Birth Location Research Articles

Noninvasive camera data and spatial capture–recapture models reveal strong temporal variation in fawn survival

AbstractIn south Florida, white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are the primary prey of the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). Deer populations in some regions of south Florida have declined in recent years, and the role of fawn survival and recruitment in these declines is unknown. Determining known‐fate survival of fawns is challenging, requires invasive and costly methods, and often has a limited geographic scope. We deployed 180 cameras throughout the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the Big Cypress National Preserve to understand how environmental variables influence fawn survival. We identified 271 fawns from 12,715 photographs in 2015 and 2016. We utilized a noninvasive sampling method coupled with a spatial capture–recapture model to estimate the number of fawns born, the spatial distribution of birth locations, and the number of fawns that survived to recruitment (180 days old) during two fawning seasons. We found strong evidence of temporal variation in survival, but little evidence of spatial variation. Within the 10,941‐ha study area, we estimated that 305 (95% CI: 245–385) fawns were born in 2015 and 278 (212–381) fawns were born in 2016. In 2015, 36% (110) of the estimated 305 fawns survived to 180 days. However, in 2016, only 13% (36) of the estimated 278 fawns survived to 180 days. The large difference in recruitment between years was likely driven by record flooding in 2016. Our data suggest that extreme weather events, coupled with high adult mortality, likely contributed to recent deer population decline in south Florida through reduced fawn recruitment. Unlike studies of known‐fate fawn survival that require labor‐intensive and invasive capture of both adults and neonates, our approach relies exclusively on camera data, which makes it possible to conduct studies over broad spatiotemporal scales in challenging environments to illuminate the drivers of variation in juvenile survival.

Early-life behavioral features are associated with chronic emesis in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Chronic emesis (CE) is a poorly understood condition in human and nonhuman primates that negatively impacts the quality of life. Early identification of risk factors for the development of CE is likely to improve the ability to manage CE cases successfully and is, therefore, desirable. Using a case-control study, we reviewed the necropsy records of the California National Primate Research Center and identified 24 animals with recorded CE, defined as five or more incidents of emesis in 1 month. A group of 89 healthy rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), comparable in age and percent time housed indoors, was similarly identified. Next, we investigated the association between the occurrence of CE during later stages of life after infancy and the behavioral temperament scores attained in infancy, age, sex, birth location, rearing condition, history of self-injurious behavior (SIB), and the number of lifetime sedation events. Our analysis revealed that CE was associated with degrees of temperament constructs obtained in infancy (data was available for n = 113), such as Confidence (odds ratio (OR) = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.18, 1.08, p = 0.07), Gentleness (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.96, p = 0.03), Nervousness (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 0.98, 4.23, p = 0.05), and Vigilance (OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 015, 0.87, p = 0.02), suggesting that CE is linked to behavioral phenomenon measured in early life, long before it becomes a medical concern. Our data suggest that CE was positively correlated with a history of SIB (OR 4.26, 95% CI: 0.98, 18.47, p = 0.04). Accurate prediction of CE can then assist behavioral and colony management professionals in making informed decisions regarding the care of animals at risk of developing CE. Moreover, the novel information we reported here could have valuable implications in human medicine, where gastrointestinal distress is a common complaint affecting a person's quality of life.

Market structure and creative cluster formation: the origins of urban clusters in German literature, 1700–1932

Abstract Using yearly data on 153 prominent German authors (1700–1932), we show how changes in the political and economic environment facilitated the formation of literary clusters. Early authors follow general population patterns, leading to geographic dispersion in a patronage system characterized by spatial competition. At the end of the nineteenth century, authors concentrate in large economic and political capitals. These changes in location patterns mirror trends in political and territorial consolidation and the professionalization of authorship. The last cohort shows large-scale migration into literary centers around the age of 20 years. Therefore, these literary clusters are not due to changing birth locations.

A novel intrauterine satellite transmitter to identify parturition in large sharks.

