Exploring the experiences and outcomes of advantaged and disadvantaged families

This report provides further evidence of the interrelationship between age, young motherhood, family type and a range of measures of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. Maternal age and family type were found to be closely interrelated and both strongly associated with socio-economic disadvantage, with concentrated disadvantage evident in mothers under 25 and lone parents who do not live with other adults. These measures were also closely associated with health-related behaviours including likelihood of breastfeeding, attending ante-natal classes and smoking amongst mothers. Even amongst more disadvantaged groups, positive health-related behaviours were connected to relative social and economic advantage with level of maternal education featuring prominently

Problematisation and regulation: bodies, risk, and recovery within the context of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Background Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is an anticipated effect of maternal drug use during pregnancy. Yet it remains a contested area of policy and practice. In this paper, we contribute to ongoing debates about the way NAS is understood and responded to, through different treatment regimes, or logics of care. Our analysis examines the role of risk and recovery discourses, and the way in which the bodies of women and babies are conceptualised within these. Methods Qualitative interviews with 16 parents (9 mothers, 7 fathers) and four focus groups with 27 health and social care professionals based in Scotland. All the mothers were prescribed opioid replacement therapy and parents were interviewed after their baby was born. Data collection explored understandings about the causes and consequences of NAS and experiences of preparing for, and caring for, a baby with NAS. Data were analysed using a narrative and discursive approach. Results Parent and professional accounts simultaneously upheld and subverted logics of care which govern maternal drug use and the assessment and care of mother and baby. Despite acknowledging the unpredictability of NAS symptoms and the inability of the women who are opioid-dependent to prevent NAS, logics of care centred on ‘proving’ risk and recovery. Strategies appealed to the need for caution, intervening and control, and obscured alternative logics of care that focus on improving support for mother-infant dyads and the family as a whole. Conclusion Differing notions of risk and recovery that govern maternal drug use, child welfare and family life both compel and trouble all logics of care. The contentious nature of NAS reflects wider socio-political and moral agendas that ultimately have little to do with meeting the needs of mothers and babies. Fundamental changes in the principles, quality and delivery of care could improve outcomes for families affected by NAS

Exploring ethnic minority women’s experiences of maternity care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic::a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, antenatal and postnatal care in women belonging to ethnic minorities and to identify any specific challenges that these women faced during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. DESIGN: This was a qualitative study using semistructured interviews of pregnant women or those who were 6 weeks postnatal from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. The study included 16 women in a predominantly urban Scottish health board area. RESULTS: The finding are presented in four themes: ‘communication’, ‘interactions with healthcare professionals’, ‘racism’ and ‘the pandemic effect’. Each theme had relevant subthemes. ‘Communication’ encompassed respect, accent bias, language barrier and cultural dissonance; ‘interactions with healthcare professionals’: continuity of care, empathy, informed decision making and dissonance with other healthcare systems; ‘racism’ was deemed to be institutional, interpersonal or internalised; and ‘the pandemic effect’ consisted of isolation, psychological impact and barriers to access of care. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into the specific challenges faced by ethnic minority women in pregnancy, which intersect with the unique problems posed by the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to potentially widen existing ethnic disparities in maternal outcomes and experiences of maternity care

Heterogeneous agendas around public engagement in stem cell research:The case for maintaining plasticity

Although public engagement is now part of the business of doing science, there is considerable divergence about what the term means and what public engagement ought to be doing. This paper refl ects on these heterogeneous meanings and agendas through an analysis of focus group data from research on public engagement in stem cell research. Three broad visions of public engagement are identifi ed: as education and information provision; as dialogue; and as participation in policy making. In analysing the implications of these visions three dimensions are highlighted: weakly and strongly structured visions of public engagement; the co production of roles and relationships; and the framing of what is at stake. Each of these has the potential to include or exclude some groups in public engagement. We conclude that social scientists should seek to maintain the plasticity of public engagement as a necessary condition for greater participation and reflexivity in science policy, practice and governance

Beyond the Hype:‘Acceptable Futures’ for AI and Robotic Technologies in Healthcare

Acknowledgements For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would also like to thank the interviewees who gave up their time to participate in this study. Funding This research was funded in whole by the Wellcome Trust [213643/Z/18/Z].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

'Joined up' thinking? Unsupported 'fast-track' transitions in the context of parental substance use

The extended dependence of many young adults on their parents, in a socioeconomic climate which disadvantages unsupported young people who leave education early, has been the focus of much research (Jones et al. 2006; Furlong et al. 2003). Some of this work has posited a polarisation in young adulthood between those whose extended transitions to adulthood are supported by their parents, and those negotiating unsupported or ‘fast-track’ transitions (Bynner 2001; Jones 2002) associated with higher levels of risk (Jones et al. 2006). Since 1997, in each of the constituent nations of the UK, the links between such ‘fast-track’ or unsupported transitions and social exclusion have come under a certain policy spotlight. Notably, the importance of difficulties associated with the transition from school to work has been highlighted, and, as discussed in this paper, particular concern, in Scotland and the UK as a whole, has centred on those who are ‘not in education, employment or training’ (‘NEET’) (Scottish Executive (SE) 1999, 2005a, 2005b, 2006b, National Assembly for Wales 2000, Social Exclusion Office (SEU) 2004, 2005, Cabinet Office 2006). Several aspects of this policy focus have been criticised, however. Notably, Yates and Payne point out that the emphasis on young people who are ‘NEET’ not only disguises the heterogeneity of this group, but also diverts attention away from others who, while not ‘NEET’, may also be living in very fragile circumstances (2006) or tracing ‘non-linear’ pathways between education and work (te Riele 2004). In addition, focusing on young people’s ‘occupational’ status may also implicitly disguise the critical importance of family support at this age and the vulnerability of those who lack family or other, including service, supports (Bell & Jones 2002; Jones et al. 2006; Walther et al. 2005)

Evaluation of the 'You First' programme for young parents

You First was developed by Barnardo’s and funded by the Scottish Government. It targets vulnerable parents aged 21 and under, with a child under the age of one, who live in the 15% most deprived areas in Scotland. It aims to provide a boost for young, first time parents by increasing the support that they receive from their peers, the community and existing local services. The evaluation explored the benefits of the You First programme and the ways in which these could be maximised through effective delivery