INTRODUCTION: Half of all pregnancies in South Carolina are unintended (mistimed or unwanted) and are associated with a higher risk for adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. South Carolina has a wide network of publicly supported clinics providing reproductive health services, including the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Rural Health Clinics. Having a better understanding of the geographic distribution of women in need of publicly funded contraceptive services is crucial for health planning and improving health delivery systems. METHODS: The total number of reproductive-aged women (15-44 years) in South Carolina was drawn from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimate files housed by the U.S. Census Bureau. A four-step process was used to estimate the number of reproductive-aged women in need of publicly funded contraceptive services at the county-level. First, the number of women between 15-19 years of age in each county was established. Next, the number of women with family incomes <100% of the federal poverty level in each county was identified. Data from the South Carolina Statewide Survey of Women, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, were used to estimate the number of reproductive-aged women (18-44) at-risk for experiencing an unintended pregnancy. The proportion of the women who were not sterile, not currently pregnant or not trying to get pregnant in the next 3 months was considered at-risk (76.24% of the total sample). The proportion of women at-risk was used to adjust the estimates of the total number of low-income women between 20-44 years of age in need of publicly funded contraceptive services in each county. The adjusted number of low-income women and the number of women less than 20 years of age were combined to estimate number of women in need of publicly funded contraceptive services. FINDINGS: There are an estimated 950,978 women of reproductive age living in South Carolina; of these women, about 40% (N=374,000) are considered in need of publicly funded contraceptive services. County-level need estimates ranged from 33.5% to 57.8% (M = 42.2%, SD = 4.8%) of the total reproductive-aged female population. While the number of women in need followed a typical population density pattern, rural communities had higher proportions of women in need of publicly funded contraceptive services, relative to the total population of reproductive-aged women. Rural counties comprised 91% of counties with the greatest need for publicly funded contraceptive services. CONCLUSIONS: Proportionally, the need for publicly funded contraceptive services is greater in rural and low-resource counties. While ensuring services are available among large population centers is certainly warranted, these findings also suggest that access to contraceptive services in rural counties is also needed and should be considered in health planning and service allocation policies and practices.

Reproductive barriers are vital to generating new species as well as maintaining distinct species. Investigating reproductive barriers between closely related plant taxa helps us to understand how these barriers are maintained, particularly between rare and widespread relatives. Layia jonesii, a rare San Luis Obispo County serpentine endemic, and L. platyglossa, a common coastal species, co-occur on serpentine derived hillsides and are interfertile. At these locations, L. jonesii is isolated to dry soils near serpentine rock outcrops and L. platyglossa is located on slightly deeper grassland soils surrounding the rock outcrops. On hillsides where they co-occur, I observe two morphologically distinct species, therefore the two species must be maintaining reproductive barriers, yet mechanisms that maintain this isolation are unknown. I studied this system to investigate possible mechanisms contributing to the maintenance of reproductive barriers. I hypothesize prezygotic reproductive isolation in this system is due to (1) habitat isolation due to local adaptation to differential edaphic environments on the hillside, (2) flowering time differences, and (3) reduced seed set resulting from hybrid crosses. To investigate the local adaptation of L. jonesii and L. platyglossa, I reciprocally transplanted both species into the center of each species’ distribution. I also conducted a competition experiment to determine if L. jonesii is sensitive to resource competition beyond its natural distribution. To investigate flowering time differences, I tracked flowering time of both wild and reciprocally transplanted populations. I also performed controlled crosses to determine if heterospecific, or hybrid crosses, result in lowered seed set than conspecific crosses. The reciprocal transplants showed L. platyglossa is locally adapted to the grassland habitat. Local adaptation likely prevents L. playtyglossa from dispersing into the rock outcrop habitat. Results of the competition experiment revealed L. jonesii is sensitive to competition and this may contribute to its constrained distribution to shallow soils. Local adaptation and competition likely contribute to habitat isolation between the two species. I also documented stark differences in flowering time between the species which contributes to reproductive isolation by reducing pollen flow. Hybrid crosses also resulted in lowered seed set than conspecific crosses. These results suggest prezygotic barriers to reproduction likely maintain the majority of isolation between the two species. These results provide insight into mechanisms that maintain reproductive barriers between closely related taxa existing in similar habitats. The results also contribute to our understanding of how rare plants preserve genetic integrity near common and interfertile relatives.

