Racializing Motherhood and Maternity Care in News Representations of Breastfeeding.

Racial inequalities in breastfeeding have been a U.S. national concern, prompting health science research and public discourse. Social science research reveals structural causes, including racism in labor conditions, maternity care practices, and lactation support. Yet research shows that popular and health science discourses disproportionately focus on individual and community factors, blaming Black women and communities for unequal breastfeeding rates. This study examines how scientific reports are communicated to the public through a critical analysis of 104 U.S. news articles reporting research on racial disparities in breastfeeding. Findings show that articles acknowledge unequal treatment within maternity care but justify it by presenting Black patients as overburdening the maternity care systems they use due to low socioeconomic status, welfare dependency, poor family support, and poor health. Through these representations, articles co-construct racialized motherhood and maternity care systems in ways that hide manifestations of obstetric racism and combat social support for systemic change.

Abortion as a Public Health Risk in COVID-19 Antiabortion Legislation.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, 12 states banned or restricted abortion access under elective-procedure restrictions. The rationale was preserving hospital capacity and personal protective equipment (PPE); however, abortions commonly take place in clinics and use less PPE than childbirth. This paper investigates the discursive construction of abortions, the people who get them, and the fetuses in this legislation. The authors analyzed 13 antiabortion documents using an iterative process of thematic coding and memo writing. Twenty-three percent of the legislation listed abortion as banned, whereas the remaining laws implied abortion within the terms "elective" or "nonessential." Legislation used common antiabortion tactics, such as the trivialization of abortion, risk discourses, and constructions of motherhood and fetal personhood. Discourses delegitimized abortion providers and used quasi-medical justifications for banning abortion. Finally, legislation constructed abortion clinics as sites of contagion and waste and consequently as risks to public health. The results highlight the vulnerability of abortion and the connection between abortion policy and other conservative policies, and they gesture toward a strategic attempt to ban abortion federally. These findings have several implications for a post-Roe United States and for stakeholders wishing to increase abortion access.

Exploring Conditions That Strengthen or Weaken the Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Phenological Synchrony.

AbstractClimate change-driven phenological shifts alter the temporal distributions of natural populations and communities, but we have little understanding of how these shifts affect natural populations. Using agent-based models, we show that the interaction of within-population synchrony (individual variation in timing) and timing of interspecific interactions shapes ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations within a seasonal cycle. Low-synchrony populations had lower survival and biomass but relatively stronger individuals. These effects were surprisingly robust and did not require size-based competitive asymmetries. However, reducing population synchrony could either negatively or positively affect population demography depending on whether the phenology of the focal species was advanced or delayed relative to its competitor. Furthermore, selection for earlier hatching increased when the interspecific competitor arrived earlier and when population synchrony was high. These results emphasize the importance of variation in the phenology of individuals within populations to better understand species interactions and predict ecological and evolutionary outcomes of phenological shifts.

Shifts in phenological mean and synchrony interact to shape competitive outcomes.

Climate change-induced phenological shifts are ubiquitous and have the potential to disrupt natural communities by changing the timing of species interactions. Shifts in first and/or mean phenological date are well documented, but recent studies indicate that shifts in synchrony (individual variation around these metrics) can be just as common. However, we know little about how both types of phenological shifts interact to affect species interactions and communities. Here, we experimentally manipulated the hatching phenologies of two competing species of larval amphibians to address this conceptual gap. Specifically, we manipulated the relative mean hatching time (early, same, or late relative to competitor) and population synchrony (high, medium, or low levels of variation around the mean) in a full 3 × 3 factorial design to measure independent and interactive effects of phenological mean and population phenological synchrony on competitive outcomes. Our results indicate that phenological synchrony within a population strongly influences intraspecific competition by changing the density of individuals and relative strength of early- vs. late-arriving individuals. Individuals from high-synchrony populations competed symmetrically, whereas individuals from low-synchrony populations competed asymmetrically. At the community scale, shifts in population phenological synchrony interact with shifts in phenological mean to affect key demographic rates (survival, biomass export, per capita mass, and emergence timing) strongly. Furthermore, changes in mean timing of species interactions altered phenological synchrony within a population at the next life stage, and phenological synchrony at one life stage altered the mean timing of the next life stage. Thus, shifts in phenological synchrony within populations cannot only alter species interactions, but species interactions in turn can also drive shifts in phenology.

