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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the complete closure of many university campuses and a rapid shift to complete online delivery of university teaching. Understanding the student experience of online learning under these conditions is important to inform improvements and adaptations to continued online delivery of university services. The aim of this study was to examine students' experience of online learning, studying, and assessment during the pandemic and investigate the association between these perceptions and measures of psychological health. A cohort of 391 undergraduate students completed measures of stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing at the beginning and end of a semester during which a shift to complete remote delivery of university teaching occurred due to COVID-19 restrictions. Students also rated how stressful or difficult they found five aspects of online learning, study and assessment which was used to calculate a composite score. T-tests were used to compare stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing scores from the beginning and end of the semester. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between online learning composite score and psychological health measures. Unexpectedly, stress and psychological wellbeing improved over the semester during which the university campus closed, and all teaching and assessments were online. Students with higher stress scores and lower psychological wellbeing scores at the beginning of the semester were more likely to experience difficulty and stress with online teaching.

BackgroundLate stillbirth, which occurs ≥28 weeks' gestation, affects 1.3-8.8 per 1000 births in high-income countries. Of concern, most occur in women without established risk factors. Identification of potentially modifiable risk factors that relate to maternal behaviors remains a priority in stillbirth prevention research. This study aimed to investigate, in an international cohort, whether maternal sleep practices are related to late stillbirth.MethodsAn Internet-based case-control study of women who had a stillbirth ≥28 weeks' gestation within 30 days before completing the survey (n = 153) and women with an ongoing third-trimester pregnancy or who had delivered a live born child within 30 days (n = 480). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (OR and aOR, respectively) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for stillbirth.ResultsSleeping >9 hours per night in the previous month was associated with stillbirth (aOR 1.75 [95% CI 1.10-2.79]), as was waking on the right side (2.27 [1.31-3.92]). Nonrestless sleep in the last month was also found to be associated with stillbirth (1.73 [1.03-2.99]), with good sleep quality in the last month approaching significance (1.64 [0.98-2.75]). On the last night of pregnancy, not waking more than one time was associated with stillbirth (2.03 [1.24-3.34]). No relationship was found with going to sleep position during pregnancy, although very few women reported settling in the supine position (2.4%).ConclusionsLong periods of undisturbed sleep are associated with late stillbirth. Physiological studies of how the neuroendocrine and autonomic system pathways are regulated during sleep in the context of late pregnancy are warranted.

Aim: To estimate the relative risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) by district health board (DHB) in New Zealand after adjustment for socio‐economic deprivation, ethnicity and other demographic factors. Methods: We conducted a population‐based cohort study using data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure, a large research database containing linked data from a range of government agencies. The study population was all live births and their mothers in New Zealand from 2012 to 2018. The exposure of interest was DHB. The outcome was SUDI. Results: There were 418 068 live births in New Zealand from 2012 to 2018, and of these 415 401 (99.4%) had valid DHB data. There was considerable variation in the proportion of infants in each DHB living in the most deprived decile varying from 4.5% in Nelson, West Coast and Canterbury to 29.7% in Counties Manukau. There were 267 SUDI cases, giving an overall rate of 0.64/1000 live births during the study period (2012–2018). The SUDI rate varied from 1.11/1000 in Northland to 0.30/1000 in Waitemata and Auckland. Counties Manukau had the largest number of deaths (n = 54; rate = 1.08/1000). Five DHB regions had increased risk of SUDI compared to the reference group but, after adjustment, no DHB was significantly increased. Conclusions: This study found that there is marked variation in SUDI risk by DHB, but this is explained by socio‐economic and demographic variation within DHBs. This study emphasises the importance of the contribution of social determinants of health to SUDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The fall of a newborn baby to the hospital floor is a devastating experience for the family and staff caring for the mother and baby. The aim of this study was to report our experience in an ethnically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged community. Methods: The study was a retrospective case series of all baby falls in the Counties Manukau Health (New Zealand) post‐natal care wards, birthing suites and birthing units from 2015 to 2018. Information from the incident reporting system was used to identify the circumstances surrounding the fall. In addition, medical records of the mother and the baby were examined for the admission during which the fall occurred. Results: There were 32 cases (rate 12.1/10 000 live births). Mothers of babies who fell were more likely to present late for antenatal care, to smoke and be obese. They were more likely to have delivered by caesarean. Falls were more likely to occur at night and around weekends. In most instances (84%) the mother fell asleep with baby on the bed while breastfeeding. There were no major injuries. Conclusions: The rate of baby falls is considerably greater than previous reports. Recommendations are made to reduce this occurrence. These can be incorporated into safe sleep education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]