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Copyright of Canadian Bulletin of Medical History is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

New procedures are developed in this article for estimating parameters of the Pearsonian Type I curve which are particularly adaptive to factors influencing the pattern of age-specific fertility rates. It is shown that with this model the number of parameters required for the graduation and simulation of these rates can be reduced to only three--total fertility rate, mean and modal ages of fertility. The reduction in the number of fertility parameters offers considerable operational and analytical advantages, and makes the Pearsonian Type I curve particularly appropriate for the construction of a parametric model for fertility projections. In light of the results of empirical tests based on fertility data for Canada, the model's potential for birth projections appears quite promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in opioid-related mortality have contributed to declines in life expectancy at birth in the United States and British Columbia. Canadian national mortality data from 2000 to 2016 were analyzed to determine the contribution of poisoning-related mortality to changes in life expectancy at birth by age group and sex. From 2000 to 2016, life expectancy at birth increased by almost three years; however, mortality due to unintentional poisonings, including those involving opioids, curbed this increase by 0.16 years. Although a national decrease in life expectancy at birth has not been observed in Canada during this period, current trends suggest that the national opioid overdose crisis will continue to attenuate gains to life expectancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primipara women may require greater informational and emotional support than multipara women. Supportive communication, including informational and emotional support, can help to build a strong caregiver-patient relationship and can alleviate the difficulties associated with first-time birth. The objective of this study was to explore first-time mothers' experiences of labor and birth. Three hundred primipara women completed self-report questionnaires. Qualitative analysis of one open-ended question about the women's experience was conducted. Nine themes emerged from the data. Eight themes reflected informational and emotional support needs, whereas the final theme reflected instrumental support needs. The study concluded that informational and emotional supports are important factors of supportive communication and influence the birthing experience of primipara women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health care reform in Canadian hospitals has resulted in increased workloads and bureaucratization of patient care contributing to the development of a new economy of care. Interviews with nurses and visible (non-white) minority women who have given birth in institutions undergoing health care reform revealed that nurses felt compelled to avoid interactions with patients deemed too costly in terms of time. Overwhelmingly, these patients were members of culturally marginalized populations whose bodies were read by nurses as potentially problematic and time consuming. As their calls for assistance go unanswered, visible minority women complained of feeling invisible. Taken in context of historical and contemporary interethnic relations, these women regarded such avoidance patterns as evidence of racism. Obstetrical nurses, too, understood that the new economy of care wrought by health care restructuring has altered nursing practice and patient care to the detriment of minority women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents letters to the editor responding to past articles in the magazine. Maternity leave for adoptive parents in Ontario; Discussion of a humorous article which psychoanalised the characters of A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood characters; Diabetes in Canada's First Nations; Reducing the rates of inappropriate labor induction.

The approach underlying the model proposed in this article constitutes a considerable departure from the conventional methods used for the projection of birth series. Instead of following the customary procedure of directly projecting the age-specific fertility rates, they can be derived with this model from only three relatively simple fertility measures, namely, total fertility rate, mean age of fertility, and modal age of fertility. In order to calculate the number of births in any given year, one merely multiplies the number of women at each age by the fertility rate of the corresponding age, and then sums the products which are obtained. The model has been submitted to a series of empirical tests using data for Canada. Thus, the annual number of births for the period 1926-1970, that is, for all the years for which the required data are available, were generated from the model and compared with the actual number of births for the same period. Although the data are limited to only one country, they nevertheless reflect demographic conditions of considerable diversity. During the course of the period examined, Canadian women experienced great changes in their fertility level and age pattern. The results of the tests presented in the above section lead to the conclusion that instead of following the conventional procedure of obtaining the annual number of births by directly projecting age specific fertility rates, it is more advantageous to obtain them by using the model.

The article discusses tips and techniques, as well as considerations for clinical assessment for instrumental birth, focusing on universal lessons across three different continents that include Ireland, Canada and Australia. It presents a compilation of clinical experience from respected teachers on how to accurately assess the second stage of labour and offer safe and effective instrumental birth to women and care for their babies.