This thesis explores professional and parental discourses in relation to gastrostomy feeding technologies. Drawing on resources from feminist poststructuralism as a rationale for interpreting women's accounts, it examines how these ideas can lend themselves to the study of parenting and feeding. Current clinical and research arenas bring health care providers, children and their families to make decisions about children's feeding. A prevalent medical discourse in feeding disabled children revolves around malnourishment and poor growth, prompting a perception of the need for a gastrostomy feeding tube. Interviews with 22 mothers, between 1998 and 2001, formed part of an externally funded evaluation of gastrostomy feeding which the author was employed to coordinate. The author presents a deconstruction of the research study to explore how researchers mediate between different clinical and research discourses, and analyses how the subsequent political and ethical issues impact on children and their families. Women's accounts are analysed as constructing tube feeding as an intervention that either transforms their child by rendering her as 'other', or transforms their way of relating to the child, represented through oral feeding. Tube feeding was also constructed as an infringement of the child's rights to be involved and participate in social arenas, also associated with oral feeding. Both parents and clinicians constructed feeding decisions in terms of the child's best interests but, informed by competing and contradictory discourses, arrived at different conclusions about children's care. Parental accounts are analysed in terms of complex cultural-political overdeterminations between discourses of mothering, children's rights and normative child development. This analysis suggests that the clinical focus on weight-gain may underestimate women's concerns and has implications for how services support families. Drawing on reflexive methodological debates, the author highlights the needs and responses of researchers and clinicians, and indicates how these could be better addressed.

Toilet training is often viewed as a fairly straightforward process. This may be why much of the prescriptive literature available today has not been subject to empirical investigation. This study followed twenty-six children through toilet training to investigate five factors that are assumed to be associated with a successful outcome to training - child readiness, parental readiness, behavioural style of parents, child temperament and the type of approach parent's use to train their child. Three of these five factors - behavioural style of parent's, child temperament and the approach parent's use to train their child - were found to be associated with a successful outcome. Advice for parent's who have difficulties with toilet training is presented along with recommendations for improving the measures used in this study for future research.

This research provides a quantitative analysis of data collected by the MRC funded 'Twins Early Development Study - Environment' also known as the E-Risk study. The E-Risk study is a national sample of 1116 families with twin children who were born in 1994-95. The families were home-visited in 1999-2000 when the children were 5 years old. Using a multi-disciplinary approach the research aims to build knowledge about risk factors and protective factors for childhood antisocial behaviour. Our analysis is fourfold. First, we examine how far distinct measures of parenting behaviour and maternal attitude impact on child antisocial behavioural outcomes. We define parenting behaviour as parental discipline, and measure it by our variable frequency of smacking. Maternal attitude is measured by four variables which assess maternal expressed emotion: maternal warmth, maternal positive comments, maternal negative comments and maternal negativity. Parenting behaviour and maternal attitude are examined from a 'between' family perspective. Second, we extend our analysis beyond the parent-child dyad and examine how far the wider context within which the child develops (Bronfenbrenner 1979), for example, family structure, marital conflict, poverty, and parental antisocial behaviour, impact on child antisocial behaviour outcomes. Third, we introduce our statistically significant parenting and contextual variables into a model to identify some of the key risk factors for antisocial behaviour in children aged 5 years old. Frequency of Smacking relates to both parents smacking of children, whilst maternal attitude measures the mother's attitude only. Lastly, we examine how far our four contextual factors impact on parenting practices. We continue by examining to what extent parenting behaviour and maternal attitude mediates the effect of these contextual factors on child antisocial behaviour at age 5 years old. Our research utilises the E-Risk sampling frame which oversampled younger mothers and we examine the results in terms of a weighted sample which is representative of all mothers and is referred to as 'all' mothers, a younger mother sample and an older mother sample.

Since 1985 a specialist breastfeeding practitioner, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), has been in existence. European and global recommendations propose that IBCLCs are employed within health services to support breastfeeding initiatives, however, the research-based evidence is restricted and did not include any description of the experiences of practitioners. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of IBCLCs in England and in the process understand some of the enablers and barriers of their role. Data was collected through narrative accounts from twelve IBCLCs who worked in the north of England. The first interview asked practitioners to narrate accounts of how they became and practiced as IBCLCs and the second interview, six months later, sought further elucidation on topics that were found to be common experiences to all practitioners. The narrative accounts were analysed through a social constructionist framework where descriptions were drawn into categories, then themes. The four themes were identified as; centred on breastfeeding; developing a breastfeeding practice; chip, chipping away at the breastfeeding practice coalface and maintaining a balance within a professional practice. The IBCLCs described seeking a niche in practice from which they could work with the necessary freedom and autonomy to meet the needs of the breastfeeding dyad. The IBCLCs demonstrated a passion and a woman-centred expertise which led them to being seen as breastfeeding champions. All of the participants extended their role into teaching and managing change in breastfeeding practice but the participants felt underprepared and not well supported for such a role. While the IBCLC qualification provided the professional qualification the participants 19 sought, the study identified issues that needed further consideration.

