Fathers’ emotional involvement with the neonate: impact of the umbilical cord cutting experience

Aims. This paper is a report on a study analysing the effect of the umbilical cord cutting experience on fathers’ emotional involvement with their infants. Background. Participation in childbirth offers an opportunity for father and mother to share the childbirth experience, so it is vital that midwives improve the fathers’ participation in this event. Design. A quasi-experimental study with a quantitative methodology was implemented. Methods. One hundred and five fathers were recruited as part of a convenience sample in a Maternity Public Hospital in a Metropolitan City in Portugal, between January and May of 2008. The Bonding Scale, the Portuguese version of the ‘Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale’ was used to evaluate the fathers’ emotional involvement with the neonate at different moments: before childbirth, first day after childbirth and first month after childbirth. After childbirth, the fathers were divided into three separate groups depending on their umbilical cord cutting experience. Results. The results demonstrate that the emotional involvement between father and child tends to increase during the first days after childbirth and to decrease when evaluated 1 month after birth, for fathers who did not cut the umbilical cord. However, fathers who cut the umbilical cord demonstrate an improvement in emotional involvement 1 month later. Conclusion. Results suggest that the umbilical cord cutting experience benefits the father’s emotional involvement with the neonate, supporting the benefits of his participation and empowerment in childbirth

Adopting a healthy lifestyle when pregnant and obese - an interview study three years after childbirth

Background: Obesity during pregnancy is increasing and is related to life-threatening and ill-health conditions in both mother and child. Initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle when pregnant with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2 can improve health and decrease risks during pregnancy and of long-term illness for the mother and the child. To minimise gestational weight gain women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 in early pregnancy were invited to a lifestyle intervention including advice and support on diet and physical activity in Gothenburg, Sweden. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 regarding minimising their gestational weight gain, and to assess how health professionals' care approaches are reflected in the women's narratives. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 women who had participated in a lifestyle intervention for women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 during pregnancy 3 years earlier. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed in full. Thematic analysis was used. Results: The meaning of changing lifestyle for minimising weight gain and of the professional's care approaches is described in four themes: the child as the main motivation for making healthy changes; a need to be seen and supported on own terms to establish healthy routines; being able to manage healthy activities and own weight; and need for additional support to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Conclusions: To support women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 to make healthy lifestyle changes and limit weight gain during pregnancy antenatal health care providers should 1) address women's weight in a non-judgmental way using BMI, and provide accurate and appropriate information about the benefits of limited gestational weight gain; 2) support the woman on her own terms in a collaborative relationship with the midwife; 3) work in partnership to give the woman the tools to self-manage healthy activities and 4) give continued personal support and monitoring to maintain healthy eating and regular physical activity habits after childbirth involving also the partner and family

Participant experiences of mindfulness-based childbirth education: a qualitative study

Background: Childbirth is an important transitional life event, but one in which many women are dissatisfied stemming in part from a sense that labour is something that happens to them rather than with them. Promoting maternal satisfaction with childbirth means equipping women with communication and decision making skills that will enhance their ability to feel involved in their labour. Additionally, traditional antenatal education does not necessarily prepare expectant mothers and their birth support partner adequately for birth. Mindfulness-based interventions appear to hold promise in addressing these issues. Mindfulness-based Child Birth Education (MBCE) was a pilot intervention combining skills-based antenatal education and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Participant experiences of MBCE, both of expectant mothers and their birth support partners are the focus of this article. Methods: A generic qualitative approach was utilised for this study. Pregnant women between 18 and 28 weeks gestation, over 18 years of age, nulliparous with singleton pregnancies and not taking medication for a diagnosed mental illness or taking illicit drugs were eligible to undertake the MBCE program which was run in a metropolitan city in Australia. Focus groups with 12 mothers and seven birth support partners were undertaken approximately four months after the completion of MBCE. Audio recordings of the groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using the method of constant comparison by all four authors independently and consensus on analysis and interpretation arrived at through team meetings.Results: A sense of both ‘empowerment’ and ‘community’ were the essences of the experiences of MBCE both for mothers and their birth support partner and permeated the themes of ‘awakening my existing potential’ and ‘being in a community of like-minded parents’. Participants suggested that mindfulness techniques learned during MBCE facilitated their sense of control during birth, and the content and pedagogical approach of MBCE enabled them to be involved in decision making during the birth. The pedagogical approach also fostered a sense of community among participants which extended into the postnatal period. Conclusions: MBCE has the potential to empower women to become active participants in the birthing process, thus addressing common concerns regarding lack of control and satisfaction with labour and facilitate peer support into the postnatal period. Further education of health professionals may be needed to ensure that they respond positively to those women and birth support partners who remain active in decision making during birth

