Search

The author discusses allyship as a systemic intervention that requires partners to be self-reflexive about how power and privilege operate and create relational obstacles between women and academia. She talks about the impact of the "new normal" of the COVID-19 pandemic on her, the effect of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police officers in the public relationship with the police and the U.S., and allyship as a path to inclusivity.

For over a decade, scholars have graced a number of aeromobilities' socio-cultural dimensions, from being in an airport to commanding an aeroplane. Yet, while this work has heightened appreciations of the political nature of aerial worlds, the propensity has been to focus on the immediate arrangements and politics related to flight. Using civil aviation as an example, this article offers a methodological reorientation and conceptual rethink of how aeromobilities' (re)production invokes far-reaching political economies in excess of the core activity of aerial conveyances. It seeks to open up worldly webs of iniquitous movements and relations that make aerial life – rather than flying per se – possible in the first place. Interspersing a selection of our research with extant literature, reports and statistics, the article outlines, in coincidence with our earlier findings, two ways in which civil aviation has thus incurred extensive extra-sectoral costs: the material mobilisation of resources for air infrastructures, and the mobilisation of populations and labour for aeromobile development. The discussion aims ultimately to promote a more nuanced understanding of the constituents, and costs, of moving in the present age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour research in geography has long been fascinated with the role of affects and emotions in capitalism. This article foregrounds ambivalent moments when labour creatively uses affection and intimacy to make claims over autonomy and agency. Set against a backdrop of increasing automation of infrastructural work, we draw on interviews with personnel at Jakarta Soekarno‐Hatta Airport (CGK). In culturally situating these automations, we evince how the "heart" (or the Indonesian notion of curahan hati), with semblances to customer‐facing labour management practices, and other affective dispositions under neoliberal life, is repeatedly deployed to "fill in the gaps" for where automation may fail. We illuminate how these workers navigate wearying, uncertain, and demanding facilitation, security, and customer service situations by emphasising "heart‐to‐heart" relations, even as they stave off technology's encroachments (and withdrawals). This plastic automaticity offers a template by which the pressures of capital's technologisation could be relieved, beyond emotional labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the goal is to use the theoretical framework of intersectionality as the lens through which to better understand the musical genius Prince, his Royal Badness. The collection of articles in this special issue are a great gift for scholars and others who have been enthralled by this acclaimed artist. While other authors are taking a more in-depth look at other facets of Prince, I will be focusing specifically on how he used his music to blur the lines between the religious and the secular and to affirm and complicate understandings of Blackness and, by extension, Black masculinity. Prince's own sexuality was questioned throughout his career; however, this article will be best served by directing attention to his iteration of Black masculinity that many seemed to accept, embrace even. Prince craftily blurred the lines between his various identities, which functioned to not only allow him to be his authentic self, but challenged his fans and society writ large to engage more critically with societal structures designed to define who and what we are as people and a society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including experiences of faculty in the Metro College Success Program at San Francisco State University; Racial Microaggressions in U.S. universities; and concept of intersectional microaggression.

The current study was conducted with the goal of identifying specific communication behaviors – both verbal and nonverbal – that SOC at a PWI consciously and subconsciously identify as either an RMA or a contributing factor to the likelihood of one occurring. The experiences and voices of multiracial college students privileged over those of monoracial students in an effort to inspire institutional change and resist systemic oppression in its most basic form. The findings are consistent RMA research, while also introducing new categories and concepts that contribute to how scholars and SOC are "naming, detailing and classifying the actual manifestations of aversive racism". The students in this study experienced and reported on RMA they are experiencing both at the university and in the local community, which is consistent with previous research. Regardless of their race/ethnicity, these SOC experienced verbal and nonverbal RMA on a daily basis. These findings further demonstrate that communication is at the center of understanding RMA, as evidenced by the seven categories of communication responses and 30 corresponding concepts that are new to RMA scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of faculty-student mentoring in graduate programs and institutions to eliminate racism in higher education in the U.S. Also cited are the racial disparities in graduate programs across the U.S. based on data of the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the low number of faculty of color (FOC) in academia, and the hindrances in the academic and psychosocial success of graduate students of color (SOC).

