Sex talk? overcoming barriers about sex and contraception after childbirth

Anecdotal evidence tells professionals that childbirth is the best form of contraception. However, sexual health problems are the very common after childbirth with Barrett et al (2000) arguing that only 15% of women who have a postnatal sexual problem reported discussing it with a health professional. As health professionals with a predilection for the ‘clinical’ and the ‘prescriptive’ we organise antenatal classes to discuss bathing the baby and post partum reunions to recount birth stories, but often fail to address sexual health problems and contraception after birth.(Glazener 1997). Many women who have carefully used contraception for years prior to pregnancy are often not helped to re-engage with the issues following birth. This would seem to be a particular problem for the most vulnerable parents such as adolescent mothers and their partners (Social Exclusion Unit 1999, 2004) where some young women go on to have more than one baby in a short time period (Reeves 2003). The focus of this paper is to explore the apparent general failure of health professionals to discuss sex after childbirth and provide information regarding reliable contraception. Glazener (1997) tells us that health professionals are encouraged to educate and prepare patients antenatally, for example to be trained to identify problems and deal with them openly and sympathetically. What is brought into question is why this form of rigorous support is not extended to providing sexual health advice in the immediate and often vulnerable postnatal period and why this provision is not a priority for some groups. The paper will explore if this situation caused by a lack of training or is it a symptom of our culture and a British attitude towards sex and contraception.

An investigation into regional differences in educational performance in the National Child Development Study

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is used to investigate factors which affect children's educational performance over time. Multilevel modelling techniques are used on a subset of the NCDS to investigate variation in educational performance in 11 regions in the UK, and in local education authorities within these regions. Social characteristics of the NCDS members are also analysed. Differences between regions and education authorities are found to be negligible, the main source of variation in achievement being due to differences in social background.

Guidance on interviewing child witnesses in Scotland

The guidance was commissioned from Dr Amina Memon and Lynn Hulse at Aberdeen University. Their work was overseen by a steering group with representatives from the Scottish Executive Justice Department, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, NCH Scotland, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Association of Directors of Social Work, the Law Society for Scotland, the Scottish Association of Community Child Health and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration. A full list of those involved is given in the Appendix C. pt. 1. Guidance on interviewing child witnesses in Scotland -- pt. 2. Guidance on the questioning of children in court -- pt. 3. Lord Justice-General's memorandum on child witnesses: appendix to Guidance on the questioning of children in court -- pt. 4. Guidance on child witness court familiarisation visits -- pt. 5. Information about child, young and vulnerable adult witnesses to inform decision-making in the legal process: good practice guide -- pt. 6. Code of practice to facilitate the provision of therapeutic support to child witnesses in court proceedings -- pt. 7. Guidance on the conduct of identity parades with child witnesses.

Meeting the emotional needs of parents who have a child with complex needs

The physical and financial demands of caring for a child with complex needs are acknowledged by health professionals. However, the emotional needs of parents are not often recognized by health professionals until parents are at a heightened level of stress. This paper is based on a literature review of current articles, research papers and government documentation. The focus is on the emotional impact to parents who have a child with complex needs, particularly at the point of diagnosis. The paper explores how health professionals, and nurses in particular, should meet the emotional needs of parents in order to support them more effectively. Giving birth to a child with severe health problems impacts upon parents at an emotional time of transition, particularly if there were no concerns identified during pregnancy. For some parents a grief response or state of chronic sorrow may be triggered. The reality of caring for a baby who is critically ill or disabled can be an enormous and unexpected shock for both parents. Parents need emotional support and guidance, as they may have to change their expectations for their child’s development and even life span. It is important for nurses to realise that if parents’ emotional needs are unmet it can lead to clinical depression or mental illness. Primary support often comes from parent support groups rather than health professionals. The review highlights factors affecting parents’ emotions and discusses how early support, home visits and practical help can all help to alleviate parents’ emotional stress.

Meeting the emotional needs of parents who have a child with complex needs

The physical and financial demands of caring for a child with complex needs are acknowledged by health professionals. However the emotional needs of parents are not often recognised by health professionals until parents are at a heightened level of stress. This paper is based on a literature review of current articles, research papers and government documentation. The focus is on how health professionals, and nurses in particular should meet the emotional needs of parents who have child with complex needs, particularly at the point of diagnosis. Giving birth to a child with severe health problems impacts upon parents at an emotional time of transition, particularly if there were no concerns identified during pregnancy. For some parents a grief response or state of chronic sorrow may be triggered. The reality of caring for a baby who is critically ill or disabled can be an enormous and unexpected shock for both parents. Parents need emotional support and guidance, as they may have to change their expectations for their child’s development and even life span. Primary support often comes from parent support groups rather than health professionals. The review discusses how home visits, practical help and early support can all help to alleviate stress. It is important for nurses to realise that if parents’ emotional needs are unmet they can lead to clinical depression or mental illness. This literature review looks at the emotional impact on parents and explores how nurses can address this issue in order to support parents more effectively. It identifies key areas that nurses could address that would help alleviate parents’ emotional stress.

Social and demographic factors of young fathers in the UK and USA

Research on disadvantaged young fathers has been minimally addressed in the literature, particularly in the UK. In both countries teenage pregnancy rates are high and costly in terms of social policy and community provision. This paper explores 2 studies involving 24 young men with an average age of 17 on the transition to young fatherhood; one study was conducted in the UK with white young men and the other in the USA with black young men. The findings from both studies indicated common themes from their stories, particularly with regard to the high levels of disadvantage and social exclusion they had been exposed to in their demographic environments and the anti-social behaviour they described engaging in, prior to the birth of their child/ren. Specifically, a significant proportion of the young men described how they had been immersed in drug and gun crimes and how this shaped their lives and neighbourhoods. Becoming fathers is presented by both sets of young men as rescuing them from this criminal lifestyle.