This research examines the many different ethical issues that emerge in the health care setting with regards to prenatal diagnostic testing. Identifying the areas of clinical practice and religious counselling in need of improvements, particularly physician-client communication, is important to ensure that competent pregnant women make informed, considered choices about prenatal testing. This paper investigates the many factors that contribute to pregnant women's decision-making processes surrounding the acceptance or refusal of the maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screen, ultrasonography, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and preimplantation diagnosis. Integrating scholarship in bioethics, religious studies, and the anthropological and sociological study of medicine, this dissertation offers a comparative analysis of religious attitudes toward prenatal diagnostic testing, describes the complexities of practical decision-making by pregnant women faced with genuine ethical dilemmas, and provides an analysis of ethical issues related to prenatal testing. This research will be of interest to scholars in religious studies and bioethics, prenatal genetic counsellors and obstetricians involved in the provision of prenatal diagnostic testing services, and specialists in women's health and reproductive decisionmaking.

<p>Tobacco smoking remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite all the efforts made by governments, researchers and communities to educate women about the dangerous effects of tobacco smoke and nicotine, smoking during pregnancy continues to be a common habit and accounts for a significant percentage of fetal morbidity and mortality. The offspring is, as a result, exposed to nicotine through the blood and the milk of the mother. Nicotine is therefore expected to interact with the developing fetus and the offspring of mothers who smoke or use Nicotine Replacement therapy for smoking cessation, resulting in the interference with normal fetal lung development. Maternal cigarette smoke or nicotine exposure produces adverse effects in the lungs of offspring, these include / intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, premature birth, reduced pulmonary function at birth, and a high occurrence of respiratory illnesses after birth. The main objectives of this study were to determine: 1) the effects of maternal nicotine exposure during gestation and lactation on lung development in the offspring, 2) if there is evidence of premature aging of the lungs of the lungs of the nicotine exposed offspring, and 3) whether tomato juice can have protective effects on the fetal lung development and function in the offspring. From the study, it was established that maternal nicotine exposure had no significant effect on the growth parameters of the offspring. However, it results in the late onset of gradual parenchymal damage which resembles premature aging. The study also found that the consumption of tomato juice may have protective effects on the premature aging of the lungs of the offspring.</p>

Voluntary Counselling and Testing for HIV is an effective and important strategy for prevention, care and support. The study examines factors affecting utilization of VCT among pregnant women in Lesotho. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. The quantitative part of the study utilized the 2004 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey data and the qualitative study drew on data from focus group discussions among women attending antenatal clinics in Maseru and Leribe. The majority of pregnant women have never been tested for HIV/AIDS. Married women were less likely to go for VCT as compared with those who are not married. The study also established that place of residence, education and marital status were significantly associated with knowledge of HIV/AIDS and ever been tested for HIV. Stigma and discriminations and fear associated with HIV testing were highlighted as the main factors hindering the use of VCT services among pregnant women. However, knowing one’s status in order to access early treatment was the main reason for utilizing VCT. The VCT promotion programme for pregnant women in Lesotho has to focus on enhancing positive perception of VCT and alleviating perceived barriers related to the use of VCT services. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Darbo tikslas – įvertinti šachtinių šulinių geriamojo vandens kokybę ir jo gerinimo galimybes Pakruojo rajone. Uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti šachtinių šulinių geriamojo vandens kokybės rodiklius. 