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of family communication environments on children's intergroup socialization. Adult children (n = 200) reported on their parents' conformity and conversation orientations and their own racial attitudes and intergroup orientations. Results evidenced ingroup bias, social dominance, and identification with parent as mediators of the positive relationship between conformity orientation and racial prejudice and the negative relationship between conformity orientation and racial tolerance. Results also revealed that children from consensual and protective families harbor the most racial prejudice and least racial tolerance. Future directions related to intergroup contact interventions, racially diverse families, and qualitative assessments of parent-child interactions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the authors discuss issues in educational pedagogy and scholarship in response to Jo Sprague's 1992 essay on the role of power and communication in higher education. Other topics include the role of education and scholarship in abolishing oppressive systems like capitalism, sexism, and racism, as well as the need to change how teachers and scholars engage their students in the classroom.

Films play a critical role in shaping public perceptions of historical and contemporary racial relations. Unfortunately, Hollywood often relies on narratives that romanticize racism, recuperate stereotypes, and promote the ideology of a postracial society. One common and harmful narrative is that of the White savior, a prominent trope in the 2011 film The Help. By reading The Help as what Kenneth Burke would describe as a "statement about motives," the authors of this article argue that the White savior narrative operates by constraining constructions of scene, agency, and purpose. When these elements are constrained, they limit the options of who can be the main agent, or hero, of the film. This, in turn, defines the act itself. This article extends research on racism in film by illustrating how the White savior functions to simultaneously erase and romanticize racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the object of the beaded necklace worn by married women in Nepal – calledpote– and the ambiguities and layers of meaning surroundingpotein the lived worlds of the women who wear them. The ways women understand and usepoteoffer a view of religious belief as constituted and enacted through lived practices, surrounding and taking place through material objects. To illustrate this, this essay focuses on the ways that knowledge about thepoteis transmitted and the spatial practices ofpotewearing. A new generation of upper caste Hindu women of the Kathmandu valley are negotiating socio-cultural norms in an ever-shifting socio-cultural landscape characteristic of modernity, yet unique to Nepal.Potepractices offer a window into these women’s shifting worlds revealing creativity, agency, and re-invention of new modes of practice informed by traditional codes of women’s religious behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Media has long been regarded as influential in shaping and altering individuals’ perceptions of race and interracial interactions. The following article examinesRemember the Titans (Bruckheimer & Yakin, 2000)as a communicative text using critical race theory as an interpretive lens. This framework facilitated the examination of pervasive stereotypes and systematic oppression that privileges Whites. In particular, this article considers issues of leadership and interracial interactions within the context of sport. The authors’ findings contribute to the heuristic nature of critical race theory by identifying a visual text that is reflective of a time in U.S. history where racial tensions were high and a Black male in a leadership role in sport was anomaly; thus, we offer further evidence that film can function as an educational tool designed to improve media literacy and raise awareness of social injustices, with the goal of improving the social realities of people of color. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the aspects of the impact of geopolitical relationship between China and U.S. on the trends of yak tail trade from Lhasa and Kalimpong towns in China. Topics discussed include the aspects the trades which reflects the role of Himalayan trade in the country's economic and political changes, the trade routes between the towns, and the commodity listing of the trade by the newspaper "Tibet Mirror" and the development of Santa Claus' beards in north America.

Abstract: Major state-led infrastructural development projects in the Himalayan region have been underway for several years, such as the building of highways connecting Nepal and Tibet, the widening of roads throughout North Bengal, Sikkim, and Tibet, and the planning of extensions to the Beijing–Lhasa railroad. Some of these projects – driven by the need to open up new markets for surplus commodities in the name of “free” trade and bilateral cooperation – have led to the rerouting of established trade routes and increased environmental damage to the region's hilly topography. In an area of Asia that has long been characterized by geographical representations highlighting its supposed marginality and remoteness (for example, “the chicken's neck” or “the roof of the world”), these searches for new openings for capital have led to the erasure or obfuscation of certain places in tandem with the highlighting of other, more profitable places for a variety of hegemonic political and economic goals. This article takes as its basis oral narratives of traders in the region, demonstrating how the re-routing of trade routes have often resulted in diverse attempts to make trading goods and places more coherent in the face of such powerful economic shifts. I argue for the need to avoid simple “top–down” vs. “bottom–up” models of hegemony and resistance in order to obtain a more nuanced picture of the tensions and overlaps between large-scale economic shifts and smaller-scale practices in the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper I examine how objects become connected to place in complex and contradictory ways. Over the past ten to fifteen years, rapid transformations in Chinese manufacturing and transportation networks have significantly altered the production, marketing, and consumption of commodities made in the Tibet Autonomous Region and traded in Kalimpong, India, and Kathmandu, Nepal. In an attempt to connect the ethnographic study of material culture with more macrolevel processes of geoeconomic change, I begin the piece with an examination of the changing production, materials, and styles of a very specific commodity, the Tibetan women's apron. I then explore traders' narratives about the values of handmade, machine-made, wool, and synthetic commodities, arguing that we ought to look beyond dichotomies of 'old' versus 'new' or 'authentic' versus 'inauthentic' objects to show in detail how the attachment of commodities to representations of place figures importantly in the contemporary study both of globalization and uneven development. Finally, I suggest that Karl Marx's notion of dead labor is useful in analyzing the recent move towards the revitalization of Tibetan wool for both the domestic Chinese industry and the global tourist industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides specific insights on how systemic oppression continues to be alive and well in the educational institutions throughout the U.S. and the world. Her status as Full Professor allows her to draw attention to solo status in the case of African-American female faculty at predominantly White institutions with minimum risks. She notes that African-American women in the academy have to be skilled at determining when, if, and how to interpret their experiences and through which lens such as race, gender or religion. She encourages African-American female scholars to be agents of change and make room for new members in the Sister Circle rather than succumbing to the negative experiences and barriers that endure.