No description available.

This study examines records that have been made for children and the role they play in the construction of particular discourses of childhood. Firstly, I attempt to define the category of children’s music through reference to texts, audiences and the wider industry. I examine how such definitions have changed over time. Secondly, I assess the role of the adults in the production of children’s records and attempt to answer questions about the dissemination of ideology. How do children’s records indicate how adults perceive children, what they want them to know, to understand, how they want them to behave, and what they want them to become? What are the dominant ideologies being communicated? What role does nostalgia play in the choices adults make in creating records for children? The investigation aims to redress the neglect of the academy by examining a range of case studies to reveal how specific children’s records reflect and construct specific childhoods in different social, historical and geographical contexts. As such, I provide analyses of a variety of discourses of childhood, and theoretical concepts before examining societal attitudes to children in contingent synchronic settings. I employ a structuralist approach to reveal the stability and endurance of specific ideologies of childhood, and to investigate the competing and often contradictory ways in which these have manifested themselves in specific examples of children’s music. The study ‘listens in’ on childhood and examines the conversations that adults have conducted with children through musical artefacts over the years. Through the use of a Children’s Music Quotient, I analyse the degree of ‘childness’ (Hollidale, 1997) of individual texts. Ideas of implied readership, agency and competence are employed to assess the impact of a range of texts on audiences with a range of childness. The study reveals how changes in children’s music map changes in discourses of childhood through the decades. Specifically, folk music of the 1940s and 1950s served to foster the child as a member of a community, and a citizen with wider social responsibilities. The intergenerational appeal of the music of BBC’s Children’s Choice in the 1950s and 1960s frames children as family members consuming partially-age-differentiated musical products at home. Records of the 1970s and 1980s from TV shows such as Sesame Street and Bagpuss serve to partially individuate the child as a viewer through the production of age-differentiated products. Children’s records of the 1990s from The Wiggles, Hannah Montana and tween produce increasingly-individuated consumers of transmedial products. By the early 2000s, Kidz Bop and Pop Jr. related to the child as a consumer with rights and an identity driven by consumption. A study of music from the 2010s reveals the child as a consumer-producer framed in an intergenerational infantilised society.

This thesis uses an exploratory sequential design to examine the relationship between maternal anxiety and infant feeding from pregnancy to parenthood. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the thesis and a contextual framework of breastfeeding behaviour. Chapter 2 systematically reviews the literature examining prenatal anxiety and infant feeding, while Chapter 3 systematically reviews the literature examining postpartum anxiety and infant feeding. Chapter 4 uses qualitative, longitudinal methods to explore the impact of pregnancy-specific anxiety on prenatal infant feeding intentions and subsequent postpartum breastfeeding behaviour. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the emotional and practical experiences of breastfeeding and formula feeding women to identify potentially influencing mechanisms within the relationship. Chapter 7 reports the development and validation of a new measure of postpartum-specific anxiety. Chapter 8 then examines whether this measure is a more effective predictor of infant feeding outcomes than a general measure of anxiety. First, the findings reveal that there is insufficient evidence to make firm conclusions regarding the relationship between prenatal anxiety and infant feeding outcomes. However, the thesis finds convincing evidence for the relationship between postpartum anxiety and diverse infant feeding outcomes and behaviours. Second, a qualitative, longitudinal design suggests that pregnancy-specific anxiety may strengthen breastfeeding intentions in pregnancy, but this does not translate into improved breastfeeding outcomes postpartum. Third, the findings provide consistent evidence that failure to adhere to current infant feeding recommendations elicits negative emotional and practical experiences, which may potentially influence the relationship. Finally, the findings reveal new evidence for the efficacy of a validated measure of postpartum specific anxiety, relative to general measures of anxiety and depression, in predicting infant feeding outcomes and behaviours. Collectively, this thesis demonstrates that maternal anxiety, particularly in the months following childbirth is; like depression; an individual-level determinant of breastfeeding. Policy makers should raise awareness of this under-recognised psychological determinant, and distinguish it from depression, and anxiety occurring at other times of life.

