Going public : do risk and choice explain differences in caesarean birth rates between public and private places of birth in Australia?

Background: Women who birth in private facilities in Australia are more likely to have a caesarean birth than women who birth in public facilities and these differences remain after accounting for sector differences in the demographic and health risk profiles of women. However, the extent to which women’s preferences and/or freedom to choose their mode of birth further account for differences in the likelihood of caesarean birth between the sectors remains untested. Method: Women who birthed in Queensland, Australia during a two-week period in 2009 were mailed a self-report survey approximately three months after birth. Seven hundred and fifty-seven women provided cross-sectional retrospective data on where they birthed (public or private facility), mode of birth (vaginal or caesarean) and risk factors, along with their preferences and freedom to choose their mode of birth. A hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to determine the extent to which maternal risk and freedom to choose one’s mode of birth explain sector differences in the likelihood of having a caesarean birth. Findings: While there was no sector difference in women’s preference for mode of birth, women who birthed in private facilities had higher odds of feeling able to choose either a vaginal or caesarean birth, and feeling able to choose only a caesarean birth. Women had higher odds of having caesarean birth if they birthed in private facilities, even after accounting for significant risk factors such as age, body mass index, previous caesarean and use of assisted reproductive technology. However, there was no association between place of birth and odds of having a caesarean birth after also accounting for freedom to choose one’s mode of birth. Conclusions: These findings call into question suggestions that the higher caesarean birth rate in the private sector in Australia is attributable to increased levels of obstetric risk among women birthing in the private sector or maternal preferences alone. Instead, the determinants of sector differences in the likelihood of caesarean births are complex and are linked to differences in the perceived choices for mode of birth between women birthing in the private and public systems.

The birth place of the type Ic supernova 2007gr

We report our attempts to locate the progenitor of the peculiar Type Ic SN 2007gr in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) preexplosion images of the host galaxy, NGC 1058. Aligning adaptive optics Altair/NIRI imaging of SN 2007gr from the Gemini ( North) Telescope with the preexplosion HST WFPC2 images, we identify the supernova (SN) position on the HST frames with an accuracy of 20 mas. Although nothing is detected at the SN position, we show that it lies on the edge of a bright source 134 +/- 23 mas (6.9 pc) from its nominal center. On the basis of its luminosity, we suggest that this object is possibly an unresolved, compact, and coeval cluster and that the SN progenitor was a cluster member, although we note that model profile fitting favors a single bright star. We find two solutions for the age of this assumed cluster: 7 -/+ 0.5 Myr and 20 - 30 Myr, with turnoff masses of 28 +/- M-circle dot and 12 - 9 M-circle dot, respectively. Preexplosion ground-based K- band images marginally favor the younger cluster 4 age/higher turnoff mass. Assuming the SN progenitor was a cluster member, the turnoff mass provides the best estimate for its initial mass. More detailed observations, after the SN has faded, should determine whether the progenitor was indeed part of a cluster and, if so, allow an age estimate to within similar to 2 Myr, thereby favoring either a high-mass single star or lower-mass interacting binary progenitor.

Place but not Date of Birth Influences the Development and Emergence of Athletic Talent in American Football

The purpose of this study was to examine the birthplace and relative age effects in National Football League (NFL) players. The place and date of birth of NFL players in the United States were analyzed with Monte Carlo simulations to determine if either factor was predictive of the probability of reaching the elite level in this sport. Consistent with previous findings on professional North American athletes in baseball, ice hockey, basketball, and golf, players born in cities with populations of less than 500,000 were significantly over-represented in the NFL, whereas players born in cities with populations over 500,000 were significantly under-represented. Unlike many other sports, no relative age effects were found for the NFL. Small cities, in particular, appeared to possess characteristics that facilitate the development and/or emergence of athletic talent in American football. Possible psychosocial factors mediating the birthplace effect are discussed as are implications for the development of sporting expertise.

Historical and descriptive account of the birth-place of Shakspeare,

Mode of access: Internet.