Determining where and when animals give birth is critical for establishing effective conservation management that protects vulnerable life stages (e.g., pregnant females and newborns) and places (e.g., nursery grounds). To date, this information has been elusive in the case of highly migratory sharks in the wild. Here, we report on the deployment a of novel intrauterine satellite tag implanted in two highly mobile apex predators, the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) and the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), that remotely documented the location and timing of birth by a highly migratory oceanic animal in the wild. This novel technology will be especially valuable for the protection of threatened and endangered shark species, where protection of pupping and nursery grounds is a conservation priority.

Birth process of electron-positron pairs inside supercritical fields

We propose a computational quantum field theoretical approach to obtain a microscopic insight into the creation process of electrons and positrons as well as their subsequent motion inside a supercritical external field with space-time resolution. A machine-learning–based method permits us to address fundamental questions such as where inside the interaction region the particles are being created and what their initial velocity distribution is. It suggests that the particles' most likely birth positions change in time during the dynamics. At early times the particles' birth density is roughly proportional to the square of the force field, but in the long-time and steady state production regime their possible birth locations narrow down significantly. Counterintuitively, this leads for longer times to the occurrence of “birth-free” zones within the field, where particles are no longer created even though the electric field is maximal there. The genetic-programming–based symbolic regression algorithms first learn multiple sequences of partially dressed positronic spatial probability densities as training data and then exploit their features as a function of the dressing strength in order to predict the particles' true distribution in space and momentum.

Perception of Mothers on Factors Contributing to Puerperal Sepsis in Selected Government Hospital in Lagos State

Puerperal sepsis is a bacterial infection of the genitourinary tract that occurs after delivery or a miscarriage. In a particular Lagos State government hospital, the study examined how mothers felt about the causes of puerperal sepsis. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data for the cross-sectional design of the study. The mothers' questionnaires, numbering 210 altogether, were collected and analysed with SPSS 22.0. Results indicated that whereas 42.4% of women had a high awareness of puerperal sepsis, 59.0% were unaware of it. Sixty-three percent of respondents also identified low levels of education, ignorance, and living in rural areas as important reasons. In addition, 89% found that the manner of birth was a factor, and 87.1% found that infrequent antenatal clinic attendance was a factor. Low immunity was cited by 64.3% of respondents, whereas 96% cited the location of birth as a contributor to puerperal sepsis. All p-values for tests of correlation between the two sets of variables (factors and perception) were significantly lower than 0.05. Overall, most mothers only had a hazy understanding of what puerperal sepsis entailed. The stigma surrounding puerperal sepsis strongly correlates with socioeconomic standing. Puerperal sepsis awareness was significantly influenced by factors such as birth location, delivery method, and lack of antenatal clinic attendance. Puerperal sepsis risk variables were significantly correlated with mothers' reports of experiencing the condition. The perception of puerperal sepsis among mothers continues to be low; thus, the obstetrics and gynaecological healthcare system should make it a matter of utmost importance to teach pregnant women about it so that their perception about it would have improved before to delivery. Puerperal sepsis is an infection that occurs after childbirth and can lead to serious complications.

Seroprevalence of Measles IgG Antibodies in Married Immigrant Women from Multicultural Families in Korea.

Although an effective vaccine has been available, measles still causes mast morbidity and mortality world widely. In Korea, a small number of measles cases have been reported through exposure to imported cases among young people with vaccine-induced measles immunity. Recently due to international migration including marriage, marriage migrants were the second-largest group of foreign population in Korea. Our study was carried out to obtain positive rate of measles antibody among married immigrant women from 12 countries in 10 Gun-Counties and 6 Cities, Korea. A total of 547 blood samples were collected from maternal multicultural members from 12 countries. The measles-specific IgG antibody was measured by ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzygnost® Anti-measles virus/IgG, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products GmbH, Marburg, Germany). We performed a simple logistic regression to test whether the measles antibody seroprevalence differed by participant age, location, or country of birth and then calculated the likelihood ratio statistics to determine whether measles antibody seroprevalence differed by country of birth. Overall positive measles seroprevalence was 75.3% (95% confidence interval: 71.7 - 78.9). Participants aged 20 - 24 years, 25 - 29 years, and 30 - 63 years has respective seropositivities of 52.5%, 55.3%, and 82.7%. In this study, the geometric mean titers of participants aged 21 - 29 years were slightly lower than those of participants aged over 30 years, which were 1,372 mIU/ml and 2,261 mIU/ml, respectively (average of total participants: 2,027 mIU/ml). The study provides detailed information about seroimmunity of the married immigrant population in Korea, which is important for measles elimination. Since the 1980s, most vaccine-preventable diseases including measles have been well-controlled. Nevertheless, sporadic measles outbreaks are still reported. Thus, special attention should be paid to the possible importation of infectious diseases such as measles by immigration.