2. Nustatyti nėščių moterų ir moterų, kurios augina kūdikius iki 6 mėn. amžiaus, požiūrį į naudojamo vandens kokybę ir tyrimo rodiklius. 3. Įvertinti šachtinių šulinių geriamojo vandens kokybės gerinimo galimybes. Tyrimo metodika. Anketinė nėščių moterų ir kūdikius iki 6 mėn. amžiaus auginančių moterų (n=167, atsako dažnis 100 proc.) apklausa. Šachtinių šulinių geriamojo vandens kokybės rodiklių tyrimo protokolų analizė (n = 270) ir visuomenės sveikatos centro ir biuro specialistų, rajono ekologo (n=3, atsako dažnis 100 proc.) interviu. Apklausos duomenys analizuoti „SPSS 15.0 for Windows“ programa. Hipotezės tikrintos, taikant χ² testą, nustatčius reikšmingumo lygį p<0,05. Rezultatai. Tyrimo metu buvo nustatyta, kad respondentės, naudojančios užterštų šachtinių šulinių vandenį, dažniausiai gyvena kaimo vietovėse, turi mažas metines pajamas, yra bedarbės. 95,8 % respondenčių gavo informaciją apie šachtinių šulinių vandens kokybę ir patarimus, kaip apsaugoti save ir kūdikius. Moterys, turinčios žemesnį išsilavinimą, informavus apie vandens tyrimo rezultatus bei riziką sveikatai, vartoja užterštą geriamąjį vandenį nitratais ir nesiima jokių veiksmų jo kokybei gerinti. Netinkamai tvarkoma šulinio aplinka, kuri gali sąlygoti užteršimą: apie šulinį auginami augalai, kurie yra tręšiami... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Aim of the study. To asses the quality of the possibilities of improving of water quality. Objectives : 1. Estimate the quality of drinking water. 2. Evaluate the attitude of pregnant women and the women growing up babies sunder the age of six (6) months to the wells water quality indicators. 3. Estimate the opportunities for improvements of quality of drinking water. Research methods. Questionnaire of pregnant women and the women raising infants under six months (n=167), response rate -100 percent. The analysis of the wells for drinking water quality indicators (n=270) was done by the public health center. Interview of the public health professionals of the region: (n=3, response rate 100 percent). Survey data, was analyzed at “SPSS15.0 for Windows” program. The Hypothesis is verified by using the test χ2 , significance level p<0,05. Results. 95.8 % of respondents have received enough information concerning the quality of the water in their wells. The women with lower education were informed about the test results of their water, about health risks using the water, but they still are using contaminated by nitrates drinking water and don’t take any actions to improve it’s quality. Improperly maintenance of wells and their environment may lead to contamination of drinking water: the plants growing near the wells are fertilized with organic fertilizers, sewage is loaded on the ground. The pregnant women with higher education show better knowledge for improvement of water... [to full text]

Vis dažniau yra diskutuojama apie minkštojo įtvaro poveikį nėščiųjų juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmo mažinimui. Yra skausmo sindromų, būdingų tik moterims. Vienas jų – nėščiųjų juosmens skausmas. Apie 50–80 proc. nėščiųjų vargina juosmens skausmai, kurie dažniausiai prasideda 5–7 nėštumo mėnesį, tačiau skausmai gali prasidėti 8—12 nėštumo savaitę (Samėnienė, 2005). Tikslas. Nustatyti minkštojo įtvaro poveikį nėščiosioms mažinant juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmą. Objektas. Minkštojo įtvaro poveikis mažinant nėščiųjų juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmui. Hipotezė. Manome, kad minkštasis įtvaras turės teigiamą poveikį nėščiosioms mažinant juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmą, kadangi minkštojo įtvaro dėka yra suteikiama atrama ir stabilumas sąnariams ir raumenims netrikdant jų kraujotakos ir nevaržant judesių. Tyrimo metu buvo spėjama, kad minkštasis įtvaras turės teigiamą poveikį nėščiosioms mažinant juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmą Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti nėščiųjų juosmeninės stuburo dalies skausmą ir negalią prieš minkštojo įtvaro taikymą ir po. 2. Įvertinti kaip minkštojo įtvaro poveikis turi įtakos gyvenimo kokybei prieš ir po minkštojo įtvaro taikymo. 