The article focuses on contemporary geographies of trade between Lhasa, China and Kalimpong, India. The article examines the reopening of a trade route that has historically connected Lhasa with Kalimpong. The transnational mobility across border regions is examined and issues related to economic change in Tibet, India, and China are analyzed. A brief history of the trade route is provided. Anecdotes based on ethnographic fieldwork are provided. Also provided is an examination of how two groups, one for and one against the reopening of an additional trade route, both coincide with and fight against state-focused ideas about space.

This chapter explores identity negotiation by women of color in academe at a predominantly white institution. The author discusses use of the title doctor as a form of address to manage interactions with graduate students in the college classroom, and the difficulties associated with negotiating and balancing these diverse and complex identities in an oppressive context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine if African Americans have a more negative attitude toward genetic testing and engage in more media behaviors than European Americans. The results reveal no effect for race, thus suggesting a more general approach to the genetic counseling experience. Media use, however, yielded statistically significant findings, such that individuals who regularly read the newspaper and science fiction books possess a more deterministic attitude about genetics and a more positive attitude toward genetic counseling m general. In general, participants held strong positive beliefs regarding genetic testing. Given the AA legacy associated with medical research in the U.S. and associated distrust of the medical system, AA participants 'positive views may denote cautious optimism regarding equity in access to benefits relating to genetic testing. It should also be noted at the same time, however, that AAs differed in their use of many media associated with genetic health information from EAs, including movies, talk shows, crime and drama shows, and science fiction shows. This may suggest that AAs more often rely on such media to bridge gaps in the availability and use of formal health information about these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information generated by the Human Genome Project is intended to result in better understanding of genetic variation and disease, affording opportunities to intervene in human health both prior to and after birth. The lay public's construction of meaning associated with these aims, however, has been given little systematic consideration. As God and religion are often invoked as structures to give meaning to technical and scientific discoveries, this project sought to examine public discussions associated with religious frameworks used to talk about human genetics. The results of 17 focus group discussions revealed a range of lay epistemologies that suggest how religious faith may impact individual perceptions, with some consistent differences in discourse for African Americans as compared to European Americans observed. The ethical and practical applications of this information are extended to suggestions for health promotion, care, and counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My project explored whether or not my approach to teaching an interracial communication course was effective in reducing racial prejudice and promoting racial sensitivity and awareness among undergraduate students. Analysis of student narratives and focus groups reveals that my approach was effective in impacting student perceptions of, and attitudes towards, race. Cognition, affect, and behavior were found to influence a student's ability to understand and transfer classroom knowledge to real-world human interactions. Most students adopted ways of thinking and behaviors that combat racism on an interpersonal level. My own teaching was enhanced by hearing and watching these changes take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study involves a cluster analysis of student reactions to two films, The Color of Fear and Rosewood. One or the other film was shown in two interracial communication courses. As a course assignment, students wrote reaction papers to the film and its effectiveness as a pedagogical tool designed to educate them and others about racism and interracial communication. Using cluster analysis, there were several reactions to the films. Overall, students perceived the use of visual text as a powerful tool in educating people about racism and its impact on interracial communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the significance of a cultural artifact and the differences and similarities in its reception by racially diverse women through the film `Imitation of Life.' Reflection of cultural transformations in the film; Views of contemporary women to the 1959 version of the film; Influence of race, gender identities and real life experiences on the way women negotiate their identities.

