Susan Mattson

Delay in prenatal care as a result of battering in pregnancy: Cross‐cultural implications

White American, Hispanic, and African American women were surveyed in public health and low-income clinics in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington, to determine if they delayed seeking prenatal care because of battering during their pregnancies. Nursing staff in the clinics attempted to enroll in the study all pregnant women from these groups who presented themselves for care; no other criteria were used, other than the ability to read either English or Spanish. Results were obtained from 162 White Americans, 208 Hispanics, and 132 African Americans. Although the incidence of abuse was not significantly different among the ethnic groups, battered women sought prenatal care 6.5 weeks later than the nonabused sample, with a similar delay in each ethnic group. Twenty-one percent of the women reported physical harm during the pregnancy, and 13.7% stated that they had delayed care because of injuries.

Millennium Development Goals and Global Women's and Infants' Health

This article presents a brief history and description of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a framework for addressing the worlds health needs. They focus on decreasing poverty, decreasing child and maternal mortality, and ensuring gender equality in terms of education, work opportunities, and health and health care. Progress on attainment of MDGs is reported, and links between social determinants of health and the well-being of women and newborns are presented. Implications for maternal newborn nurses are discussed.

Exploring telehealth opportunities in domestic violence shelters.

Purpose To determine the degree of interest in using a computer for the purpose of accessing services from a nurse practitioner (NP) at domestic violence shelters (DVSs); and to identify issues of privacy and confidentiality that might arise from participation by victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a Telehealth intervention. Data Sources Focus groups with 19 women residing in two DVSs. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and themes were identified that answered the questions posed in the interviews. Conclusions Most of the women understood the term NP and were favorably inclined to seek services from one. Over half of the women were not familiar with computer use, but were willing to learn in order to receive health care services, both for episodic needs and for maintenance of chronic conditions. After learning of the method proposed to allow them to access an NP through the internet while still protecting their privacy and confidentiality, the women felt comfortable with this approach to meeting their health care needs. Implications for Practice Results from this study can be used to support the development and testing of Telehealth interventions for these victims of IPV.

Nursing at a Crossoads: Exploring the Need for Advanced Nursing Education

Changes in the health care workplace following many of the reforms instituted by that industry—now coupled with a nationwide nursing shortage resulting from an aging population of nurses, increased career opportunities for women and declining enrollments in schools of nursing—have influenced the ways in which nurses work and are educated.

Maternal-child health in Zimbabwe

In this paper I describe maternal and child health needs in Zimbabwe, as well as existing health care delivery services designed to meet these needs. The information presented is based on a project sponsored by Earthwatch (a worldwide volunteer organization) that addressed the needs of women and infants, as well as the authors contribution to this effort. Because of a long-standing drought, many women and children in Zimbabwe are malnourished. Poor nutrition affects the woman herself, pregnancy outcomes, and the developing child, and has far-reaching repercussions. The major problems that contribute to maternal child morbidity and mortality include nutritional deficiencies, lack of safe water, and family planning needs. Earlier surveys conducted on maternal nutrition consistently showed iron deficiency, goiters, underweight, and inadequate nutrient intake to be quite prevalent. On the basis of previous assessments, this project focused on educating community health workers on ways to assist families with nutritional deficiencies, family planning, and hygiene needs.

An Update on Global Women's Health

67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 I in the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration and committed their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty. This commitment was articulated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), time-bound and quantified targets to address extreme poverty in many dimensions, including income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion. The goals also addressed gender equality, education, environmental sustainability, and the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security (Millennium Project, 2006). The target end date of the MDGs was 2015, and although significant progress has been made on many levels, some of the MDGs were not met. As a result, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a new target date of 2030 were established to build on previous efforts and success:

Millennium Development Goals and Global Health of Women and Newborns

Susan Mattson, RNCOB, CTN, PhD, FAAN, is professor emerita in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ. At the 18th International Congress on Women’s Health in April 2010, Dr. Julio Frenk, dean of Harvard School of Public Health, asserted that global health should not be thought of as diierent from or opposed to domestic health; global includes the United States (Frenk, 2010). Global health transcends national boundaries, and health disparities can be between nations, within a nation, or between populations within that nation. Researchers usually compare ‘‘mainstream’’ populations with those in minority groups (Marsiglia, 2010). A recent article in the Arizona Republic newspaper reported that nearly one half of all children in the United States and 90% of Black children will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked to poverty (Tanner, 2009).

A review of “Derr, M., MacNair, R., & Naranjo-Huebl, L. (2005). ProLife feminism: Yesterday and today”

Because I have always considered myself a feminist, and also prochoice (with the most salient and operative word “choice” in all aspects of life whether career, living arrangements, or motherhood), I decided to read this book to see if it could/would explain the “other side’s” position. It does, to a certain extent, especially the early writings from the eighteenth century, along with those of Native American tribes who were early embodiments of feminism, yet also very prolife (as we define it). This was an interesting book to read, composed of writings from eighteenth-century through contemporary feminists, including the three women authors noted above, each of whom addresses particular aspects of the contraception and abortion issues. I discovered that the early writings were based on the fact that the women who chose or who had abortions forced upon them indeed had NO choice about their pregnancies, whether they occurred at all, or what the outcome would be. Until the 1960s women had little control over their own bodies in terms of preventing pregnancies or until the 1970s had any choice about continuing the pregnancy or not (legally). Thus, those who were pleading for women to be “prolife” actually were pleading for society to give women a choice in the matter, and not subject them to the wishes or commands of men—their fathers, husbands, lovers. A man could demand sexual activity and, if it resulted in a pregnancy, either force the woman to carry the child to term and then support the baby herself, or abort the fetus to absolve the man of any obligation (if there was one) toward the woman and child. Until abortion was legalized in the 1970s, many women who did seek out abortions (for whatever reason) died as a result of the procedure. It often was carried out in unsanitary (much less sterile) environments by “practitioners” wary of being prosecuted for unlawful activity and frequently “shunned” by the established medical community. Therefore, it was women’s

WOMEN’S HEALTH DURING AND AFTER PREGNANCY: A THEORY BASED STUDY OF ADAPTATION TO CHANGE

Tulman and Fawcett have looked at women’s health in the childbearing period from the perspective of Roy’s Adaptation Model. They conducted a longitudinal study of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period, including physical and psychosocial health, functional status, and family relationships based on the Roy Adaptation Model. More specifically, they detailed how women’s physical and psychosocial health and family relationships are related to their usual household, social and community, child care, occupational, educational and personal care activities. The study was an outcome of the authors’ commitment to enhancing understanding of women’s health during life transitions, with childbearing as “the prototype for women’s adaptations during a normal life transition.” A particular outcome was the formulation of their theory “Adaptation During Childbearing.” In Part 1 of the book, Tulman and Fawcett introduce readers to their study, by explaining the Theory of Adaptation During Childbearing, its derivation from the Roy Adaptation Model, and identification of the specific study variables upon which the theory is built. These variables include: performance of usual activities, reports of physical energy and physical symptoms experienced, weight gain, psychosocial health, family relationships, functional status, restrictions on activity, support systems, and help with child care. Data for these variables were collected and discussed during all three trimesters of pregnancy and the first 6 months after delivery.

Nursing at a Crossoads

Changes in the health care workplace following many of the reforms instituted by that industry—now coupled with a nationwide nursing shortage resulting from an aging population of nurses, increased career opportunities for women and declining enrollments in schools of nursing—have influenced the ways in which nurses work and are educated.