Women's accounts of pregnancy: Psychological and feminist issues

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 16/04/1999.This thesis examines the changing nature of women's pregnancy experiences as progression through the various stages of pregnancy occurs. Ten women are followed through their pregnancies, in order to capture their diverse and dynamic psycho-social experiences. The aim of the research is to highlight the significance of certain psycho-social issues related to the pregnancy experience (both positive and negative) which have been raised by the women themselves during the course of their pregnancies. The analysis has been carried out using the women's own descriptions. The main psycho-social issues that have been analysed are considered under the rubric of the dynamic self, in the form of: identification with the pregnancy; the assessment of risk during pregnancy; and finally, images of the self and baby during pregnancy. The thesis focuses in-depth on the dynamism and complexity of women's feelings during pregnancy. In particular, it looks at the concept of being obstetrically 'at risk' by analysing women's contradictory and changing accounts of their feelings and concerns. The research also contributes to the understandings of the identities and preoccupations of pregnant women. The design of the study is longitudinal and biographic. The women kept personal documents in the form of diaries during their pregnancies, and also participated in four unstructured in-depth interviews (three taking place during pregnancy, the fourth taking place after birth). The methodological approach taken is based on a feminist research perspective, which emphasises the value of qualitative methods of investigation. The thesis explores the role of the researcher by examining the location of the researcher in relation to both the participants and the research area. The individual experiential accounts of pregnancy provided by the women are explored in detail using a feminist interpretative style of analysis (Stanley and Wise, 1993)

A study of personalisation and the factors affecting the uptake of personal budgets by mental health service users in the UK - A research study commissioned by MIND

This project was commissioned by Mind to add to its knowledge base and existing work on Personalisation so as to support individuals to have greater choice and control over their care and support needs. The project was funded by the Department of Health as part of its Strategic Development fund „Personalisation and Choice of Care and Support (IESD1) 2011‟. This report provides an overview of the main findings of this qualitative study, exploring the concept of personalisation, the factors affecting its operationalisation by voluntary and statutory sector organisations, and service users‟ experiences of its implementation, particularly in relation to what affects their uptake and experience of Personal Budgets. In the course of our investigation into current practice and experience, we have identified a number of barriers and enablers. Our view is that the impact of effective action to tackle the barriers will result in an improved experience of the Personal Budget process and its outcomes for carers and front line staff as well as service users. Recommendations are made for future work in this area

Expansion of Metallic Cylinders under Explosive Loading

The behaviour of expanding metallic cylinders under explosive loading was studied. Using ultra high speed photography, the expansion characteristics of aluminium and copper metallic cylinders have been evaluated with different c/m ratio, and by changing the nature of high explosive. The results obtained are comparable to those predicted by the Gurney's energy and momentum balance equations. A cylinder test has been established for comparative to the metal by octol, TNT, PEK-1, baratol and composition B are calculated. The results are in close agreement with those calculated by Kury et al