Currently, limited research exists that explores the socially taboo topic of interracial dating between African Americans and European Americans. Historically, African Americans and European Americans have had a highly destructive relationship of enslavement and oppression, which has resulted in a history of mistrust, according to P. H. Collins (African American Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, New York, Routledge, 1990). As a result, this relationship symbolizes the institutionalized oppression embedded in race relations despite the very intimate nature of this romantic relationship. Using the centrality of race within the context of romantic relationships, this study was designed to determine how race influences the communicative process. Q-sort methodology was used, which required participants to determine what waiting, hinting, direct, and third-party intervention strategies they would use to initiate a date in both same-race and interracial contexts. Findings reveal that when comparing verbal strategies across both contexts and open-ended responses to likelihood or reality of dating interracially, participants were resistant to the idea of dating a person from another race. External factors such as family and society were cited as primary deterrents to involvement in an interracial romantic relationship. In general, participants in this study used more social distancing strategies for initiating interracial dating relationships than same-race dating relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the association between ethnic group and risk of postpartum haemorrhage in women giving birth. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Maternity units in England. Sample: A total of 981 801 records of births between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2017 in a national clinical database. Methods: Multivariable logistic regression analyses with multiple imputation to account for missing data and robust standard errors to account for clustering within hospitals. Main Outcome Measure: Postpartum haemorrhage of ≥1500 ml (PPH). Results: A total of 28 268 (2.9%) births were complicated by PPH. Risks were higher in women from black (3.9%) and other (3.5%) ethnic backgrounds. Following adjustment for maternal and fetal characteristics, and care at birth, there was evidence of an increased risk of PPH in women from all ethnic minority groups, with the largest increase seen in black women (adjusted OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.45–1.63). The increase in risk was robust to sensitivity analyses, which included changing the outcome to PPH of ≥3000 ml. Conclusions: In England, women from ethnic minority backgrounds have an increased risk of PPH, when maternal, fetal and birth characteristics are taken into account. Factors contributing to this increased risk need further investigation. Perinatal care for women from ethnic minority backgrounds should focus on preventative measures to optimise maternal outcomes. Women with an ethnic minority background giving birth in England have an increased risk of postpartum haemorrhage, even when characteristics of the mother, the baby and the care received are taken into account. Women with an ethnic minority background giving birth in England have an increased risk of postpartum haemorrhage, even when characteristics of the mother, the baby and the care received are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates role expectations as shaped from Western culture and racial gender role stereotypes. Media representations of Afro-American women; Proposal for a cinematic paradigm shift in racial and gender portrayals of Afro-American women in cinema; Perceptions about the motion picture `Waiting to Exhale.'

Focuses on a study that examined how the Enterprise Solutions Structure (ESS) approach address the barrier in the reuse of information technology (IT) solution development and deliver promised value for customers. Structure of ESS assets; How the use of architectural templates helps identify the risk in the use of ESS approach; Benefits observed of using ESS assets during business engagement.

Chronic pelvic and genital pain conditions (CPGPCs) often go undiagnosed and untreated in women for years after symptom onset. This is due, in part, to communication challenges experienced by patients such as difficulties describing pain and the stigmatized nature of CPGPCs. However, studies have yet to explore how early messages about menstruation, a context similar in its stigmatized and painful nature, may contribute to undertreatment and diagnostic delays for adult women experiencing CPGPCs by normalizing pelvic and genital pain when they are young girls. Guided by critical feminist theorizing (CFT) and sensitized by an existing typology of negative messages communicated by mothers to daughters about menstruation, this study analyzes interviews with 17 women with CPGPCs to explore how features of negative messages about menstruation (i.e., information restriction and omission) appear and recur in women's descriptions of their later CPGP experiences. Findings suggest that early life talk about menstruation forms a communicative precedent for young girls which later constrains how they talk about CPGP in adulthood. Findings also problematize early-life communication about menstruation, which normalizes women's pain, and suggest connections to outcomes (e.g., diagnostic delays) for women with CPGPCs. Theoretical and practical implications are offered. Limitations and future directions are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the music releases "Music of the Silk Road" and "The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan," both featuring various artists.