The importance of childcare as a field of study and for public policy has grown in recent times in response to an increase in women in the labour force and increasing evidence of the developmental importance of the early years. Following devolution in the UK childcare is now the responsibility of the devolved Governments. In Wales, some distinctive early childhood policies have been developed, but it is unclear whether or not there is a coherent approach which incorporates childcare. Anecdotally, one of the distinctive features of childcare often highlighted in Wales, is the importance of informal care, yet despite a body of UK research examining informal childcare from a number of perspectives, little is known about the practice in Wales. Whether the use of informal childcare in Wales is distinctive and, if so, why is it important, are key questions that are unanswered. The aim of this research has been to examine the field of childcare in Wales and, within it, the choices that families make between formal and informal care. It utilises the theories of Pierre Bourdieu in the study of childcare as a social practice, using his key ‘thinking tools’ of habitus, capitals and field. The study also follows his methodological approach to researching the topic. Three inter-related strands of research activity are presented in this thesis using mixed methods. First, is a structured analysis of policy and related texts. Secondly, data from the 2015 National Survey for Wales is subjected to quantitative examination to present a picture of informal childcare use in Wales, and thirdly, interviews with 45 parents from three areas of Wales are interpreted using thematic analysis. The research finds that there are indeed distinctive aspects of childcare in Wales, including greater use of informal care and less use of formal childcare than in England. Informal childcare use is found to be less associated with economic capital than accumulations of cultural and social capital. Building on Bourdieu’s theories, it finds that alongside unequal possession of capital, parental habitus including work and care dispositions are important in understanding the decisions that parents make about childcare. Also found are differences in the choices that parents make, and are able to make, according to where they live - as well as some distinctive practices related to Welsh language. In conclusion, this research finds that the distinctiveness of the childcare field in Wales and the policy context are inter-related. The political and ideological framing of childcare in Wales along with the delivery model of formal childcare are found to be incoherent. This can be observed to result in many parents relying on informal childcare to accommodate work and caring responsibilities and preferences. Those parents without access to informal care are therefore considerably disadvantaged.

This study explores the experiences of women who are caring for late preterm baby/babies (LPBs). These women’s experiences are especially relevant to examine, as the number of babies born late preterm is rising. Traditionally mothers and their LPBs have been studied under the umbrella of the general preterm infant population, with all experiences extrapolated from within this group. Whilst there is a growing body of literature related to late preterm babies, the focus is on physiology and physical needs. There is minimal research exploring women's experiences of caring for a late preterm baby and their views largely unknown. My aim was to privilege women's experiences, therefore a feminist approach to research was utilised. A feminist lens offered me an opportunity of understanding the world of women who care for LPBs, and what I learned from their experiences. To obtain in depth perspectives, individual qualitative interviews in two phases were carried out, with a purposefully selected sample of fourteen women who were caring for a baby or babies within the late preterm gestation in South West England. Template Analysis linked to Birth Territory Theory (BTT) was carried out to identify key issues and experiences of women. The findings indicate women who become mothers’ of late preterm babies have a complex journey. It is one which begins with separation, with babies being cared for in unfamiliar and highly technical environments where the perceived experts are healthcare professionals. Women’s needs are side-lined in favour of their baby/babies, and they are required to mother with ‘powerless responsibility’. Institutional and professional barriers to mothering/caring are numerous. The study recommends organisations and healthcare professionals listen to women, hear their stories and use their experiences of mothering/caring to direct developments in practice. Professionals need to accept late preterm babies do not belong to an institution and to the professionals that work within it, but instead recognise a mother’s prime relationship is with her baby and thus work with women to facilitate autonomous mother-work.

It has long been recognised that breastfeeding rates in the UK are substantially below an optimal level to promote the health of mothers and infants. While there are many variables which affect a mother's decision to breastfeed a significant factor in the discontinuation of breastfeeding is infant distress, maternal distress and maternal pain and discomfort brought about through poor positioning. Poor positioning is often the result of the wholly unsuitable type of furniture that mothers use to aid breastfeeding whether making use of furniture supplied in hospitals, GP waiting areas and clinics, or making use of the domestic furniture to be found in the family home. However, despite this it remains true that to date, despite a perceived need to design a breastfeeding chair, there has been no published research which has tested furniture designed to assist breastfeeding and there is no furniture currently in production which supports the needs of breastfeeding women. It has been the purpose of this thesis to specifically examine and address these observations and to explore the feasibility of a breastfeeding chair suited to the needs of breastfeeding women. In order to do this the thesis reviews furniture which has been improvised and appropriated for breastfeeding and through a series of case studies, analyses examples of breastfeeding posture in order to generate relevant and unique ergonomic data. Through further allied research, related cultural and medical issues are also identified and discussed in order that an appropriate design brief for a breastfeeding chair might be defined and its specification detailed. Finally, in order to explicate the design process, the thesis traces the development of the chair through prototyping and into its eventual commercial production. The thesis concludes with a critique of that process and recommendations for further research.