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Book Reviews: Donna Haraway: Manifestly Haraway. (Reviewed by Lis Højgaard)   Ayo Wahlberg & Tine Gammeltoft (eds.): Selective Reproduction in the 21st Century. (Reviewed by Lisbeth B. Knudsen)   Clarke, Adele, Friese, Carrie and Washburn, Rachel S. (2018). Situational Analysis. Grounded Theory after the Interpretive Turn, 2nd Edition. (Reviewed by Stine Willum Adrian)   Cordelia Fine: Testosterone Rex – Unmaking the myths of our gendered minds. (Reviewed by Lea Skewes)   PhD notice: Michala Hvidt Breengaard: HOW TO MOTHER? Practices of infant feeding and the formation of maternal subjectivity among middle-class mothers in Beijing &nbsp

Infertility and fertility treatment have the potential to impact and disrupt a couple's overall life. In order to study the associations between the impact of childlessness on one's life, and men and women's attitudes towards fertility treatment continuation and/or adoption, we analysed data from a one-year follow-up questionnaire in a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of consecutive couples initiating fertility treatment in Denmark. The study comprised 302 couples with no children at baseline and no joint children at one-year follow-up. In total, 71.9% of women and 72.5% of men reported that they wished to continue fertility treatment, while 20.2% of women and 19.2% of men reported that they wished to pursue adoption. The attitudes of nearly 8 in 10 couples were congruent towards further fertility treatments, while nearly 7 in 10 couples were congruent in their attitudes to pursuing adoption. Significantly more men who reported a lower impact of childlessness on their daily life wished to continue fertility treatment, compared with those reporting that childlessness had a greater impact on their life. Among women, significantly more were undecided about whether or not to pursue adoption when reporting a greater impact of childlessness on social life, compared with those reporting a lower impact of their childlessness.

Udgivelsesdato: 2010-Jun, AIMS: The most commonly used indicator of fertility, the period total fertility rate (TFR(p)), tends to underestimate actual fertility when women delay childbearing. The objective of this study was to examine to which extent fluctuations in Danish fertility rates result from changes in timing of births and, thus, whether the conventional TFR(p) is a distorted indicator of fertility quantum. In addition, we investigated whether such changes in timing explained the observed regional differences in the TFR(p) in Denmark. METHODS: The study applied age-, period-, county-, and parity-specific data from the Danish Fertility of Women and Couples Dataset, 1980-2001. We evaluated fluctuations in period fertility rates by the tempo-adjusted TFR(') - a proposed variant of the conventional TFR(p) taking period changes in timing of births into account. Tempo-effects were given by the difference between TFR(p) and TFR(') , and these period measures were compared to actual cohort fertility. RESULTS: Mean age at childbearing increased with more than 3 years over the period 1980-2001 leading to considerable differences between TFR(p) and TFR(' ) . A tempo-effect of up to 0.347 children per woman was observed. Comparisons with actual cohort fertility showed consistency with the TFR('). However, tempo-adjustment did not attenuate observed regional differences. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the conventional TFR(p) consistently underestimates the fertility quantum in periods characterized by changes in timing of births, and that the TFR(' ) generally provides good indication of actual cohort quantum for the period in question. Considerable tempo-effects were observed within counties; however, differences between regions were not explained by changes in timing of births.

Udgivelsesdato: 2008-Apr, BACKGROUND: Equal access to health care is considered a key in Scandinavian healthcare policy. However, problematic differences between the socio-economic situation of immigrants and that of native Scandinavians are increasingly challenging this aspect of the Scandinavian welfare model. The present study focuses on how socio-economic characteristics and country of birth are associated with induced abortion. METHODS: A structured questionnaire was used to collect information among 1351 women requesting abortion and a control group of 1306 women intending birth. RESULTS: The strongest factor associated with the decision to have an abortion was being single (OR 39.1; 23.8-64.2), followed by being aged 19 years or below (OR 29.6; 13.4-65.5), having two children or more (OR 7.05; 5.29-9.39) and being unskilled (OR 2.48; 1.49-4.10), student (OR 2.29; 1.52-3.43) or unemployed (OR 1.65; 1.11-2.46). When evaluating the effect of social exposure on abortion among Danish-born and foreign-born women, the higher rate of abortion among non-Westerners was found to be caused by the composition of non-Westerners more often being unemployed, having a low income and having two or more children rather than the fact that they are coming from a non-Western country. CONCLUSION: Immigrant women comprise a vulnerable group, with a poor socio-economic status. This situation exposes immigrant women to increased risk of induced abortion. In a society with an increasing heterogeneous population, the vulnerable situation of immigrant women has to be addressed, if equal access to health care is to be maintained.

Hvorfor får kvinder med indvandrerbaggrund dobbelt så mange provokerede aborter som andre kvinder i Danmark? Det var udgangsspørgsmålet for det forskningsprojekt, denne artikel er baseret på. Artiklens argument er, at når nogle grupper af minoritetskvinder får flere aborter end andre kvinder i Danmark, skal årsagen ikke primært søges i deres anderledes kulturelle baggrund, men har snarere med social sårbarhed at gøre. Kvalitativt set kommer denne sårbarhed især til udtryk i følelser af manglende personlige ressourcer og i oplevelser af at stå alene med ansvaret for sine (potentielle) børn. Der, hvor kulturel baggrund alligevel kommer ind i billedet, er i etniske minoritetskvinders blik på det danske samfund: minoritetskvinderne i vores undersøgelse forholdt sig med større undren end de fleste majoritetskvinder til hverdagslivets betingelser i Danmark og til måderne, man forventes at klare sig selv og sit eget.

Udgivelsesdato: 2002-null, AIMS: This study describes women with induced abortion and thereby elucidates how living conditions and contraceptive failure are associated with the choice of induced abortion in a population of Danish pregnant women. METHODS: The study population consisted of pregnant women attending Odense University Hospital. They were categorized in two groups: women with induced abortion (n = 373) and a reference group consisting of women with spontaneous abortion and antenatal care attendees (n = 2,176). The two groups were compared by use of a case-referent design. The variables studied comprise age, number of children, partner relationship, education, occupation, economical situation, and contraceptive use. RESULTS: Being single, aged 15-24 or 35 and above, having either no children or two or more children, and the experience of contraceptive failure were parameters which were associated with the choice of induced abortion. Among married/cohabiting women aged 20-39 with fewer than two children, being under education, unemployed, on leave, or willing to invest effort in obtaining a more satisfying job influenced the choice of induced abortion. CONCLUSIONS: To reduce the number of induced abortions, it should be recognized that many women both want to establish a family with the number of children they wish for and to have a satisfying job with influence and challenge.

Medicinsk kvindeforskning

Almen medicin, social medicin

SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome ICD, International Classification of Diseases

Videnskabsteori, med.