Understanding therapy providers' experiences with cognitive screening, assessment, and documentation can provide guidance on improving care quality. Semi-structured interviews (n = 18) were conducted with therapy providers across disciplines and post-acute settings. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Six over-arching themes emerged pertaining to cognitive screening and assessment. (1) Therapists routinely conducted screening through task performance and informal observation. (2) Documentation habits varied due to multiple conflicting goals and lack of guidelines. (3) Therapists' approach was honed on the job through clinical experience and trial and error. (4) Patient diagnosis, emerging medical conditions, and goals most strongly influenced therapists' approach. (5) Roles and responsibilities were implicit. (6) The end goal was determining patient safety. All therapy providers frequently screened for cognition, yet documentation varied widely. To increase consistent delivery and documentation of cognitive screening and assessment, future studies can examine strategies to streamline electronic health record platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Admittedly at the risk of over-interpreting our results, we conclude that a more proactive practice style with an increased use of induction of labour, rather than an increased use of caesarean section in emergency situations, seems to be linked to safer childbirth. In our paper, we suggest that the between-hospital variation observed in the induction of labour and emergency caesarean section rates may reflect differences in the "practice style" of hospitals providing maternity services. We thank Anna Seijmonsbergen-Schermers and colleagues [1] for their interest in our paper, in which we describe that there is considerable between-hospital variation in the use of induction of labour and emergency caesarean section in singleton term births that took place in the English National Health Service between April 2015 and March 2017.[2] More importantly, we also show that hospitals with a higher rate of induction had slightly lower risks of adverse perinatal outcomes, whereas a similar association was not found for emergency caesarean section. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in obstetric outcomes are well established. However, the role of induction of labour (IOL) to reduce these inequalities is controversial, in part due to insufficient evidence. This national cohort study aimed to identify adverse perinatal outcomes associated with IOL with birth at 39 weeks of gestation ("IOL group") compared to expectant management ("expectant management group") according to maternal characteristics in women with low-risk pregnancies. Methods and findings: All English National Health Service (NHS) hospital births between January 2018 and March 2021 were examined. Using the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) dataset, maternal and neonatal data (demographic, diagnoses, procedures, labour, and birth details) were linked, with neonatal mortality data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Women with a low-risk pregnancy were identified by excluding pregnancies with preexisting comorbidities, previous cesarean section, breech presentation, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, or a baby with congenital abnormalities. Women with premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, amniotic fluid abnormalities, or antepartum stillbirth were excluded only from the IOL group. Adverse perinatal outcome was defined as stillbirth, neonatal death, or neonatal morbidity, the latter identified using the English composite neonatal outcome indicator (E-NAOI). Binomial regression models estimated risk differences (with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)) between the IOL group and the expectant management group, adjusting for ethnicity, socioeconomic background, maternal age, parity, year of birth, and birthweight centile. Interaction tests examined risk differences according to ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and parity. Of the 1 567 004 women with singleton pregnancies, 501 072 women with low-risk pregnancies and with sufficient data quality were included in the analysis. Approximately 3.3% of births in the IOL group (1 555/47 352) and 3.6% in the expectant management group (16 525/453 720) had an adverse perinatal outcome. After adjustment, a lower risk of adverse perinatal outcomes was found in the IOL group (risk difference −0.28%; 95% CI −0.43%, −0.12%; p = 0.001). This risk difference varied according to socioeconomic background from 0.38% (−0.08%, 0.83%) in the least deprived to −0.48% (−0.76%, −0.20%) in the most deprived national quintile (p-value for interaction = 0.01) and by parity with risk difference of −0.54% (−0.80%, −0.27%) in nulliparous women and −0.15% (−0.35%, 0.04%) in multiparous women (p-value for interaction = 0.02). There was no statistically significant evidence that risk differences varied according to ethnicity (p = 0.19). Key limitations included absence of additional confounding factors such as smoking, BMI, and the indication for induction in the HES datasets, which may mean some higher risk pregnancies were included. Conclusions: IOL with birth at 39 weeks was associated with a small reduction in the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes, with 360 inductions in low-risk pregnancies needed to avoid 1 adverse outcome. The risk reduction was mainly present in women from more socioeconomically deprived areas and in nulliparous women. There was no significant risk difference found by ethnicity. Increased uptake of IOL at 39 weeks, especially in women from more socioeconomically deprived areas, may help reduce inequalities in adverse perinatal outcomes. Author summary: Why was this study done?: Adverse perinatal outcomes are more common among women from deprived areas and ethnic minorities in England. There is debate about