Drugs intake during pregnancy may adversely affect developing embryo or fetus. These drugs are known as teratogen. So to be safe, only drugs that are absolutely necessary should be used with permission of knowledgeable practitioner. Aim: to assess level of women's knowledge about teratogenicity of drugs used during pregnancy. Research design: a cross sectional study. Material & methods: this study was conducted in Maternal and Child Health care Centers at Minia city. The study included 300 pregnant women, an interview sheet was used by the researcher to assess socio-demographic characteristics, obstetrical characteristics, and knowledge about drug intake during pregnancy. Results: the main finding of the study were exploring that more than half of the study sample had inadequate and poor knowledge regarding drug intake during pregnancy and only 28.7% of sample had adequate knowledge especially in relation to the risk time for taking drugs. The most common reasons for taking drugs was common cold 26.9%, drugs,18.3%to relieve headache and 45.2% of sample take drugs for heartburn. in this study, it was also found that certain factors seemed to affect women's knowledge regarding drug intake during pregnancy such as illiteracy, being housewife, and young age. Conclusion: women lack essential knowledge regarding drugs intake during pregnancy. These findings indicate need to inform pregnant women about dangers of drugs use during pregnancy especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Physician and nurses should play a key role in communicating theses risks.

Background: Nursing students experience many stressors in their academic lives and they often eat as a way of dealing with stress. Aim of the Study: The purpose of this study was to deter-mine if there was a correlation between stress among nursing students and their patterns of eating habits in Assiut City, Egypt. Subjects and Methods: The study included 1078 female nursing students between the ages 15-22 years who were conveniently sampled. A cross-sectional survey was conducted including students of the first and the last years of graduation. The study was conducted in the period from December 2012 to May 2013. The study applied. The Compulsive Eating Scale (CES) and the Stressful Situations Questionnaire (SSQ) were used to measure each variable. Results: There was a highly significant relation between CES, stress (SSQ) and students’ age (p=0.001). The high mean score was present in age group (20-22 year) at early adulthood of development. According to class rank, there was a highly significant relation between stress (SSQ) and class rank of students (p=0.001), the higher percentage of students (86%) had high level of stress while 94.5% had poor eating scale. A highly positive correlation between uncontrollable eating habits and stress was present. Conclusions and Recommendations: This study showed consistent associations between unhealthy eating habits and exposure to stressful situations among female nursing students. Students living at parental home during university years displayed healthier nutritional habits than residing outside family home. It is necessary for students to be aware of the possible correlation between stress and uncontrollable eating habits, and alternative strategies for coping to stress should be presented to them. This suggests that during stress students need counseling services to choose course of action that involves a constructive way to deal with stress and starting to gain control in stressful situations. Also we must promote activities that keep them calm and centered, such as exercise, journaling or meditation.

Background: Nursing students experience many stressors in their academic lives and they often eat as a way of dealing with stress. Aim of the Study: The purpose of this study was to deter-mine if there was a correlation between stress among nursing students and their patterns of eating habits in Assiut City, Egypt. Subjects and Methods: The study included 1078 female nursing students between the ages 15-22 years who were conveniently sampled. A cross-sectional survey was conducted including students of the first and the last years of graduation. The study was conducted in the period from December 2012 to May 2013. The study applied. The Compulsive Eating Scale (CES) and the Stressful Situations Questionnaire (SSQ) were used to measure each variable. Results: There was a highly significant relation between CES, stress (SSQ) and students’ age (p=0.001). The high mean score was present in age group (20-22 year) at early adulthood of development. According to class rank, there was a highly significant relation between stress (SSQ) and class rank of students (p=0.001), the higher percentage of students (86%) had high level of stress while 94.5% had poor eating scale. A highly positive correlation between uncontrollable eating habits and stress was present. Conclusions and Recommendations: This study showed consistent associations between unhealthy eating habits and exposure to stressful situations among female nursing students. Students living at parental home during university years displayed healthier nutritional habits than residing outside family home. It is necessary for students to be aware of the possible correlation between stress and uncontrollable eating habits, and alternative strategies for coping to stress should be presented to them. This suggests that during stress students need counseling services to choose course of action that involves a constructive way to deal with stress and starting to gain control in stressful situations. Also we must promote activities that keep them calm and centered, such as exercise, journaling or meditation.