Estimates suggest that about eight million American teens and young adults experience clinical symptoms of mental illness. For many, these mental health challenges will develop into a diagnosable and potentially life-long psychiatric disorder. Together they form a large population of adults who enter their prime reproductive age as psychiatric patients. Though individuals with mental illness enjoy the same reproductive rights as those without psychiatric conditions, social and medical discourses often portray their parenthood as risky and undesirable. Women with mental illness are in a particularly difficult position. As women, they are subjected to the gendered expectation that they become mothers. Yet at the same time, their mental illness results in their motherhood being frowned upon. Carrying these contradicting values, this study asks how women with psychiatric disorders make reproductive decisions. Do these women think of their reproductive capacity through the psychiatric framing of risk, or through gendered narratives of desired motherhood? Using open ended interviews with women with a psychiatric diagnosis, this study shows that women with mental illness approach their reproductive decision-making by utilizing narratives of both normal reproduction and disability. Some women portray their mental illness as an obstacle to motherhood while others create a separation between their mental and reproductive health. Still others defy the distinction between psychiatry and normalcy and describe their reproduction as a way to bring the two together. Despite the difference in framing, all the women in this study engage with the discourse of risk(s) that is brought on by their mental illness. To weigh risk and act upon it, they visit their and their peer’s biographical stories of illness, assess their fitness into normative ideas of good motherhood, and evaluate the worth of medical and scientific information. They question the way medical information is created, distributed, and made applicable to the idiosyncrasy of their reproductive life. In doing so, these women draw boundaries around trust as well as redefine medical neutrality. Finally, we show that women with mental illness and their health providers rely on a vaguely defined stepwise plan to approach reproduction. This plan brings normativity – and desirability - to their reproduction at the same time that it threatens to exclude them from motherhood. By bringing these arguments together we arrive at the overall conclusion that women with mental illness do not approach their reproduction as a monolithic group. Nor do they organize along diagnosis lines. This study shows that women across psychiatric diagnoses share similar reproductive desires, some hoping to have children and others wishing to avoid motherhood altogether. The popular idea that certain psychiatric diagnoses render women unsuitable for motherhood is not echoed by the women in this study. Instead, their embodied experience of mental illness allows them to embrace the newfound reproductive choice of psychiatric patients and highlights the stigma that perpetuates fears of motherhood with mental illness.

No description available.

