitative study conducted from January 2014 to July 2014. Data from focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with 25 female students and 10 key members of the university (including university authorities, consultants, reproductive health professionals and university officials) was collected and all interviews were recorded, formulated and classified.Results:The mean age of participants was 22.43 years. A total of 8 students majored in geology, 5 majored in chemistry, 3 in statistics, 3 in mathematics, and 6 in biology. 17 had a bachelor’s degree, 3 master’s degree and 5 doctorate degree. Majority of students (82.4%) were never married and 23 of them lived in dormitories. The following three main themes were extracted from the interviews: Reproduction thought as pregnancy; the taboo of sex; and inappropriate relation between parents and children.Conclusion:Most participants stressed the need to provide reproductive health services for young girls.

Introduction Mothers, who often serve as primary care-givers for their offspring, play a crucial role in the development of children. Understanding the parenting experiences of mothers who are blind can be valuable and beneficial for professional educators and health care workers who wish to provide holistic and appropriate services to both mothers who are blind and their children. This study aimed to explore the experience of mother-child integration by mothers who are blind living in Iran. Methods A hermeneutic phenomenology approach was adopted to conduct the study. Congruent with this approach, Van Manen's (1990) method consisted of six interplay activities that helped the researchers in the process of the study. Semistructured in-depth interviews were performed to produce qualitative data with nine mothers who are blind. The thematic analysis introduced by Van Manen was used to isolate and extract the meaning units, subthemes, and the main theme hidden in the lived stories of the participants. Results “Close nurturers” was the overarching theme extracted from the experience of mothers who are blind, which emerged from six themes: monitoring by alternative senses, monitoring by careful calls and staying vigilant, loving by heart and imagining in mind, discovering the child's intentions, parenting anxiety, and deficits in communication. Discussion Blindness changes the mothering behaviors of women who are blind to the extent that they often adopt a close-mothering approach in caring for their children. This approach helps them to cope with their limitations and thereby decrease their level of child-related anxiety. Health professionals should consider the concept of close nurturers to better understand the behaviors of mothers who are blind. Implications for practitioners Understanding the lived experiences of mothers with blindness can generate valuable knowledge that can be used to provide appropriate health care and other support services for these women and their children.

Background and aimEarly marriage threatens the health and human rights of millions of girls all around the world. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of Iranian teenage women about marriage in adolescence.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted based on the conventional content analysis approach on 14 teenage married women (aged13–19 years) who attended all urban-rural healthcare centers (4 centers) in Ardabil, Iran between May 2016 and Jan 2017. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Purposeful sampling was continued until data saturation. The data were analyzed using the Graneheim and Landman strategies.ResultsThe mean age at marriage was 13.2 (SD=1.25) years and the duration of marital life ranged from 45 days to 3 years. During the data analysis, three main categories were extracted that each of them consisted of three sub-categories. The main categories, included “a false sense of sexual development”, “death of dreams”, and “threatened independence”.ConclusionResults of this study revealed that teenage women could not comprehend opportunities in life. These findings could help health care providers and policy makers to provide teenage women with special care and better support to prevent negative consequences of early marriage.