Increase in population awareness of exclusive and prolonged breast-feeding would be of considerable potential public health benefit in Egypt. Lactation amenorrhea method is a reliable form of contraception for up to six months following childbirth. Provided that the mother's periods have not returned and she is exclusively breastfeeding with sufficient feeds and no dummy or bottle use. The aims of this study was to assess knowledge of mothers' about exclusive and prolonged beast-feeding as a method of delaying pregnancy and, planning, implementing and evaluating a counseling intervention on promoting this method. A Quiz experimental design was used in carrying out this study using pre- posttest. The study was conducted at the Rural Health Unite and at El- Moteaa village which was randomly selected. The sample was 200 mothers attended the study setting for delivery. One hundred mothers were randomly assigned to intervention group and 100 for the control group. All mothers in the two groups reported intention to breast feed their babies. Intention to exclusively breast feeding was reported by 74% of the intervention group compared to 41 of the control group. Over all there was statistical significance improvement in mothers' knowledge at the post intervention regarding method of exclusive and prolonged breast feeding and its effect on delaying pregnancy. Also, pregnancy occurs in 9 women at the intervention group compared to 30 of the control group. The intervention was effective in correcting mothers' knowledge about exclusive and prolonged breast feeding and was significantly effective in delaying pregnancy among the intervention group. It was recommended that educational and counseling session about exclusive breast feeding should be provided by nurses about positive role in delaying pregnancy in the six months postpartum

Increase in population awareness of exclusive and prolonged breast-feeding would be of considerable potential public health benefit in Egypt. Lactation amenorrhea method is a reliable form of contraception for up to six months following childbirth. Provided that the mother's periods have not returned and she is exclusively breastfeeding with sufficient feeds and no dummy or bottle use. The aims of this study was to assess knowledge of mothers' about exclusive and prolonged beast-feeding as a method of delaying pregnancy and, planning, implementing and evaluating a counseling intervention on promoting this method. A Quiz experimental design was used in carrying out this study using pre- posttest. The study was conducted at the Rural Health Unite and at El- Moteaa village which was randomly selected. The sample was 200 mothers attended the study setting for delivery. One hundred mothers were randomly assigned to intervention group and 100 for the control group. All mothers in the two groups reported intention to breast feed their babies. Intention to exclusively breast feeding was reported by 74% of the intervention group compared to 41 of the control group. Over all there was statistical significance improvement in mothers' knowledge at the post intervention regarding method of exclusive and prolonged breast feeding and its effect on delaying pregnancy. Also, pregnancy occurs in 9 women at the intervention group compared to 30 of the control group. The intervention was effective in correcting mothers' knowledge about exclusive and prolonged breast feeding and was significantly effective in delaying pregnancy among the intervention group. It was recommended that educational and counseling session about exclusive breast feeding should be provided by nurses about positive role in delaying pregnancy in the six months postpartum

Adolescents around 17 million in Egypt (2005) have different needs and require different counseling approaches and more information. Adolescence is a critical stage for risk-taking because adolescents are moving toward independence and tend to experiment and test limits. Aim of this study: was to determine the problems of female adolescents, and provide information about reproductive health. Subject and methods: Cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in nursing secondary schools and technical institutes in Assiut city in Upper Egypt with total number of 514 adolescent female students which are recruited. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire sheet and a physical assessment sheet. Results: The study revealed that 94.6% of the girls were circumcised, and 98.2% had their menarche. Overall, 65.5% had satisfactory knowledge, and 81.5% had positive attitude. The main sources of information were classroom whereas parents, newspapers, and magazines were less reported. There was a statistical significance difference between knowledge and had circumcision (p=0.002), also, between knowledge about reproduction and their related attitudes and beliefs (p0.001). Conclusion: unmet information needs were related to female genital mutilation, family planning, pregnancy and labor, and the preferred sources are school book, media, and parents. Recommendations: It is recommended that the unmet needs identified should be used for development of educational programs for adolescents. The role of the parents, as well as health care providers needs to be fostered through using of multimedia as television and radio

Adolescents around 17 million in Egypt (2005) have different needs and require different counseling approaches and more information. Adolescence is a critical stage for risk-taking because adolescents are moving toward independence and tend to experiment and test limits. Aim of this study: was to determine the problems of female adolescents, and provide information about reproductive health. Subject and methods: Cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in nursing secondary schools and technical institutes in Assiut city in Upper Egypt with total number of 514 adolescent female students which are recruited. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire sheet and a physical assessment sheet. Results: The study revealed that 94.6% of the girls were circumcised, and 98.2% had their menarche. Overall, 65.5% had satisfactory knowledge, and 81.5% had positive attitude. The main sources of information were classroom whereas parents, newspapers, and magazines were less reported. There was a statistical significance difference between knowledge and had circumcision (p=0.002), also, between knowledge about reproduction and their related attitudes and beliefs (p0.001). Conclusion: unmet information needs were related to female genital mutilation, family planning, pregnancy and labor, and the preferred sources are school book, media, and parents. Recommendations: It is recommended that the unmet needs identified should be used for development of educational programs for adolescents. The role of the parents, as well as health care providers needs to be fostered through using of multimedia as television and radio