Decades of steel production and coking in the community of Sydney, Nova Scotia, have led to severe environmental insult. Increased amounts of air pollution from Sydney Steel Corporation and toxic emissions from the Muggah Creek Watershed have been well documented in several studies of the area since the 1960s. This research examines the potential impacts of exposure to hazardous waste on the reproductive health of women living in Cape Breton Regional Municipality through the following objectives: i) to assess the spatial pattern of various types of adverse reproductive events, plausibly linked to the environmental exposure of interest; ii) to determine if this pattern is related to proximity to the Tar Ponds/Coke Ovens site. To address the first objective, point pattern analysis was applied to observations from the Atlee Perinatal Database to determine if the observed pattern exhibited any clustering. To address the second objective, a multinomial logistic regression model was employed to determine if proximity to the Tar Ponds/Coke Ovens site was an important covariate of the adverse outcomes under study (preterm births, low birthweights, congenital anomalies and stillbirths). The results of the bivariate K-function indicated that there was weak global clustering for preterm births for two different time periods, while the ratio kernel estimates demonstrated that the patterns of the outcomes were non-random even after correcting for the underlying population distribution. The results of the multinomial logistic model demonstrated that variables pertaining to maternal characteristics, pregnancy history, current pregnancy maternal diagnoses, neonatal measures were important explanatory variables in the analysis. Place of residence was an important explanatory variable for preterm births and congenital anomalies. However, due to various limitations these results must be interpreted with caution. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Introdução: As escolhas relacionadas à fecundidade são complexas e envolvem idéias e valores das sociedades e de seus integrantes. Existem muitos estudos que procuram explicar a fecundidade a partir de variáveis socioeconômicas e culturais, mas não indagam os motivos que teriam levado as mulheres a proceder de uma forma ou de outra para a formação de suas famílias. A fecundidade abaixo do nível de reposição é observada nos grandes centros urbanos brasileiros há algumas décadas, mas permanecem diferenciais intra-urbanos que precisam ser identificados, assim como seus determinantes. Objetivo: Identificar os diferenciais de fecundidade no município de Curitiba e contribuir para o conhecimento e entendimento do comportamento reprodutivo, motivações e vivência das mulheres com alta fecundidade. Metodologia: Pesquisa quantitativa e qualitativa, de caráter descritivo e exploratório. Analisou-se inicialmente a tendência da fecundidade e os diferenciais por bairro. O estudo na etapa quantitativa incluiu 441 mulheres residentes em Curitiba que tiveram o quinto ou mais filhos nascidos vivos em 2005, identificadas pelo SINASC. Para coleta dos dados nesta etapa utilizou-se questionário semi-estruturado. Os dados foram organizados em banco de dados Access e analisados com o uso do programa computacional Statistica v.8.0. Os sujeitos da etapa qualitativa constituíram-se de nove mulheres entrevistadas em profundidade a partir de roteiro temático. Os dados qualitativos foram interpretados seguindo os ensinamentos da \"análise de conteúdo\". Resultados: A taxa de fecundidade em Curitiba chegou a 1,5 filhos por mulher em 2005, mas com diferenciais intra-urbanos. Nove dos 75 bairros de Curitiba concentravam 59,6% das mulheres com alta fecundidade. Cerca de 90% das entrevistadas tiveram mais filhos do que desejavam. O número ideal de filhos referidos variou entre 2,4 e 2,9. No momento da entrevista 85% das mulheres usavam algum método contraceptivo com prevalência da laqueadura e da pílula. A esterilização voluntária foi efetivada para apenas 36,4% das mulheres e 42% dos homens solicitantes. A auto-avaliação de saúde não boa foi referida por 40% das mulheres. As entrevistadas relataram dificuldade de acesso aos programas de proteção social e à casa própria. Contribuíram para o maior número de filhos, as falhas dos programas de planejamento familiar, a falta de informação e domínio da negociação no uso dos métodos contraceptivos, as desigualdades de gênero e a vulnerabilidade psico-afetiva das mulheres. As entrevistadas da etapa qualitativa vivenciaram trajetórias reprodutivas e produtivas conflituosas marcadas pelas desigualdades sociais e de gênero. A maioria das mulheres do estudo apresentava elevada vulnerabilidade social. Conclusões: Uma diversidade de fatores, além dos socioeconômicos, exerce influência na definição da maternidade e do número de filhos. Identificou-se que são necessárias medidas que implementem o acesso à contracepção, a inclusão dos homens neste processo, a capacitação de profissionais para a assistência sexual e reprodutiva. São indispensáveis a promoção de políticas compatíveis para realização da maternidade, que facilitem a participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho e promovam a eqüidade entre os sexos tanto neste mercado quanto no âmbito doméstico e medidas efetivas de proteção social. A liberação da laqueadura no pós-parto normal imediato foi recomendada, com vistas a agilizar e facilitar o acesso das mulheres a este procedimento. / Introduction: