The delivery of high quality and equitable care for both mothers and newborns is complex and requires efforts across many sectors. The United States spends more on childbirth than any other country in the world, yet outcomes are worse than other high-resource countries, and even worse for Black and Native American women. There are a variety of factors that influence childbirth, including social determinants such as income, educational levels, access to care, financing, transportation, structural racism and geographic variability in birth settings. It is important to reevaluate the United States' approach to maternal and newborn care through the lens of these factors across multiple disciplines. Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice reviews and evaluates maternal and newborn care in the United States, the epidemiology of social and clinical risks in pregnancy and childbirth, birth settings research, and access to and choice of birth settings.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Although reproduction including infertility, abortion, childbearing and motherhood is a significant human experience, its social meaning is shaped by the culture in which birthing women live. Reproduction and its management, therefore, occur within the social and cultural context of the event. As such, reproductive beliefs and practices differ across social and cultural settings. This book focuses on reproduction, childbearing and motherhood. In this volume, the authors show that despite the modernisation of the society and advanced medical technology and knowledge in reproduction, traditions continue to exert influence on how the women and their families manage their reproduction, childbearing and motherhood in their societies.

This book will explore the childbirth process through globally diverse perspectives in order to offer a broader context with which to think about birth. We will address multiple rituals and management models surrounding the labor and birth process from communities across the globe. Labor and birth are biocultural events that are managed in countless ways. We are particularly interested in the notion of power. Who controls the pregnancy and the birth? Is it the hospital, the doctor, or the in-laws, and in which cultures does the mother have the control? These decisions, regarding place of birth, position, who receives the baby and even how the mother may or may not behave during the actual delivery, are all part of the different ways that birth is conducted. One chapter of the book will be devoted to midwives and other birth attendants. There will also be chapters on the Evolution of Birth, on Women’s Birth Narratives, and on Child Spacing and Breastfeeding. This book will bring together global research conducted by professional anthropologists, midwives and doctors who work closely with the individuals from the cultures they are writing about, offering a unique perspective direct from the cultural group.

This book is the first to bring together an interdisciplinary collection of essays on surrogacy and egg donation from three socially, legally and culturally distinct countries - India, Israel and Germany. It presents contributions from experts in the field of social and cultural sciences, bioethics, law as well as psychology and provides critical-reflective comparative analysis of the socio-ethical factors shaping surrogacy and egg donation practices across these three countries. This book highlights the importance of a comparative perspective to ‘make sense’ of controversies and transitions in this highly contested area of artificial reproductive technologies. It demonstrates how local developments cannot be isolated from global events and vice versa. Therefore, this volume can be used as a standard reference for anyone seeking to understand surrogacy and egg donation from a macro-perspective in the next decade.

Highlighting aspects of birth often taken for granted, ignored or left silenced, this book questions the art and meaning of childbirth. Addressing spirituality in and around the start of life from a variety of thought-provoking perspectives, it examines the apparent paradox of impersonal biomedical-technocratic systems operating alongside the meaningful experiences encountered by those involved. Themes covered include: Notions of holism and spirituality, culture, religion and spirituality Childbirth significance at societal level Spiritual care in maternity care provision Birth environment, mood, space and place Spiritual experience of all those involved, including health professionals Spiritual experience when birth is complex and challenging When birth and death are juxtaposed. Although there is considerable literature on spirituality at the end of life, this is the only book that draws together a global and multidisciplinary selection of academic researchers and practitioners to reflect on spirituality at the start of life. Each chapter explores the relevant theoretical background and makes links to practice, using case studies from research and practice. The chapters conclude by discussing: how spiritual care is, and should be, provided in this context; what practice approaches are beneficial; cross-cultural perspectives; and future directions for research. It is an important read for all those interested in childbirth, maternity care, social science perspectives on health and illness, and spirituality.

The #1 maternity book in the market is getting even better. Maternity and Women's Health Care, 11th Edition provides evidence-based coverage of everything you need to know about caring for women of childbearing age. Not only does this text emphasize childbearing concerns like newborn care, it also addresses wellness promotion and management of women's health problems. In describing the continuum of care, it integrates the importance of understanding family, culture, and community-based care. Boasting new medication alerts and updated content throughout, this edition covers the new maternal levels of care, and the revised AAP policy on breastfeeding and infant sleep. Expert authors of the market-leading maternity nursing textbook deliver the most accurate, up-to-date content. Clinical reasoning case studies provide you with opportunities to test and develop your analytical skills and to apply knowledge in various settings. Community Activity boxes focus on maternal and newborn activities that can be pursued in local community settings and illustrate nursing care in a variety of settings. Cultural Considerations stress the importance of considering the beliefs and health practices of patients from various cultures when providing care. Emergency boxes provide information about various emergency situations and offer a quick reference in critical situations. Family-Centered Care boxes highlight the needs and concerns of families that you should consider to provide family-centered care. Medication guides provide an important reference of drugs and their interactions. Nursing care plans include rationales for interventions and provide you with an overview of, and specific guidelines for, delivering effective nursing care. Safety alerts highlighted and integrated within the content draw attention to developing competencies related to safe nursing practice. Signs of potential complications highlight vital concerns, alerting you to signs and symptoms of complications and the immediate interventions to provide. Teaching for Self-Management boxes highlight important information that nurses need to communicate to patients and families for follow-up care.

“This book establishes a new standard. The focus on ‘holism, diversity, and strengths’ sets a fresh direction for the field that will inspire today’s counselors. Distinct from other texts both in terms of style and ease of use, Career Counseling provides a practical model that connects theory, practice, and resources in hopeful and affirming ways, while offering readers new skills and insights.” —Rich Feller, PhD University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Colorado State University Past President, National Career Development Association “Gysbers, Heppner, and Johnston have continued their excellent contributions to the field with this 4th edition. Their approach is highly practical for counselors in helping diverse clients prepare for and manage the changing workplace and economy. I enthusiastically recommend this book as a must-have resource for counseling professionals and as a textbook for graduate counseling programs.” —Kenneth F. Hughey, PhD Kansas State University “We invite all students, professionals, and researchers to read this volume to enrich their practice, research, and the values by which they should be inspired to persist in being active agents of change in the world.” —Laura Nota, PhD, and the Larios Vocational Psychology Team University of Padova, Italy The latest edition of this bestseller will help both counselors-in-training and experienced clinicians update and expand their existing knowledge and skills in career counseling with clients of all ages and circumstances. Significant attention is placed on expanding the career options and empowering the life choices of women; men; racial and ethnic minorities; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clients; clients from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds; and individuals with disabilities. Additional topics discussed include traditional and postmodern career theories and approaches, forming a productive alliance with the client, effective use of assessment inventories and instruments, helping clients respond to changes in the workplace and family life, working with resistant clients, developing client action plans, and bringing closure to the counseling process. A new chapter titled “Using Social Media in Career Counseling” rounds out this exceptional book. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com. *To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website. *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]