Social Connectedness Factors that Facilitate Use of Healthcare Services: Comparison of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming and Cisgender Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To compare social connectedness factors that facilitate use of primary, dental, and mental healthcare services among transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) and cisgender adolescents. METHODS: Data from the cross-sectional 2016 Minnesota Student Survey were used to examine protective social connectedness factors associated with use of different healthcare services among matched samples of 1916 TGNC and 1916 cisgender youth. Stratified, logistic regression analyses were used to examine background characteristics and social connectedness factors (parent connectedness, connections to other nonparental adults, teacher-student relationships, and friend connections) associated with use of each healthcare service within the last year. RESULTS: For TGNC youth, but not for cisgender youth, higher levels of parent connectedness were associated with receipt of primary (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.40-3.66) and dental (OR, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.78-5.08) care services, and lower levels of connectedness to nonparental adults was associated with receipt of mental healthcare (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.33-0.93). Among cisgender youth, no protective factors were significantly associated with receipt of primary care services, higher levels of friend connections were associated with receipt of dental services (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.10-3.09), and lower levels of parent connectedness were associated with receipt of mental healthcare (OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.10-0.40). CONCLUSIONS: To promote the health of TGNC youth, clinicians should understand the distinct factors associated with obtaining healthcare among this population such as the need for tailored efforts focused on strengthening connectedness between TGNC youth and their parents to facilitate receipt of needed care.

Shifts in phenological distributions reshape interaction potential in natural communities.

Climate change has changed the phenologies of species worldwide, but it remains unclear how these phenological changes will affect species interactions and the structure of natural communities. Using a novel approach to analyse long-term data of 66 amphibian species pairs across eight communities, we demonstrate that phenological shifts can significantly alter the interaction potential of coexisting competitors. Importantly, these changes in interaction potential were mediated by non-uniform, species-specific shifts in entire phenological distributions and consequently could not be captured by metrics traditionally used to quantify phenological shifts. Ultimately, these non-uniform shifts in phenological distributions increased the interaction potential for 25% of species pairs (and did not reduce interaction potential for any species pair), altering temporal community structure and potentially increasing interspecific competition. These results demonstrate the potential of phenological shifts to reshape temporal structure of natural communities, emphasising the importance of considering entire phenological distributions of natural populations.

Human Milk Handling and Storage Practices Among Peer Milk-Sharing Mothers.

BACKGROUND: Peer milk sharing, the noncommercial sharing of human milk from one parent or caretaker directly to another for the purposes of feeding a child, appears to be an increasing infant-feeding practice. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against the practice, little is known about how people who share human milk handle and store milk and whether these practices are consistent with clinical safety protocols. Research aim: This study aimed to learn about the milk-handling practices of expressed human milk by milk-sharing donors and recipient caretakers. In this article, we explore the degree to which donors and recipients adhere to the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine clinical recommendations for safe handling and storage. METHODS: Online surveys were collected from 321 parents engaged in peer milk sharing. Univariate descriptive statistics were used to describe the safe handling and storage procedures for milk donors and recipients. A two-sample t-test was used to compare safety items common to each group. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to examine sociodemographic correlates of milk safety practices within the sample group. RESULTS: Findings indicate that respondents engaged in peer milk sharing report predominantly positive safety practices. Multivariate analysis did not reveal any relationship between safety practices and sociodemographic characteristics. The number of safe practices did not differ between donors and recipients. CONCLUSION: Parents and caretakers who participate in peer human milk sharing report engaging in practices that should reduce risk of bacterial contamination of expressed peer shared milk. More research on this particular population is recommended.

Milk sharing in practice: a descriptive analysis of peer breastmilk sharing.