whether induction of labour (IOL) with birth at 39 weeks should be offered based on ethnicity or deprivation in low-risk pregnancies, as a means of reducing inequalities. What did the researchers do and find?: We analysed a database of all maternity admissions in the English National Health Service (NHS) and measured the association between IOL at 39 weeks and adverse perinatal outcomes in low-risk pregnancies. We found evidence of a small benefit from induction overall in low-risk pregnancies, with 360 inductions associated with the avoidance of 1 adverse perinatal outcome. The benefits of induction were observed mainly in women from more socioeconomically deprived areas and in nulliparous women. What do these findings mean?: An increased uptake of IOL with birth at 39 weeks, especially in women from more socioeconomically deprived areas and in nulliparous women, may help reduce inequalities in perinatal outcomes. The greater benefit from IOL with birth at 39 weeks in women from more socioeconomically deprived areas may be explained by an increased prevalence of maternal risk factors. Improved collection of routine data on the indication for induction and the presence of risk factors is required to corroborate the role that IOL at 39 weeks in women with a low-risk pregnancy can play in reducing inequalities in risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the rates of and risk factors associated with iatrogenic and spontaneous preterm birth and the variation in rates between hospitals. Design: Cohort study using electronic health records. Setting: English National Health Service. Population: Singleton births between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2017. Methods: Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (adjRR) to measure association with maternal demographic and clinical risk factors. Main outcome measures: Preterm births (<37 weeks of gestation) were defined as iatrogenic or spontaneous according to mode of onset of labour. Results: Of the births, 6.1% were preterm and of these, 52.8% were iatrogenic. The proportion of preterm births that were iatrogenic increased after 32 weeks. Both sub‐groups were associated with previous preterm birth, extremes of maternal age, socio‐economic deprivation and smoking. Iatrogenic preterm birth was associated with higher body mass index (BMI) (BMI >40 kg/m2 adjRR 1.59, 95% CI 1.50–1.69) and previous caesarean (adjRR 1.88, 95% CI 1.83–1.95). Spontaneous preterm birth was less common in women with a higher BMI (BMI >40 kg/m2 adjRR 0.77, 95% CI 0.70–0.84) and in women with a previous caesarean (adjRR 0.87, 95% CI 0.83–0.90). More variation between NHS hospital trusts was observed in rates of iatrogenic, compared with spontaneous, preterm births. Conclusions: Just over half of all preterm births resulted from iatrogenic intervention. Iatrogenic births have overlapping but different patterns of maternal demographic and clinical risk factors to spontaneous preterm births. Iatrogenic and spontaneous sub‐groups should therefore be measured and monitored separately, as well as in aggregate, to facilitate different prevention strategies. This is feasible using routinely acquired hospital data. This article includes Author Insights, a video abstract available at: https://vimeo.com/745289966. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the association between hospital‐level rates of induction of labour and emergency caesarean section, as measures of 'practice style', and rates of adverse perinatal outcomes. Design: National study using electronic maternity records. Setting: English National Health Service. Sample Hospitals providing maternity care to women between April 2015 and March 2017. Main outcome measures: Stillbirth, admission to a neonatal intensive care unit and babies receiving mechanical ventilation. Results: Among singleton term births, the risk of stillbirth was 0.15%, the risk of admission to a neonatal intensive care unit was 5.4% and the risk of mechanical ventilation 0.54%. There was considerable between‐hospital variation in the rate of induction of labour (minimum 17.5%, maximum 40.7%) and in the rate of emergency caesarean section (minimum 5.6%, maximum 17.1%). Women who gave birth in hospitals with a higher rate of induction of labour had better perinatal outcomes. For each 5%‐point increase in induction, there was a decrease in the risk of term stillbirth of 9% (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.85–0.97) and a decrease in the risk of mechanical ventilation of 14% (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.79–0.94). There was no significant association between hospital‐level induction of labour rates and neonatal unit admission at term (p > 0.05). There was no significant association between hospital‐level rates of emergency caesarean section and adverse perinatal outcomes (all with p > 0.05). Conclusions: There is considerable between‐hospital variation in the use of induction of labour and emergency caesarean section. Hospitals with a higher rate of induction had a lower risk of adverse birth outcomes. A similar association was not found for caesarean section. Linked article: This article is commented on by Eric Jauniaux, pp. 1907 in this issue. To view this minicommentary visit https://doi.org/10.1111/1471‐0528.17277 This article includes Author Insights, a video abstract available at: https://vimeo.com/bjogabstracts/authorinsights17193 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted maternity services worldwide and imposed restrictions on societal behaviours. This national study aimed to compare obstetric intervention and pregnancy outcome rates in England during the pandemic and corresponding pre-pandemic calendar periods, and to assess whether differences in these rates varied according to ethnic and socioeconomic background.Methods and Findings: We conducted a national study of singleton births in English National Health Service hospitals. We compared births during the COVID-19 