Adolescents around 17 million in Egypt (2005) have different needs and require different counseling approaches and more information. Adolescence is a critical stage for risk-taking because adolescents are moving toward independence and tend to experiment and test limits. Aim of this study: was to determine the problems of female adolescents, and provide information about reproductive health. Subject and methods: Cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in nursing secondary schools and technical institutes in Assiut city in Upper Egypt with total number of 514 adolescent female students which are recruited. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire sheet and a physical assessment sheet. Results: The study revealed that 94.6% of the girls were circumcised, and 98.2% had their menarche. Overall, 65.5% had satisfactory knowledge, and 81.5% had positive attitude. The main sources of information were classroom whereas parents, newspapers, and magazines were less reported. There was a statistical significance difference between knowledge and had circumcision (p=0.002), also, between knowledge about reproduction and their related attitudes and beliefs (p0.001). Conclusion: unmet information needs were related to female genital mutilation, family planning, pregnancy and labor, and the preferred sources are school book, media, and parents. Recommendations: It is recommended that the unmet needs identified should be used for development of educational programs for adolescents. The role of the parents, as well as health care providers needs to be fostered through using of multimedia as television and radio

Most females exhibit some degree of pain and discomfort during menstrual period, which can impact on their daily activities, and disturb their productivity at home or at their workplace. In our country many girls may lack appropriate and sufficient information regarding dysmenorrhea and menstrual hygiene, causing incorrect unhealthy behavior during their menstrual periods. This study was done for the adolescent girls to assess the prevalence & pattern of dysmenorrhea and to examine the menstrual hygiene practices among students in some Elminia nursing schools. This study conducted in some nursing school at EL-Minia governorate (Mallawy, and Abu- korkas) nursing schools. These schools were selected for data collection between the periods from Feb. 2009 to May 2009. The sample comprised 160 eligible female students according to the following criteria 14: 19 years of age, single female and free from medical & gynecological problems. The study applied a descriptive cross sectional design in which two tools were used for data collection. A special structured questionnaire was designed to assess sociodemographic characteristics, information about menstrual characteristics and practices related to menstrual hygiene and verbal multidimensional scoring system for assessment of dysmenorrhea was used to assess the severity of pain. This study was carried out in two phases; preparatory phase and the implementation phase. The present study reported a high prevalence rate of dysmenorrhea (94.4%) was categorized as (49.0%) for 1st degree of pain, (34.4%) for second-degree and (16.6%) for third-degree. Measures taken to relieve dysmenorrhea were found to be: intake of certain types of domestic hot drinks (43.0%), taking analgesics (22.5%), and (66.2%) Perform physical activities during menstrual period. All students (100.0%) took complete hot baths during menstruation. About one-fourth (26.9 %) of students just took rest and staying at home, who believed that physical activities will increase the menstrual pain and increase feeling of exhaustion. On conclusion the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea was observed and the useful measures mentioned and encouraged are: exercise practiced by (66.2%) of students and the entire students (100%) take hot bath during menstruation (76.8%) from them practiced hot bath as a management for dysmenorrhea, however the necessity to adopt a healthy behavior, which includes: appropriate nutrition and appropriate use of medications based on a physician's prescription was a very important issue.

Most females exhibit some degree of pain and discomfort during menstrual period, which can impact on their daily activities, and disturb their productivity at home or at their workplace. In our country many girls may lack appropriate and sufficient information regarding dysmenorrhea and menstrual hygiene, causing incorrect unhealthy behavior during their menstrual periods. This study was done for the adolescent girls to assess the prevalence & pattern of dysmenorrhea and to examine the menstrual hygiene practices among students in some Elminia nursing schools. This study conducted in some nursing school at EL-Minia governorate (Mallawy, and Abu- korkas) nursing schools. These schools were selected for data collection between the periods from Feb. 2009 to May 2009. The sample comprised 160 eligible female students according to the following criteria 14: 19 years of age, single female and free from medical & gynecological problems. The study applied a descriptive cross sectional design in which two tools were used for data collection. A special structured questionnaire was designed to assess sociodemographic characteristics, information about menstrual characteristics and practices related to menstrual hygiene and verbal multidimensional scoring system for assessment of dysmenorrhea was used to assess the severity of pain. This study was carried out in two phases; preparatory phase and the implementation phase. The present study reported a high prevalence rate of dysmenorrhea (94.4%) was categorized as (49.0%) for 1st degree of pain, (34.4%) for second-degree and (16.6%) for third-degree. Measures taken to relieve dysmenorrhea were found to be: intake of certain types of domestic hot drinks (43.0%), taking analgesics (22.5%), and (66.2%) Perform physical activities during menstrual period. All students (100.0%) took complete hot baths during menstruation. About one-fourth (26.9 %) of students just took rest and staying at home, who believed that physical activities will increase the menstrual pain and increase feeling of exhaustion. On conclusion the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea was observed and the useful measures mentioned and encouraged are: exercise practiced by (66.2%) of students and the entire students (100%) take hot bath during menstruation (76.8%) from them practiced hot bath as a management for dysmenorrhea, however the necessity to adopt a healthy behavior, which includes: appropriate nutrition and appropriate use of medications based on a physician's prescription was a very important issue.