3. Įvertinti nėščiųjų judesių baimę (kinezifobiją) prieš ir po minkštojo įtvaro taikymo. Tyrimas buvo atliekamas Lietuvos Sporto Universiteto kineziterapijos salytėje. Tyrime iš viso dalyvavo septynios niekada stuburo skausmų neturėjusios nėščiosios. Atliekant tyrimą buvo vertinama nėščiųjų nugaros skausmas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Increasingly there are arguable about kinesiotaping influence pregnant women low back pain reduction. There are pain syndromes appropriate just for women. First – pregnant low back pain. About 50—80  pregnant women suffers from low back pain, which normally begins in the 5-7 pregnancy month, however it can start and 8-12 week of pregnant (Samėnienė, 2005). That study main aim was to determine kinesiotaping influence for pregnant women low back pain reduction. Study object was kinesiotaping influence for pregnant women low back pain. Stydy hypothesis: kinesiotaping will have positive effect for preganant women low back pain reduction. Study tasks were: 1. To assess pregnant women low back pain and disability before and after kinesiotaping. 2. To assess pregnant women low back pain influence for living quality before and after kinesiotaping. 3. To assess pregnant women fear of movements (kinesiophobia) before and after kinesiotaping. Study was performed in Lithunians Sports University‘s physical therapy room. In the study participated seven pregnant women who have never suffered from low back pain. In the study were assessed pregnant women low back pain, influence for quality of living, fear of movements. After kinesiotaping investigative‘s pain decreased significantly (p<0,05). Pain influence for quality of living statsitically reliable diffrence were not found (p>0,05). Fear of movements statistically signficant improve (p<0,05). Kinesiotaping the biggest influence had for... [to full text]

Dagligen utsätts vi för en stor mängd kemikalier, som har visat sig vara mer eller mindre farliga. Många av dessa kemikalier har en negativ påverkan genom att förgifta miljön men också oss människor. Barn och foster är speciellt utsatta för skadliga kemikalier och främst hormonstörande kemikalier. Detta eftersom de befinner sig i ett kritiskt utvecklingsstadium från fostertiden fram till vuxen ålder. Idag fokuserar mycket av arbetet kring kemikalier på redan födda barn, men mycket lite eller inget arbete görs i förebyggande syfte för att skydda foster under graviditeten. Den yrkesgrupp som träffar gravida och ger råd kring graviditeten är barnmorskor. Därför syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur gravida och barnmorskor upplever kommunikationen mellan dem om skadliga kemikalier. Utöver upplevelsen undersöker också studien vilka hinder och möjligheter som finns för en god riskkommunikation mellan barnmorskor och gravida kring skadliga kemikalier. Det teoretiska perspektivet för uppsatsen är Ulrich Beck och hans teori om risksamhället samt teorier om riskkommunikation. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och metoderna som har använts är intervju och enkät. Intervjuer för att undersöka barnmorskornas upplevelser och enkäten var en internetbaserad enkät som har figurerat på ett socialt media (Facebook) för att få svar på gravidas upplevelser. Resultatet visar på flera hinder som barnmorskan upplever till exempel tidsbrist, brist på arbetsrutiner, riktlinjer och arbetsmaterial, okunskap och ett bristande intresse hos kollegor och organisation. Upplevda möjligheter är att frågan har börjat väckas. Det finns möjligheter till att utveckla arbetsrutiner och riktlinjer och att alla intervjuade barnmorskor är positiva till att frågan får mer utrymme. Upplevelsen av kommunikationen är bland annat att både barnmorskorna och gravida upplever att debatten och vetenskapen är svår att tolka, det finns en känsla av att det mesta utgör en risk samt att debatten och kommunikationen behöver nyanseras och få en vetenskaplig grund. Studiens slutsatser är att att dagens obefintliga riskkommunikation mellan gravida och barnmorskor bör utvecklas då både barnmorskor och gravida efterfrågar en kommunikation kring riskerna. / We are on a daily basis exposed to a large amount of chemicals that have been shown to be more or less dangerous. Many of these chemicals have a negative effect by poisoning the environment, but also humans. Children and fetuses are especially vulnerable to harmful chemicals and particularly endocrine disrupting chemicals. This is because they are in a critical stage of development from the fetal period to adulthood. Today, much of the work on chemicals are concentrate to already born children, but very little or no work is done as a preventive measure to protect the fetus during pregnancy. Midwives are the profession that meet the pregnant women continuously during the pregnancy and already informs the pregnant woman about different risks associated with the pregnancy. Therefore is the aim of this study to explore how pregnant women and midwives are experiencing their communication on harmful chemicals during