Women’s National Hockey Team regarding USA Hockey’s inequitable allocation of resources to the women’s hockey program and unjust treatment of national team members.

As you know, the women’s team has chosen to boycott the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship games, citing faltering negotiations with USA Hockey regarding equitable pay and resources. Among other issues, the women note that USA Hockey expects female players to “train full time and compete throughout the year,” yet pays them only $6,000 every four years, an amount that would put them far below the poverty line. The women’s team is in the process of negotiating a four-year contract with USA Hockey that includes “appropriate compensation.”

As the National Governing Body for ice hockey in the United States, USA Hockey is required byadmitted to the hospitals before delivery and respective vertical transmission rates to the neonates, using PCR method.

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A total of 239 pregnant women referred to Hafez and Zeinabiye hospitals for delivery were enrolled in the study during 3 months. Over 50% of all the deliveries in Shiraz are performed in these two hospitals, with more than 60% vaginal delivery. Pregnant women from different regions and of various socioeconomic statuses are admitted. This study includes the women with vaginal delivery with no history of antibiotics prepartum and their neonates had not received prophylactic ophthalmic antibiotics, either. Endocervical and eye swab samples were obtained from the mothers and their neonates, respectively. The former were taken by a sterile cotton swab from endocervix before delivery and the latter by the scraping of