The choices concerning about fertility are complex because they involve ideas and values of societies and their members. Many studies seek to explain the fertility socioeconomic and cultural changeable but don\'t consider the women reasons to select one way or another to form their families. The fertility rate below the replacement is observed in Brazilians urban centers a few decades ago, but is necessary to identify the intra-urban differentials remain and its determinants. Objective: To identify the fertility differentials in Curitiba and to contribute to the women with high fertility reproductive behavior knowledge and comprehension, their motivations and experiences. Methodology: quantitative and qualitative researches, descriptive and exploratory in nature. The trend in fertility and the differentials were examined by neighborhood initially. The study included 441 women living in Curitiba which had the fifth or more children born alive in 2005 and identified by SINASC. In this step the data collect used a semi-structured questionnaire. They were organized in Access database and analyzed using the Statistica computer program, v.8.0. Nine women were the qualitative phase subjects interviewed in depth from thematic roadmap. Qualitative data were interpreted by following the teachings of the \" contents analysis.\" Results: The rate of fertility in Curitiba reached 1.5 children per woman in 2005, but with intra-urban differentials. Nine of the 75 districts of Curitiba concentrated 59.6% of women with high fertility. About 90% of respondents had more children than desired. The ideal number of children referred ranged between 2.4 and 2.9. At the time of the interview 85% of women were using contraceptive methods, with prevalence of sterilization and the pill. The voluntary sterilization was carried out for only 36.4% of women and 42% of male applicants. The self-assessment of health \"not good\" was cited by 40% of women. Interviewees reported difficulty of access to programs of social protection and housing. Contributed to the largest number of children, the failures of programs for family planning, lack of information and area of negotiation in the use of contraceptive methods, inequalities of gender and psycho-emotional vulnerability of women. Subjects of qualitative stage experienced conflict trajectories reproductive and productive marked by social inequality and gender. Most women in the study had high social vulnerability. Conclusions: A variety of factors, in addition to the socioeconomic, exerts influence on the definition of motherhood and the number of children. It was identified that are necessary to implement the access to contraception, the inclusion of men in this process, the training of professionals for sexual and reproductive assistance. Its essential to promote politics for consistent implementation of motherhood, to facilitate the participation of women in the labor market and promote equity between the sexes in this market as both under domestic and effective measures of social protection. The release of sterilization in the immediate post-normal delivery was recommended, in order to expedite and facilitate women\'s access to this procedure.

La sélection sexuelle est une composante de la sélection naturelle qui génère des différences de succès reproducteur entre les individus par le filtre de la reproduction, et influence donc la transmission intergénérationnelle des gènes. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, l’effet de la variabilité de l’environnement hydraulique sur la sélection sexuelle chez la truite commune a été étudié à différentes échelles : intra- et inter-populationnelle. Des méthodes nouvelles permettant de mieux appréhender l’investissement reproducteur, ainsi que de décomposer l’effet des traits sur la fitness des individus en fonction des différentes étapes de la sélection sexuelle, ont été mises au point. Les expériences réalisées en milieux naturel et semi-naturel indiquent que la variabilité environnementale n’affecte pas le choix d’habitat de reproduction par les femelles, mais peut affecter l’investissement reproducteur dans la compétition par exemple, ainsi que les flux de gènes entre des populations génétiquement distinctes. Ces résultats permettent une première projection de l’évolution de la sélection sexuelle dans le contexte du changement climatique qui prédit l’augmentation de la variabilité hydrologique en zone tempérée. / As a component of natural selection, sexual selection produces variation in reproductive success throughout the reproductive period, and therefore impacts genes transmission between generations. During this PhD, the effect of variation in hydraulic environment on sexual selection in brown trout was investigated at both within and between populations scales. New approaches to improve estimation of reproductive investment, as well as models to decompose the effect of traits on individual fitness at each stage of sexual selection, were developed. Experiments in natural and semi-natural environments indicate that environmental variation does not impact reproduction habitat choice by females, but it can modify reproductive investment in some populations, as well as it can control gene flow between genetically distinct populations. These results help to understand the evolution of sexual selection in the broad context of increasing stochastic variations of river systems hydrology as predicted by climate change models in temperate areas.