Designriktlinjer för andraspråksinlärningsapplikationer : Kinesiskaundervisning via seriösa datorspel i smarta mobiltelefoner

I och med det enorma användningsområdet av datorsystem i dagens samhälle finns många typer av användare och uppgifter att designa för. Genom designriktlinjer kan utvecklare få referenser och guidning för att skapa användbara applikationer från början. På så vis kan tid sparas i utvecklingsprocessen. Från och med puberteten då människan kan anses vara vuxen ändras förmåga till andraspråksinlärning, trots detta finns det människor som lär sig andraspråk i vuxen ålder. Kunskap kring vad dessa skillnader beror på måste användas i designen av en andraspråksinlärningsapplikation för att tillgodose människans kognitiva förmågor. De två huvudsakliga kognitiva aspekterna vid språkproduktion är grammatisk kodning och fonetisk kodning. De 10 framtagna designriktlinjerna syftar till att stödja dessa processer. Ett av de största problemen i all form av undervisning är motivation, seriösa datorspel är ett forskningsområde som syftar till att ta till vara på traditionella datorspels motiverande egenskaper. Denna studie leder fram till designriktlinjer kring hur seriösa datorspel kan designas för att utbilda i kinesiska som andraspråk via smarta mobiltelefoner.

Professionalitet - en social konstruktion : en kvalitativ studie i hur socialarbetare konstruerar sin egen professionalitet

Jag har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning bland personal på en öppenvårdsmottagning för missbrukande ungdomar. Jag vill med denna uppsats undersöka socialarbetarens syn på den egna professionen, hur han/hon definierar begreppet professionalitet och hur han/hon omsätter dessa tankar och värderingar i sin yrkesutövning. Den centrala forskningsfrågan är ”Hur konstruerar personal på en öppenvårdsmottagning sin professionalitet?”. Jag kommer att utgå från ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv för att belysa hur socialarbetaren, tillsammans med sitt sammanhang, skapar sitt sätt att tänka, och hur han/hon sedan handlar utifrån det. Jag har intagit en fenomenologisk position där jag använder mig av sex kvalitativa intervjuer för att studera det valda fenomenet. För att analysera mina insamlade data har jag använt mig av meningskoncentrering. Mina litteratursökningar har visat att forskning kring mitt specifika ämne inte är så omfattande, varför jag har valt att koncentrera mig på forskning som knyter an till de teman jag utkristalliserat i mina intervjuer. Till exempel har jag valt att titta närmare på frågan om vilka kompetenskrav som finns inom det sociala arbetet. Jag tar även upp forskning kring kvalitetstänkande i socialt arbete. Resultatet av min studie visar att socialarbetarna anser sig få sina kunskaper i första hand genom erfarenheter. Intervjupersonerna definierar kunskap som förmåga att arbeta eklektiskt med teorier och metoder och förmåga till distans, reflektion och objektivitet i arbetet. Intervjupersonerna talar om begreppet professionalitet som en förmåga att tänka kritiskt, använda sig av sin kunskap och sina erfarenheter i arbetet samt en tanke kring att inte utöva makt över klienten

Ett leende på läpparna - stöd och strategier i bakfickan, En arbetsmiljöstudie på DSB First Sverige AB

Abstract Author: Emilie Premberg Title: “A smiling face – support and strategies up one`s sleeve” A work environment study at DSB First Sverige AB. Supervisor: Charlotta Zettervall Assessor: Hans Swärd The aim of this study has been to find different “healthy-factors” that helps trainmanagers at DSB First to handle their situation at work with threat, violence and other negative stressors. A further purpose was to explain possible functions of these factors. The fact that many workplaces today invest a lot of resources in promoting health in the category of personnel without really having the knowledge of which factors that brings good effects makes this question interesting. It may be considered valuable to find out the staffs own opinion about effective “healthy-factors” that helps them to handle and feel good in their sometimes destructive workcondition. The empiric results have been analyzed from the theories of different coping strategies and the human resource management theory. The choice of theories was based on the idea that the coping strategies theory could help to explain the function of the more personal strategies, and that the human resource management theory could help to explain the function and need of different “healthy-factors” that more are related to the relationship between the human individual and organization. The method that I have used in this study is quantitatively, based to make a statistic comparison possible. The quantitative approach has been completed with qualitative methods in order to make the work up of the data possible, and to receive a deeper understanding for the results. The outcome of the study shows that colleagues are very important for the trainmanagers. This can be understood as a need of social support in times of negative stressors. Other important “healthy-factors” were well being on the workplace for example in appreciating social interaction with the passengers, an understanding management and the strategy of not taking conflicts and critic personal. Key words: healthy-factors, threat and violence, coping strategies, human resource management, trainmanager