Peer breastmilk sharing has emerged in recent years as a subject of investigation and occasional controversy. Although researchers know that thousands of milk exchanges are facilitated through milk sharing Web sites every week, there is only limited research into milk sharing practices on the ground. This study examines these practices through a 102-item online survey that asked questions about milk sharing practices, perceptions of milk sharing, and demographic characteristics. Participants were recruited through social media sites specific to breastfeeding and parenting events in Central Florida. The sample consisted of 392 respondents. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis. We found that breastmilk sharing is a complex practice, showing high levels of overlap in which some donors are also recipients, and that cross-nursing sometimes occurs simultaneously with the exchange of expressed milk. Respondents often donated and received milk from people they knew; however, exchanging milk with strangers was also common. Many but not all used the Internet to facilitate milk exchange; participants used well-known milk sharing Web sites as well as their private virtual networks. The study found that most milk exchanges happen in-person as gifts and that selling and shipping breastmilk were rare. We suggest that further research is needed on breastmilk sharing practices to inform breastmilk safety research and policy recommendations.

Emotion work among pregnant and birthing women.

BACKGROUND: previous research has examined emotional labour as an important component of the occupational work of midwives and gynaecological nurses. Fewer studies explore emotion work by women during normal pregnancy and birth, and existing studies emphasise emotion work based on the midwife-woman relationship. This study explores use of emotion work during pregnancy and birth among a sample of women. OBJECTIVE: the study objective is to identify the mechanisms and purposes of emotion work among women during pregnancy and birth. DESIGN: data consist of 18 in-depth interviews with women regarding their pregnancy and birth experiences and seven online pregnancy journals. Data were analysed to identify themes in participant's descriptions of emotion work during pregnancy and birth. FINDINGS: participants described four methods of emotion work that included shifting cognitive focus, exerting control, social support and using technology. Participants used emotion work for the four main purposes of maintaining their own and their babies' health, coping with negative events, managing pain, and achieving their desired birth. Although some emotion work was undertaken in relational context with the midwife or partner, much of the emotion work described took place in solitude. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: social support from midwives or partners was a form of emotion work that facilitated positive interpretations of the birth experience.

Place matters: the impact of place of residency on racial attitudes among regional and urban migrants.

Scholars have debated whether racial attitudes are socialized early in life and persist throughout one's lifetime or are open to influences from one's environment as an adult. This study introduces another approach that holds that place, as opposed to the timing of socialization, is an important consideration for the socialization of racial attitudes. Using data from the American National Election Study, we consider the effect of region and urban residency on racial attitudes by comparing lifelong residents of these locations to those who migrate into and out of them. Using improved measures of early life socialization and region of residency, we conclude that a place-based model can be used to explain the socialization of racial resentment. For regional migrants, those moving into and out of the non-South maintain levels of racial resentment similar to non-Southern stayers. For urban migrants, the lifelong openness model of socialization was most appropriate. These migrants were more likely to change and adopt the level of racial resentment similar to that of their destination peers. These findings generally persist across time.

Discursive constructions of breastfeeding in U.S. state laws.

Previous research has identified several ways that breastfeeding is constructed in public discourses, each with consequences for breastfeeding attitudes, policies, and practices. Researchers analyzed discursive constructions of breastfeeding in U.S. state laws regarding breastfeeding in public to see if common representations were replicated in law and to identify patterns among states that used similar language. Results indicated that laws varied in the level of protection they offered, with the least protective laws decriminalizing breastfeeding in public and the most protective laws criminalizing interference with breastfeeding. The least protective states were located in the Western and North-Central regions, Republican-leaning, and less urban, whereas the most protective states were located in the New England and North-Central regions, Democrat-leaning, and more urban. Most states that fell on either end of this continuum had breastfeeding rates above the national average. Laws also varied in the level of regulation implied in their language, with the most regulative laws specifying that "a mother" can breastfeed "her baby" only in certain places and under certain conditions (discreetly). The most regulative states were located in the Southern and North-Central regions and had low breastfeeding rates, whereas the least regulative states were Western and had high breastfeeding rates.

Beyond control: body and self in women's childbearing narratives.

In the United States, childbearing is often conceptualised as a time when women lose self-control over their bodies. This project examines issues of bodily control through a social constructionist analysis of in-depth interviews with 18 predominantly white, working and middle class women who have recently given birth in the US. Findings indicate that many participants construct themselves as both in and out of control of their bodies during childbearing. Participants also describe body/self relationships in ways that transcend power and control, perceiving the body as autonomous, accommodating and collaborating. Accommodating and collaborating bodies were described here only among participants who gave birth in the midwifery model of care. The findings illuminate various ways of conceptualising the body and point to the use of different bodily discourses by women who give birth in medical and midwifery models.