Introdução: As escolhas relacionadas à fecundidade são complexas e envolvem idéias e valores das sociedades e de seus integrantes. Existem muitos estudos que procuram explicar a fecundidade a partir de variáveis socioeconômicas e culturais, mas não indagam os motivos que teriam levado as mulheres a proceder de uma forma ou de outra para a formação de suas famílias. A fecundidade abaixo do nível de reposição é observada nos grandes centros urbanos brasileiros há algumas décadas, mas permanecem diferenciais intra-urbanos que precisam ser identificados, assim como seus determinantes. Objetivo: Identificar os diferenciais de fecundidade no município de Curitiba e contribuir para o conhecimento e entendimento do comportamento reprodutivo, motivações e vivência das mulheres com alta fecundidade. Metodologia: Pesquisa quantitativa e qualitativa, de caráter descritivo e exploratório. Analisou-se inicialmente a tendência da fecundidade e os diferenciais por bairro. O estudo na etapa quantitativa incluiu 441 mulheres residentes em Curitiba que tiveram o quinto ou mais filhos nascidos vivos em 2005, identificadas pelo SINASC. Para coleta dos dados nesta etapa utilizou-se questionário semi-estruturado. Os dados foram organizados em banco de dados Access e analisados com o uso do programa computacional Statistica v.8.0. Os sujeitos da etapa qualitativa constituíram-se de nove mulheres entrevistadas em profundidade a partir de roteiro temático. Os dados qualitativos foram interpretados seguindo os ensinamentos da \"análise de conteúdo\". Resultados: A taxa de fecundidade em Curitiba chegou a 1,5 filhos por mulher em 2005, mas com diferenciais intra-urbanos. Nove dos 75 bairros de Curitiba concentravam 59,6% das mulheres com alta fecundidade. Cerca de 90% das entrevistadas tiveram mais filhos do que desejavam. O número ideal de filhos referidos variou entre 2,4 e 2,9. No momento da entrevista 85% das mulheres usavam algum método contraceptivo com prevalência da laqueadura e da pílula. A esterilização voluntária foi efetivada para apenas 36,4% das mulheres e 42% dos homens solicitantes. A auto-avaliação de saúde não boa foi referida por 40% das mulheres. As entrevistadas relataram dificuldade de acesso aos programas de proteção social e à casa própria. Contribuíram para o maior número de filhos, as falhas dos programas de planejamento familiar, a falta de informação e domínio da negociação no uso dos métodos contraceptivos, as desigualdades de gênero e a vulnerabilidade psico-afetiva das mulheres. As entrevistadas da etapa qualitativa vivenciaram trajetórias reprodutivas e produtivas conflituosas marcadas pelas desigualdades sociais e de gênero. A maioria das mulheres do estudo apresentava elevada vulnerabilidade social. Conclusões: Uma diversidade de fatores, além dos socioeconômicos, exerce influência na definição da maternidade e do número de filhos. Identificou-se que são necessárias medidas que implementem o acesso à contracepção, a inclusão dos homens neste processo, a capacitação de profissionais para a assistência sexual e reprodutiva. São indispensáveis a promoção de políticas compatíveis para realização da maternidade, que facilitem a participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho e promovam a eqüidade entre os sexos tanto neste mercado quanto no âmbito doméstico e medidas efetivas de proteção social. A liberação da laqueadura no pós-parto normal imediato foi recomendada, com vistas a agilizar e facilitar o acesso das mulheres a este procedimento. / Introduction: The choices concerning about fertility are complex because they involve ideas and values of societies and their members. Many studies seek to explain the fertility socioeconomic and cultural changeable but don\'t consider the women reasons to select one way or another to form their families. The fertility rate below the replacement is observed in Brazilians urban centers a few decades ago, but is necessary to identify the intra-urban differentials remain and its determinants. Objective: To identify the fertility differentials in Curitiba and to contribute to the women with high fertility reproductive behavior knowledge and comprehension, their motivations and experiences. Methodology: quantitative and qualitative researches, descriptive and exploratory in nature. The trend in fertility and the differentials were examined by neighborhood initially. The study included 441 women living in Curitiba which had the fifth or more children born alive in 2005 and identified by SINASC. In this step the data collect used a semi-structured questionnaire. They were organized in Access database and analyzed using the Statistica computer program, v.8.0. Nine women were the qualitative phase subjects interviewed in depth from thematic roadmap. Qualitative data were interpreted by following the teachings of the \" contents analysis.