pregnancy. In addition to the experience, is the aim to explore obstacles and opportunities that are needed for a good risk communication between midwives and pregnant women about harmful chemicals. The theoretical perspective of this paper is Beck and his "risk society" and theories of risk communication. The study has a qualitative approach and methods that have been used are interview and questionnaire. Interviews to explore midwives’ experiences and the survey were an online survey that has appeared on a social media (Facebook). The result indicates several obstacles that the midwife experience, for example: lack of time, lack of guidelines, work routines and working material. Ignorance and a lack of interest among colleagues and organization. Perceived opportunities are that the question has begun to be brought into action, there are opportunities to develop operating procedures and guidelines and that the interviewed midwives have a positive attitude to give the issue more space. The experience of the communication is that both the midwives and pregnant women perceive that the debate and the science is difficult to interpret, there is a sense that almost everything represents a risk and that the debate and the communication needs to be qualified and have a scientific basis. The study's conclusions are that today's non-existent risk communication between pregnant women and midwives should be developed as both midwives and pregnant women ask for a communication about the risks.

Uppsatsens syfte var att öka förståelsen för hur kuratorer inom vuxenhabiliteringen och barnmorskor på mödravårdscentraler förhåller sig till och arbetar med gravida kvinnor med intellektuella funktionsnedsättningar. Avsikten var även att undersöka likheter respektive olikheter mellan yrkesgrupperna. För att genomföra studien använde vi kvalitativ metod. Vi intervjuade två barnmorskor på mödravårdscentraler och tre kuratorer inom vuxenhabiliteringen. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av de teoretiska perspektiven normalitet, juridisk diskurs och emotionell diskurs. Resultaten visar att barnmorskorna hade ett barnperspektiv medan kuratorerna ett föräldraperspektiv. Dessa perspektiv avspeglar olika förhållningssätt inom den emotionella och juridiska diskursen. Trots olika inriktningar och respondenternas olika yrkesroller, hade respondenterna liknande föreställningar gentemot kvinnor med intellektuella funktionsnedsättningar. Ifrågasättande av dessa kvinnors föräldraförmåga återkom i alla intervjuer. I detta avseende såg respondenterna dessa kvinnor som avvikare från det ”normala”. Att tala om målgruppen påtalar respondenterna vara känsligt och även tabubelagt, då det för inte så många decennier sedan inte var lagligt för dessa kvinnor att skaffa barn och familj. Varken kuratorerna eller barnmorskorna hade egentligen någon utarbetad arbetsmetod för arbetet med gravida kvinnor med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning, utan arbetade mycket utifrån egna erfarenheter. Kuratorerna menade att barnmorskorna hade otillräcklig kunskap om funktionsnedsättningar. / The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how social workers in adult habilitation and midwives in maternity clinics relate to and work with pregnant women with intellectual disabilities. The intention was also to examine the similarities and differences between the occupational groups. To conduct the study, we used qualitative methods. We interviewed two midwives at maternity clinics and three counselors in adult habilitation services. The interviews were analyzed by means of the theoretical concepts normality, legal discourse and emotional discourse. The results show that midwives had a child perspective while the curators had a parental perspective. These perspectives reflect different attitudes in the emotional and legal discourse. Despite the different approaches and respondents' various professional roles, the respondents had similar perceptions towards women with intellectual disabilities. Challenge of these women's parenting skills recurred in all interviews. In this regard the respondents saw these women as deviant from the "normal". To speak about the target group the respondents complains of being sensitive and even taboo when it is not so many decades ago, it wasn’t legal for these women to have children and family. Neither the curators nor the midwives really had any elaborate methodology for working with pregnant women with intellectual disabilities, but worked from their own experience. The curators implied that the midwives had insufficient knowledge of impairments.