pandemic period (23 March 2020 to 22 February 2021) with births during the corresponding calendar period 1 year earlier. The Hospital Episode Statistics database provided administrative hospital data about maternal characteristics, obstetric inventions (induction of labour, elective or emergency cesarean section, and instrumental birth), and outcomes (stillbirth, preterm birth, small for gestational age [SGA; birthweight < 10th centile], prolonged maternal length of stay (≥3 days), and maternal 42-day readmission). Multi-level logistic regression models were used to compare intervention and outcome rates between the corresponding pre-pandemic and pandemic calendar periods and to test for interactions between pandemic period and ethnic and socioeconomic background. All models were adjusted for maternal characteristics including age, obstetric history, comorbidities, and COVID-19 status at birth. The study included 948,020 singleton births (maternal characteristics: median age 30 years, 41.6% primiparous, 8.3% with gestational diabetes, 2.4% with preeclampsia, and 1.6% with pre-existing diabetes or hypertension); 451,727 births occurred during the defined pandemic period. Maternal characteristics were similar in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, stillbirth rates remained similar (0.36% pandemic versus 0.37% pre-pandemic, p = 0.16). Preterm birth and SGA birth rates were slightly lower during the pandemic (6.0% versus 6.1% for preterm births, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.97; 5.6% versus 5.8% for SGA births, aOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93-0.96; both p < 0.001). Slightly higher rates of obstetric intervention were observed during the pandemic (40.4% versus 39.1% for induction of labour, aOR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03-1.05; 13.9% versus 12.9% for elective cesarean section, aOR 1.13, 95% CI 1.11-1.14; 18.4% versus 17.0% for emergency cesarean section, aOR 1.07, 95% CI 1.06-1.08; all p < 0.001). Lower rates of prolonged maternal length of stay (16.7% versus 20.2%, aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.76-0.78, p < 0.001) and maternal readmission (3.0% versus 3.3%, aOR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86-0.90, p < 0.001) were observed during the pandemic period. There was some evidence that differences in the rates of preterm birth, emergency cesarean section, and unassisted vaginal birth varied according to the mother's ethnic background but not according to her socioeconomic background. A key limitation is that multiple comparisons were made, increasing the chance of false-positive results.Conclusions: In this study, we found very small decreases in preterm birth and SGA birth rates and very small increases in induction of labour and elective and emergency cesarean section during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some evidence of a slightly different pattern of results in women from ethnic minority backgrounds. These changes in obstetric intervention rates and pregnancy outcomes may be linked to women's behaviour, environmental exposure, changes in maternity practice, or reduced staffing levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socioeconomic deprivation and minority ethnic background are risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to quantify the magnitude of these socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities at the population level in England.Methods: In this cohort study, we used data compiled by the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit, based on birth records from maternity information systems used by 132 National Health Service hospitals in England, linked to administrative hospital data. We included women who gave birth to a singleton baby with a recorded gestation between 24 and 42 completed weeks. Terminations of pregnancy were excluded. We analysed data on stillbirth, preterm birth (<37 weeks of gestation), and fetal growth restriction (FGR; liveborn with birthweight <3rd centile by the UK definition) in England, and compared these outcomes by socioeconomic deprivation quintile and ethnic group. We calculated attributable fractions for the entire population and specific groups compared with least deprived groups or White women, both unadjusted and with adjustment for smoking, body-mass index (BMI), and other maternal risk factors.Findings: We identified 1 233 184 women with a singleton birth between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2017, of whom 1 155 981 women were eligible and included in the analysis. 4505 (0·4%) of 1 155 981 births were stillbirths. Of 1 151 476 livebirths, 69 175 (6·0%) were preterm births and 22 679 (2·0%) were births with FGR. Risk of stillbirth was 0·3% in the least socioeconomically deprived group and 0·5% in the most deprived group (p<0·0001), risk of a preterm birth was 4·9% in the least deprived group and 7·2% in the most deprived group (p<0·0001), and risk of FGR was 1·2% in the least deprived group and 2·2% in the most deprived group (p<0·0001). Population attributable fractions indicated that 23·6% (95% CI 16·7-29·8) of stillbirths, 18·5% (16·9-20·2) of preterm births, and 31·1% (28·3-33·8) of births with FGR could be attributed to socioeconomic inequality, and these fractions were substantially reduced when adjusted for ethnic group, smoking, and BMI (11·6% for stillbirths, 11·9% for preterm births, and 16·4% for births with FGR). Risk of stillbirth ranged from 0·3% in White women to 0·7% in Black women (p<0·0001); risk of preterm birth was 6·0% in White women, 6·5% in South Asian women, and 6·6% in Black women (p<0·0001); and risk of FGR ranged from 1·4% in White women to 3·5% in South Asian women (p<0·0001). 