A positive experience of the perinatal period is significant for women in midwifery care. The literature on women’s experiences of the care in this period is extensive. However, a clear overview of the dimensions important for women’s experiences is lacking. Consequently, care providers and researchers may ignore aspects significant to women’s experience. In this short communication, we present a framework identifying the dimensions relevant for women’s experiences of the perinatal period.
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OBJECTIVES: To examine the effectiveness of critical time intervention (CTI)-an evidence-based intervention-for abused women transitioning from women's shelters to community living.METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in nine women's shelters across the Netherlands. 136 women were assigned to CTI (n = 70) or care-as-usual (n = 66). Data were analyzed using intention-to-treat three-level mixed-effects models.RESULTS: Women in the CTI group had significant fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress (secondary outcome) (adjusted mean difference - 7.27, 95% CI - 14.31 to - 0.22) and a significant fourfold reduction in unmet care needs (intermediate outcome) (95% CI 0.06-0.94) compared to women in the care-as-usual group. No differences were found for quality of life (primary outcome), re-abuse, symptoms of depression, psychological distress, self-esteem (secondary outcomes), family support, and social support (intermediate outcomes).CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that CTI is effective in a population of abused women in terms of a reduction of post-traumatic stress symptoms and unmet care needs. Because follow-up ended after the prescribed intervention period, further research is needed to determine the full long-term effects of CTI in this population.
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Objective To synthesise qualitative studies on women’s psychological experiences of physiological childbirth. Design Meta-synthesis. Methods Studies exploring women’s psychological experiences of physiological birth using qualitative methods were eligible. The research group searched the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, SocINDEX and Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection. We contacted the key authors searched reference lists of the collected articles. Quality assessment was done independently using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Studies were synthesised using techniques of meta-ethnography. Results Eight studies involving 94 women were included. Three third order interpretations were identified: ‘maintaining self-confidence in early labour’, ‘withdrawing within as labour intensifies’ and ‘the uniqueness of the birth experience’. Using the first, second and third order interpretations, a line of argument developed that demonstrated ‘the empowering journey of giving birth’ encompassing the various emotions, thoughts and behaviours that women experience during birth. Conclusion Giving birth physiologically is an intense and transformative psychological experience that generates a sense of empowerment. The benefits of this process can be maximised through physical, emotional and social support for women, enhancing their belief in their ability to birth and not disturbing physiology unless it is necessary. Healthcare professionals need to take cognisance of the empowering effects of the psychological experience of physiological childbirth. Further research to validate the results from this study is necessary.
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Analyse the results from a representative selection of the supply chain studies for school feeding programmes in Kenya, Ghana and Mali, and make specific suggestions for interventions that can efficiently include SHF in the supply chains.
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In the preparation of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the MA CESS all alumni were invited to participate in an alumni survey. The purpose of the survey was to thoroughly investigate the professional activities of MA CESS alumni and the way they build an alumni community. Another reason for starting the project is that it may play a part in maintaining and enhancing a mutually beneficial relationship between MA CESS and its alumni. All over Europe there are graduates working in the social and social political field who experienced the same education and spirit in the MA CESS course. It’s an important thing to reach out to them, renew and encourage a spirit of enthusiasm and desire for continuing education, by creating instruments of communication and networking opportunities. The first part of the report deals with the construction of the alumni survey, namely the background, the assignment, the survey design, the sampling, the research limitations, the influences of gender and age on professional activities and the way of making contacts, facts and figures about the sectors of activity in which the alumni are engaged, what alumni have to say about the international dimension in their professional activities, their ideas about network building, and finally their critiques and suggestions for the MA CESS study programme. The second part contains a reflection about the alumni community, particularly the role of CESSNET (Network of the Comparative European Social Studies Alumni ) in the strategy to reach out to the alumni. The report ends with conclusions and recommendations.
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Background: Empowerment is expected to have a beneficial effect on a woman’s well-being during the perinatal period and her readiness to face the challenges of motherhood. In the literature on pregnancy and childbirth, empowerment is used widely in different contexts, with different connotations and often without a definition, thus indicating a lack of clarity of what is actually meant by the concept. Objective: To report an analysis of the concept of women’s empowerment in the context of the perinatal period. Methods: We used the concept analysis framework of Walker and Avant to analyse the concept of women’s empowerment during pregnancy and childbirth. In July 2018, we did a systematic search in EBSCOhost, including the database MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and SocINDEX, using keywords: empower, women, childbirth and their synonyms. All selected papers were analysed for definitions of empowerment, defining attributes, antecedents and consequences. Results: Ninety-seven scientific papers from all continents were included in the analysis. Defining attributes, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents are discussed, and a model case as well as related and contrary cases are presented. Conclusion: Attributes, external and internal to the woman, were identified. Both types of attributes need to be considered within the broader socio-cultural-economic-political landscape of the individual woman, in conjunction with a woman’s belief in herself and her meaningful interconnectedness with carers. Relevance: This study resulted in an understanding of empowerment in the context of pregnancy and childbirth that can be used in research and for the development of interventions preparing women for childbirth and their subsequent transition to motherhood.
