<p>This study aimed to explore the attitudes to HIV testing among a group of black, low socio-economic status pregnant women from Gugulethu, South Africa. The key research interest was to evaluate the attitudes and understandings of HIV/AIDS that underpin the decision to comply or not comply with prenatal HIV testing. Theories of health behaviour concur that the extent to which an individual will engage in a given health behaviour, such as HIV test compliance, will be a function of the extent to which a person believes she is personally susceptible to the particular illness and her evaluation of the severity of the consequences of contracting the disease.</p>

Teenage pregnancy is seen, on the whole, by researchers and service providers as a social problem. Various theoretical approaches have been utilised in the attempt to explain teenage pregnancy, and to find 'solutions' to the problem. What is common to these approaches is the assumption of the reality of teenage pregnancy, and the legitimation of the intervention of the expert. This thesis is concerned with these fundamental premises of the scientific literature and professional practice with regard to young women, their sexuality and reproductive behaviour. A feminist post-structuralist approach, which draws on the insights of Derrida concerning the absent trace and Foucault's analytics of power and governmentality, is taken. The tensions and commonalities between feminism and a Foucauldian approach are explored, and a radically plural post-structural feminism is explicated. The data used in this study consisted of South African scientific literature on teenage pregnancy (the technologies of representation), and transcriptions of interviews with service providers at a regional hospital (the technologies of intervention). The bulk ofthe thesis is taken up with analysis of the first of these. The aims of these chapters are to analyse how: (1) a range oftaken-for-granted assumptions or absent traces regarding, inter alia, the nature of adolescence, adolescent sexuality, mothering, and family formation and function underlie the scientific statements regarding the causes and consequences of teenage pregnancy; (2) the governmental tactics of medicalisation, psychologisation and pedagogisation are invoked in the literature with regard to teenage pregnancy; and (3) broader governmental tactics (the familialisation of alliance, the conjugalisation of reproduction, racialisation, the economisation of activity) are deployed in the literature to achieve particular gendering, racialising and class-based effects. The section on the technologies of intervention analyses how the governmental tactics described above are installed in the everyday lives of teenagers and their families through the deployment of the mechanisms of security at the interface between the service provider and the teenager or her parents. Finally, the undermining of the assumption of the reality of teenage pregnancy, the link between expertise and government, and the efficacy of the feminist post-structural approach are reviewed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

HIV and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, in particular pre-eclampsia, are the main causes of maternal mortality in South Africa. In HIV associated pre-eclampsia, it is biologically plausible that the immune activation associated with pre-eclampsia may be neutralised by the immune suppression of HIV infection. The precise aetiology of pre-eclampsia is unknown, however leptin has been implicated in its development. Leptin is an adipocyte hormone, also produced by the placenta. It has a role in the development of inflammation. Adipose tissue is reduced in HIV infected individuals, resulting in lower leptin levels with consequent impaired immune function. This study aimed to compare serum and placental leptin levels in HIV infected and uninfected normotensive and pre-eclamptic pregnancies. Since insulin levels may affect the secretion of leptin, the study also compared insulin levels in these pregnancies. Following ethical clearance and hospital permission, 180 participants were recruited during their antenatal period. The groups were HIV- normotensive (n = 30), HIV+ normotensive (n = 60), HIV– pre-eclamptic (n = 30) and HIV+ pre-eclamptic (n = 60). Blood samples were collected ante-natally and placental samples post delivery. Serum leptin and insulin levels were determined by ELISA. Placental leptin levels were determined by ELISA and immunohistochemistry with morphometric image analysis. The placental production of leptin was determined by RT PCR. There was a non-significant increase in serum leptin levels in HIV- pre-eclampsia compared to HIV- normotensive pregnancies (p = 0.42). However leptin was decreased significantly in HIV+ pre-eclampsia compared to HIV- normotensive (p = 0.03). Based on HIV status leptin levels were decreased in HIV+ groups compared to HIV- groups in both pre-eclamptic (p < 0.01) and normotensive pregnancies (p < 0.01). Insulin levels of the HIV positive groups were lower than those of the HIV negative groups (p < 0.001). Insulin levels were also decreased in pre-eclampsia compared to normotensive pregnancies, irrespective of HIV status (p = 0.02). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated an increase in immuno-reactivity of leptin in the exchange villi of pre-eclamptic compared to normotensive placentae, irrespective of HIV status (p < 0.001). Supporting this finding, ELISA also demonstrated elevated leptin levels in the placenta of pre-eclamptic compared to normotensive pregnancies (p < 0.001). Placental leptin levels were similar in both HIV positive and negative pregnancies (p = 0.36). However, the placental leptin mRNA expression was up-regulated in HIV negative pre-eclampsia (p = 0.04) but not in HIV positive pre-eclampsia (p = 1.00). In conclusion, the elevated placental leptin in pre-eclampsia, irrespective of HIV status, is consistent with hypoxia. These elevated levels are not reflected in the maternal serum which raises the possibility of decreased leptin expression by adipose tissue especially in HIV infection where serum leptin levels are decreased. This would negate the increased placental leptin expression in pre-eclampsia. Furthermore, the elevated placental leptin levels are suggestive of an autocrine role of leptin in the placenta. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