\" Results: The rate of fertility in Curitiba reached 1.5 children per woman in 2005, but with intra-urban differentials. Nine of the 75 districts of Curitiba concentrated 59.6% of women with high fertility. About 90% of respondents had more children than desired. The ideal number of children referred ranged between 2.4 and 2.9. At the time of the interview 85% of women were using contraceptive methods, with prevalence of sterilization and the pill. The voluntary sterilization was carried out for only 36.4% of women and 42% of male applicants. The self-assessment of health \"not good\" was cited by 40% of women. Interviewees reported difficulty of access to programs of social protection and housing. Contributed to the largest number of children, the failures of programs for family planning, lack of information and area of negotiation in the use of contraceptive methods, inequalities of gender and psycho-emotional vulnerability of women. Subjects of qualitative stage experienced conflict trajectories reproductive and productive marked by social inequality and gender. Most women in the study had high social vulnerability. Conclusions: A variety of factors, in addition to the socioeconomic, exerts influence on the definition of motherhood and the number of children. It was identified that are necessary to implement the access to contraception, the inclusion of men in this process, the training of professionals for sexual and reproductive assistance. Its essential to promote politics for consistent implementation of motherhood, to facilitate the participation of women in the labor market and promote equity between the sexes in this market as both under domestic and effective measures of social protection. The release of sterilization in the immediate post-normal delivery was recommended, in order to expedite and facilitate women\'s access to this procedure.

In this research, I carefully and coherently examine Chapter 19 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005 as the first legislation to afford surrogate motherhood agreements legal recognition in South Africa. I argue that the application of Chapter 19 imposes a number of unwarranted limitations on several of the constitutional rights of the parties to a surrogacy agreement. In addition, I propose that Chapter 19 is not in accordance with the principal of the best interests of the child. I examine the history of surrogate motherhood in South Africa and establish that, prior to the enactment of Chapter 19, no legislation expressly afforded surrogate motherhood agreements legal recognition. Hence, prior to the enactment of Chapter 19, parties who entered surrogacy agreements could, first, not rely on the agreement to enforce contractual obligations, and secondly, the legal positions of the parties to the agreement were uncertain. Thirdly, a child born of a surrogacy agreement was seen as the child of the surrogate mother and not of the commissioning parents.

In this research, I carefully and coherently examine Chapter 19 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005 as the first legislation to afford surrogate motherhood agreements legal recognition in South Africa. I argue that the application of Chapter 19 imposes a number of unwarranted limitations on several of the constitutional rights of the parties to a surrogacy agreement. In addition, I propose that Chapter 19 is not in accordance with the principal of the best interests of the child. I examine the history of surrogate motherhood in South Africa and establish that, prior to the enactment of Chapter 19, no legislation expressly afforded surrogate motherhood agreements legal recognition. Hence, prior to the enactment of Chapter 19, parties who entered surrogacy agreements could, first, not rely on the agreement to enforce contractual obligations, and secondly, the legal positions of the parties to the agreement were uncertain. Thirdly, a child born of a surrogacy agreement was seen as the child of the surrogate mother and not of the commissioning parents.