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In media audience research we tend to assume that media are engaged with when they are used, however ‘light’ such engagement might be. Once ‘passive media use’ was banned as a reference to media use, being a media audience member became synonymous with being a meaning producer. In audience research however I find that media are not always the object of meaning making in daily life and that media texts can be hardly meaningful. Thinking about media and engagement, there is a threefold challenge in relation to audience research. The coming into being of platform media and hence of new forms of media production on a micro level that come out of and are woven into practices of media use, suggests that we need to redraft the repertoire of terms used in audience research (and maybe start calling it something else). Material and immaterial media production, the unpaid labour on the part of otherwise audience members should for instance be taken into account. Then, secondly, there is the continuing challenge to further develop heuristically strong ways of linking media use and meaning making, and most of all to do justice, thirdly, to those moments and ways in which audiences truly engage with media texts without identifying them with those texts.
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Introduction: Shared decision-making is considered to be a key aspect of woman-centered care and a strategy to improve communication, respect, and satisfaction. This scoping review identified studies that used a shared decision-making support strategy as the primary intervention in the context of perinatal care. Methods: A literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and SCOPUS databases was completed for English-language studies conducted from January 2000 through November 2019 that examined the impact of a shared decision-making support strategy on a perinatal decision (such as choice of mode of birth after prior cesarean birth). Studies that only examined the use of a decision aid were excluded. Nine studies met inclusion criteria and were examined for the nature of the shared decision-making intervention as well as outcome measures such as decisional evaluation, including decisional conflict, decisional regret, and certainty. Results: The 9 included studies were heterogeneous with regard to shared decision-making interventions and measured outcomes and were performed in different countries and in a variety of perinatal situations, such as women facing the choice of mode of birth after prior cesarean birth. The impact of a shared decision-making intervention on women’s perception of shared decision-making and on their experiences of the decision-making process were mixed. There may be a decrease in decisional conflict and regret related to feeling informed, but no change in decisional certainty. Discussion: Despite the call to increase the use of shared decision-making in perinatal care, there are few studies that have examined the effects of a shared decision-making support strategy. Further studies that include antepartum and intrapartum settings, which include common perinatal decisions such as induction of labor, are needed. In addition, clear guidance and strategies for successfully integrating shared decision-making and practice recommendations would help women and health care providers navigate these complex decisions.
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Despite the consequences for women’s health, a repeat cesarean section (CS) birth after a previous CS is common in Western countries. Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) is recommended for most women, yet VBAC rates are decreasing and vary across maternity organizations and countries. We investigated women’s views on factors of importance for improving the rate of VBAC in countries where VBAC rates are high. We interviewed 22 women who had experienced VBAC in Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. We used content analysis, which revealed five categories: receiving information from supportive clinicians, receiving professional support from a calm and confident midwife/obstetrician during childbirth, knowing the advantages of VBAC, letting go of the previous childbirth in preparation for the new birth, and viewing VBAC as the first alternative for all involved when no complications are present. These findings reflect not only women’s needs but also sociocultural factors influencing their views on VBAC.
MULTIFILE
The European Manifesto for Inclusive Learning is an initiative of the University of Florence to promote adult education for migrants and refugees. The program seeks to provide “a concrete tool for adult educators to promote adult learning in their local context”. In order to achieve this goal, eight European Union partners in different EU countries collaborated intensively for 1 ½ year to exchange experiences, expand opportunities and to seek to promote a more coordinated and integrated approach. Each partner collected case studies of good practices using a common tool for collecting data. The results of the Dutch partner, The Hague University of Applied Sciences are presented here. Seven cases have been studied with very different, mainly informal ways of mutual learning in the Netherlands. First the Manifesto is described in more detail. This is followed by a sketch of refugee flows to the Netherlands and the Dutch asylum system. After these chapters, the different cases are presented, followed by a conclusion and recommendations based on the Dutch good practices.
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