My interest in teenage pregnancy began when I discovered pregnant girls in my class. Upon discussion with other educators in my school, I discovered that there were many pregnant girls in school. Thus began a journey in which I spent much time researching the topic. What I learnt along the way is that this is not a third world problem that affects certain race groups. It is a universal problem and if it is left to grow it will become the greatest social problem faced by the world. I believe that as educators we need to help curb the problem of teenage pregnancy. More importantly Secondary School educators need to become more aware of the debates surrounding teenage pregnancy for three reasons: (1) many of us may have pregnant or mothering teenagers in our classes and we need to understand where they are coming from and where they are heading towards, (2) we have the potential to help prevent teenage pregnancy by removing the cloak of ignorance that covers the issues surrounding sex and (3) teenage sexuality may be closely linked to the Aids pandemic that is moving like a veld fire across our country. We know that teenage pregnancy is not a new social problem. It has been around for centuries, but of late the severity of the problem has increased. It was this increase in teenage pregnancy that spurred me on to research why the youth of today, who have so much of sexual information made easily available to them, are still falling pregnant while at school. This study attempts to answer two critical questions. Firstly: "How do learners engage with factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy?" My study revealed that learners lack the knowledge or skills to avoid sex, they were ignorant of the different types of contraceptives, they were in denial that they could fall pregnant and they lacked the motivation to avoid early childbearing. Secondly, the critical question, "Why, in context of all the information present today on sex, do teenagers still fall pregnant?" Through the process of research it was found that teenagers engage in premarital sex because of the following reasons: peer pressure, they get caught up in the moment of passion and because they are bored and have nothing better to do. It is hoped that the analysis, findings and recommendations of this study will help curb the problem of teenage pregnancy. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if women with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection with severe degrees of immunosuppression are more predisposed to mortality from Gestational Trophoblastic Disease compared with HIV-infected women with less severe degrees of immunosuppression and Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV) non-infected women. DESIGN: Retrospective review of case records. METHOD: A retrospective review was performed on all patients with Gestational Trophoblastic from 2003 to July 2007. A chart review was conducted and information captured on a data sheet. This retrospective audit was performed at the combined gynaecology oncology clinic of Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. All information was kept confidential and was strictly for the purposes of the audit. STATISTICS: Factors associated with mortality were tested using Fisher's exact test. Odds ratios were reported as a measure of the strength of association. Breslow-Day's test for homogeneity in odds ratios was used to compare mortality in HIV-infected and HIV non-infected women. The analysis was done using Stata 9. i RESULTS: A total of 78 patients with Gestational Trophoblastic Disease were reviewed. There were 53 patients with invasive molar pregnancy and 25 patients with choriocarcinoma. The HIV sero-prevalence was 31%. There were 15 deaths (19%). There were 8 HIV-infected (33%o) and 7 HIV non-infected (13%) women who demised. Of the 8 patients with CD4 counts less than 200 cells/ uL, 7 patients demised. There were no mortalities amongst patients with CD4 counts more than 200 cells/uL. Of the 15 deaths, 5 HIV-infected patients and 5 HIV non-infected patients received chemotherapy. There were 5 patients admitted in very poor general condition precluding the administration of chemotherapy. Amongst the 10 patients who received chemotherapy and demised, the causes of death included widespread disease, multiorgan failure and toxicity due to chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The overall survival of all patients managed with Gestational Trophoblastic Disease was 82% in keeping with the expected high survival reported elsewhere. The majority of patients who demised were admitted in poor general condition and had abnormal blood profiles. Despite resuscitation, these patients failed to improve precluding the administration of chemotherapy which is the mainstay of treatment. Although the numbers are small, there is clear evidence that if patients are HIV-infected with CD4 counts 200 cells/uL despite transient grade 2 myelotoxicity. / Thesis (MMed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

American adolescents are no more sexually active than adolescents in other Western nations. Each year more than one million American teenagers become pregnant, which gives the United States the dubious distinction of leading the industrialized world in the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. With the number of adolescent pregnancies increasing yearly, the cost of healthcare has become a major concern for healthcare providers. Because the teen's viewpoint is different from that of an adult, this research study focused upon the issue of teen pregnancy through the eyes of the pregnant adolescent.Heideggerian phenomenology was used as the research methodology to acquire information regarding the lived experience of pregnancy for the single adolescent, with Heideggerdian hermeneutics used in the interpretation of interviews. A purposive sample of five single primipara adolescents living in a teen home, in a large metropolitan area of a Midwestern state was utilized. Each interview was given a number in order to protect the confidentially of the participant. Interviews were audio taped and were transcribed by the researcher. The audio tapes were destroyed at the end of the study. The data obtained were studied by the researcher and others familiar with Heideggerian hermeneutics. The data were analyzed according to the seven step method described by Diekelmann, Allen and Tanner (1989). The findings identified an overall constitutive pattern along with four common themes.The overall constitutive pattern which emerged was "Pregnancy as a diverse human experience." Along with the constitutive pattern identified were four other common themes: (a) Body image changes as being within oneself; (b) Being marked as a pregnant teenager; (c) Pregnancy as loss; and (d) Pregnancy as connectedness. Both the constitutive pattern and the common themes were validated by the adolescent interviewed. The conclusions of this study showed that teens were aware of the methods of contraception and pregnancy but were unaware of the impact pregnancy would have on the teen's being in the world. / School of Nursing

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-257). / xxii, 257 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Aims to determine the impact of maternal undernutrition during late gestation and during the periconceptional and gestational periods on fetal growth, fetal blood pressure and the fetal hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis in the sheep. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physiology, 2001

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2002. / Härtill 7 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 10 uppsatser.