Association of type of birth attendant and place of delivery on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: To examine the association between type of birth attendant and place of delivery, and infant mortality (IM). Methods: This cross-sectional study used self-reported data from the Demographic Health Surveys for women in Ghana, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and95% confidence intervals. Results: In Ghana and Sierra Leone, odds of IM were higher for women who delivered at a health facility versus women who delivered at a household residence (OR=3.18, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.29-7.83, p=0.01 and OR=1.62, 95% CI: 1.15-2.28, p=0.01, respectively). Compared to the use of health professionals, the use of birth attendants for assistance with delivery was not significantly associated with IM for women in Ghana or Sierra Leone (OR=2.17, 95% CI: 0.83-5.69, p=0.12 and OR=1.25, 95% CI: 0.92-1.70, p=0.15, respectively). In Kenya, odds of IM, though nonsignificant, were lower for women who used birth attendants than those who used health professionals to assist with delivery (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.51-1.41, p=0.46), and higher with delivery at a health facility versus a household residence (OR=1.29, 95% CI: 0.81-2.03, p=0.28). Conclusions: Women in Ghana and Sierra Leone who delivered at a health facility had statistically significant increased odds of IM. Birth attendant type-IM associations were not statistically significant.Future research should consider culturally-sensitive interventions to improve maternal health and help reduce IM.

Registration of a Birth - Edith Louise Cowan

A birth registration for Edith Louise Cowan. The birth is dated as August 24, 1885, and the date of issue for the certificate is November 8, 1927. Place of birth, Thorold. County of Welland.

The place of writing in first grade Kuwaiti english education : a sociological case study

A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.

Social justice and high-quality human services : visioning the place of a contemporary professional association

The current world situation is plagued by “wicked problems” and a widespread sense of “things are going to get worse”. We confront the almost imponderable consequences of global habitat destruction and climate change, as well as the meltdown of the financial markets with their largely yet to be seen damage to the “real economy”. These things will have considerable negative impacts on the social system and people's lives, particularly the disadvantaged and socially excluded, and require innovative policy and program responses delivered by caring, intelligent, and committed practitioners. These gargantuan issues put into perspective the difficulties that confront social, welfare, and community work today. Yet, in times of trouble, social work and human services tend to do well. For example, although Australian Social Workers and Welfare and Community Workers have experienced phenomenal job growth over the past 5 years, they also have good prospects for future growth and above average salaries in the seventh and sixth deciles, respectively (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2008). I aim to examine the host of reasons why the pursuit of social justice and high-quality human services is difficult to attain in today's world and then consider how the broadly defined profession of social welfare practitioners may collectively take action to (a) respond in ways that reassert our role in compassionately assisting the downtrodden and (b) reclaim the capacity to be a significant body of professional expertise driving social policy and programs. For too long social work has responded to the wider factors it confronts through a combination of ignoring them, critiquing from a distance, and concentrating on the job at hand and our day-to-day responsibilities. Unfortunately, “holding the line” has proved futile and, little by little, the broad social mandate and role of social welfare has altered until, currently, most social programs entail significant social surveillance of troublesome or dangerous groups, rather than assistance. At times it almost seems like the word “help” has been lost in the political and managerial lexicon, replaced by “manage” and “control”. Our values, beliefs, and ethics are under real threat as guiding principles for social programs.

Duggaibah, or 'place of whiteness' : Australian feminist and race

Our society operates in such a way as to put whiteness at the center of everything, including individual consciousness--so much so that we seldom question the centrality of white- ness, and most people, on hearing 'race', hear 'black'. That is, whiteness is treated as the norm, against which all differences are measured. 1 Race shapes white women's lives. In the same way that both men's and women's lives are shaped by their gender, and that both heterosexual and lesbian women's experiences in the world are marked by their sexuality, white people and people of color live racially structured lives. In other words, any system of differentiation shapes those on whom it bestows privi- lege as well as those it oppresses. White people are 'raced' just as men are 'gendered'. 2

The place of media in community formation for homeless youth : a case study of Gibber magazine

This paper presents the findings of a research project that was set up to establish haw well Gibber, a street magazine set up in Perth in 1994, effectively provides a 'voice' for its canstituency -'young people marginalised by society'.