The problem of the study was to develop valid and reliable evaluation tools for the American Red Cross course "Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby." From a table of specification, a pool of 87 items was developed into two evaluation scales. A thirteen-member jury of experts composed of professionals in prenatal education was used to establish content validity. The jury of experts reviewed the scales twice. The first review, items were subject to both a quantitative and qualitative review. Items were then retained, revised, or eliminated. The jury of experts then reviewed the scales a second time, and items again were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The second review included the use of the Content-Validity Ratio. All items in the scales that were not statistically significant at p<. 05 were eliminated. The validated evaluation scales made up of 46 items from the 87 originally proposed items were then pilot tested. Fifty-two women were then asked to complete the two evaluation scales one week apart. Upon completion of the pilot study, items were subjected to statistical analysis using test-retest, Cronbach's alpha, and internal constancy. Those items with a low test-test scores and/or internal constancy were then eliminated. The retained knowledge questions were then revised as the questions were subjected to quantitative analysis. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The purpose of this study was to examine maternal and infant factors associated with body mass index (e.g., maternal weight gain, infant birth weight, infant feeding methods, and motor coordination) among obese pre-adolescents and adolescents aged 8-18 years enrolled in the Pediatric OverWeight Education and Research (POWER) program operated by Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN, between October 2008 and September 2011. POWER, a three-phase, 12-month multi-disciplinary program to reduce childhood obesity funded by Indiana University Health, enrolls obese children (Body Mass Index [BMI] greater than the 95th percentile for age and gender) through referrals from pediatricians throughout Indiana. Prior to the child’s initial visit, each family completes a comprehensive background and family history profile, approved by the Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI) Institutional Review Board, that includes questions related to the obese child’s motor skill development, infant feeding methods, maternal prenatal weight gain, and infant birth weight. Data related to these four categories collected during Phase 1 (12 weeks) was examined using date from 253 pre-adolescents (8-12 years of age), and 285 adolescents (13-18 years of age), to determine their impact on the subjects’ BMI. No relationship between a mother’s prenatal weight gain and the child’s BMI was seen. There was a significant correlation between infant birth weight and BMI in the pre-adolescent group. Breastfed subjects entered the POWER program at a lower BMI than non-breast fed subjects and had consistently lower BMIs throughout the program compared to the non-breastfed subjects. Differences in physical activity were observed between adolescents and pre-adolescents. Paired analysis indicated the POWER program was associated with a significant reduction in BMI overall, and among both age groups throughout Phase 1 of the program. Adolescents were especially successful in reducing their BMI compared to preadolescents. Further research is needed to identify the association of maternal and infant factors and BMI among obese children. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Smoking is deleterious to health and dyadic smoking facilitates increased tobacco consumption. In this investigation, a secondary analysis was preformed on a Canadian database of 473 and 128 adoptive families. The purpose of this study was to delineate the role of demographic, personality, family environment, and partner smoking in predicting smoking cessation in a sample of Vancouver couples. Two specific temporal environments were explored: (a) general co-habitation smoking patterns and (b) couples' smoking patterns during pregnancy. The data were extracted from the Vancouver Family Study, and the prevalence and predictors of smoking behavior were investigated through correlational and hierarchical logistical regression techniques. Partner smoking was a significant predictor of smoking behaviors for each gender. Specifically, women's weekly smoking consumption was completely mediated by partner smoking. The results of this study highlight the importance of dyadic smoking in continued tobacco consumption.