Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Rosemary Mander.
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While studying caesarean decision-making in China, the increasing popularity of 'zuoyuezi' emerged. This paper addresses this development, the reasons and implications. We tape-recorded semi-structured interviews in three industrial cities in China. The three groups of informants comprised women in the first-week after caesarean, women eight months after caesarean and health-workers/others. Mandarin or local dialects were used. The data were transcribed and analysed in Chinese and then selected quotes were translated into English. We found that the re-emergence and social modification of zuoyuezi is closely associated with the rising caesarean rate. This custom has been regarded as a crucial rite-of-passage for the woman's recovery and transition to motherhood after childbirth. Its particular importance after caesarean became apparent in this study. Conclusions are drawn about the place of ritual and tradition in 21st century China.
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OBJECTIVE: To examine the place of recent and historical pictorial representations of the dead baby and their relevance to the current care of grieving parents. DESIGN: A selective review of the literature on representations of the dead baby. Visual examination of seven paintings (1550-1676) in order to understand their meaning. FINDINGS: In the late 20th century the practice of taking photographs of the baby who had died became widely accepted. In the 16th and 17th centuries grief at the loss of a baby could be portrayed in the form of paintings. There are similarities between photographs currently being produced and the paintings produced four centuries ago. At both times grief could be expressed through religious rites and naming the child. Although some portrayals have been naturalistic, this has often not been the case. Paintings gave parents an opportunity to 'count' the child as part of the family. KEY CONCLUSIONS: These paintings suggest that a practice recommended as innovative in the late 20th century may have had a long history. Historically, families had a healthier attitude towards the death of a baby than in the mid-20th century. It is suggested that the difficulty of facing death, on which midwifery care of the grieving mother was, until recently, based may have been a temporary aberration. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The sensitive care of the grieving parents has a long and well-authenticated history.
AIMS OF THE PAPER: This paper aims to analyse critically a selective review of the literature on tiredness and fatigue in health and illness. This analysis is then applied to the experience of the new mother in the postnatal period. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: Although the twin concepts of tiredness and fatigue are well known in both sickness and health, our understanding of them is less complete. This paradox of familiarity and lack of understanding applies particularly to the postnatal period. METHOD: A literature search was undertaken using MEDLINE, CINAHL and Web of Science. The search terms 'tiredness', 'fatigue' and 'post natal' were used. FINDINGS: This search of the literature produced a small number of articles. Few of these, however, addressed the problem of tiredness or fatigue in the postnatal period, suggesting that this problem needs more research attention. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of this analysis, it is suggested that childbirth education could be extended to foster more realistic expectations and more effective coping skills to facilitate women's adjustment to motherhood. The possibility of midwives educating mothers about the need to access, recruit and delegate some household activities to willing helpers is addressed. We propose that midwives can help women to have more realistic expectations about life after the birth, by providing advice and legitimizing the need for support and the use of coping mechanisms to assist the transition to motherhood.
OBJECTIVE: to understand the meaning of the qualitative data included in the Notebook of wet nurses kept by James Young Simpson. DESIGN: quantitative and qualitative analysis of data in an historical document. SETTING: a list of wet nurses kept by a 'Professor of Midwifery' in mid-19th century Edinburgh. PARTICIPANTS: the Notebook lists the names and other details of 749 women. FINDINGS: the Notebook indicates how the wet nurse was recruited, the implications for her baby, how she negotiated her role and the decision-making around her recruitment. KEY CONCLUSIONS: the ambiguity of this medical pioneer's decision-making is demonstrated. Simpson's scientific credentials may have featured much rhetoric. While in the forefront of many obstetric and medical developments, Simpson was regressive in his support for wet nursing. The social input into the selection of the wet nurse has not been identified previously. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the woman's ability to negotiate her terms of employment emerges. The social determinants of baby feeding decisions, identified in this document, have assumed greater significance since the time that this Notebook was written.
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