11·7% of stillbirths (95% CI 9·8-13·5), 1·2% of preterm births (0·8-1·6), and 16·9% of FGR (16·1-17·8) could be attributed to ethnic inequality. Adjustment for socioeconomic deprivation, smoking, and BMI only had a small effect on these ethnic group attributable fractions (13·0% for stillbirths, 2·6% for preterm births, and 19·2% for births with FGR). Group-specific attributable fractions were especially high in the most socioeconomically deprived South Asian women and Black women for stillbirth (53·5% in South Asian women and 63·7% in Black women) and FGR (71·7% in South Asian women and 55·0% in Black women).Interpretation: Our results indicate that socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities were responsible for a substantial proportion of stillbirths, preterm births, and births with FGR in England. The largest inequalities were seen in Black and South Asian women in the most socioeconomically deprived quintile. Prevention should target the entire population as well as specific minority ethnic groups at high risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, to address risk factors and wider determinants of health.Funding: Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media depictions of genetics have led to concerns that this coverage will lead to increased belief in genetic determinism and increased discrimination, including racism. Previous studies of single exposures to messages about genetics or messages about genetics and race have shown some increases in discrimination and racism. Since attitude change is linked to repeated exposure to many messages, this study aimed to identify the effect of multiple exposures to multiple messages about genetics on attitudes towards determinism, discrimination and racism. Results showed an increase in genetically based racism, no increase in general racist affect and no significant increase in belief in determinism. Based on these results, we suggest that genetically based racism is a combination of racist affect with belief that perceived differences in human characteristics are solely or primarily influenced by genetics and that a move towards genetically based racism has implications for social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Too little theory and research has considered the effects of communicating statistics in various forms on comprehension, perceptions of evidence quality, or evaluations of message persuasiveness. In a considered extension of Subjective Message Construct Theory (Morley, 1987), we advance a rationale relating evidence form to the formation of impressions of evidence. We compare visual versus verbal representations of statistical evidence associated with multivariate relationships in a community-based field experiment (N = 206). Verbal forms were found to be better comprehended than visual forms and contributed to enhanced understanding when compared to an attention control condition. Comprehension was found to mediate the effect of statistical evidence form on perceptions of evidence quality, while comprehension and perceptions of evidence quality moderated judgments of message persuasiveness. In addition to the effects of evidence form on subjective impressions of statistical evidence, we advance perceiver characteristics as another realm in which persuaders may identify persistent patterns associated with comprehension and judgments of statistical evidence. Numeracy skills, race, and gender emerge as characteristics with merit in this regard. Nonsignificant findings associated with perceiver characteristics were found. Finally, we consider the results for evidence form and perceiver characteristics on comprehension and judgments of statistical evidence for their theoretic and pragmatic importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in clinical genetics and biotechnology increase the ability to identify individual genetic makeup through genetic services and testing. As a result, genes have become the focus of an increasing number of health messages associated with medical interaction and public communication. This research explored public perceptions (N = 858) of the role of genes in health using problematic integration (P1) theory as a framework. A Genetic Relativism Instrument (GM) associated with macroframeworks about illness causation was developed and used to cluster individuals into 4 groups associated with communicating about genes and health. Uncertainty about the role of personal behaviors, social environments, and religious faith on genes' impact for human health varied significantly among the four groups. In this age of increased use of genetic technologies, communication regarding human genetics in counseling and health promotion may contribute to better informed decision making if tailored to these varied belief systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of scholars have speculated that religious people will be less likely than others to ascribe either fatalistic or deterministic powers to genes, opting instead to leave freedom as a choice for both God and humans. This research investigates the role of religious faith(RF) on behavioral health outcomes associated with information about genes and health, as well as its role as a gatekeeper to media information about genes and health. This research is based on the results of a survey of 858 members of the lay public, including northeastern and southeastern rural and urban participants. Findings are considered within frameworks of audience segmentation principles associated with RF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African American and white women (N = 39) were interviewed about reproductive rewards and risks regarding genetics information and technologies. Analysis of their talk reflected several important themes. Emergent "reward" themes included the would-be parents' reproductive decision-making, preparation, and prevention. "Risk" themes, which were more predominant than reward themes, included genetic information as stress producing, "child-designing" as a likely outcome, and the creation of a superior race as probable. Findings are discussed within a Problematic Integration Theory framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]