The Relationship between Age, Metallicity, and Abundances for Disk Stars in a Simulated Milky Way

Observations of the Milky Way’s low-α disk show that several element abundances correlate with age at fixed metallicity, with unique slopes and small scatters around the age–[X/Fe] relations. In this study, we turn to simulations to explore the age–[X/Fe] relations for the elements C, N, O, Mg, Si, S, and Ca that are traced in a FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way–like galaxy, m12i, and understand what physical conditions give rise to the observed age–[X/Fe] trends. We first explore the distributions of mono-age populations in their birth and current locations, [Fe/H], and [X/Fe], and find evidence for inside-out radial growth for stars with ages <7 Gyr. We then examine the age–[X/Fe] relations across m12i’s disk and find that the direction of the trends agrees with observations, apart from C, O, and Ca, with remarkably small intrinsic scatters, σ int (0.01 − 0.04 dex). This σ int measured in the simulations is also metallicity dependent, with σ int ≈ 0.025 dex at [Fe/H] = −0.25 dex versus σ int ≈ 0.015 dex at [Fe/H] = 0 dex, and a similar metallicity dependence is seen in the GALAH survey for the elements in common. Additionally, we find that σ int is higher in the inner galaxy, where stars are older and formed in less chemically homogeneous environments. The age–[X/Fe] relations and the small scatter around them indicate that simulations capture similar chemical enrichment variance as observed in the Milky Way, arising from stars sharing similar element abundances at a given birth place and time.

Association of prenatal stress with distance to delivery for pregnant women in Western North Carolina

PurposeRural areas throughout the US continue to see closures of maternity wards and decreasing access to prenatal and intrapartum care. Studies examining closure's impacts have demonstrated both positive and negative effects on maternal and neonatal outcomes of mortality and morbidity. Our study aims to build on growing evidence from Canada and Scandinavia that suggests increased travel time to give birth is associated with increased emotional and financial stress for rural pregnant women. MethodsPregnant patients at 7 clinic sites in western North Carolina were invited to complete the Rural Pregnancy Experience Scale (RPES) while waiting for their prenatal appointments. Results were analyzed using adjusted linear regressions to examine the correlation between RPES scores and self-reported distance to anticipated birth location as well as RPES scores with recent local labor and delivery closure. FindingsA total of 174 participants completed the survey and met inclusion criteria. For every 10 min increase in travel distance to the patient's anticipated place of delivery, RPES scores increased by an average of 0.72 points. Participants who reported a recent labor and delivery unit closure near them saw average increases of 2.52 on the RPES. ConclusionsOur findings are consistent with the growing body of literature internationally that demonstrates the distance required to travel to delivery location is associated with increased stress among rural pregnant women.

Timing of Balloon Atrial Septostomy in Patients with d-TGA and Association with Birth Location and Patient Outcomes.

Patients with d-looped transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA), especially those without an adequate atrial septal defect, can experience severe hypoxemia and hemodynamic compromise in the neonatal period. This can be mitigated by urgent balloon atrial septostomy (BAS). However, some patients with d-TGA are born at centers without this capability. The aim of this retrospective study of d-TGA patients who had urgent or emergent BAS at our institution between 2010 and 2021 was to evaluate time from birth to BAS for infants born at a tertiary care center as compared to those requiring transport from other institutions and to examine correlation between time to BAS and patient outcomes. Our primary outcome was time from birth to BAS. Secondary outcomes included hospital and ICU length of stay, mortality, and evidence of pulmonary or neurologic abnormalities including pulmonary hypertension, abnormal neuroimaging, or seizures. Of 96 patients, 67 (70%) were born at our institution. The median time to BAS was 4h for patients born at our institution vs. 14.1h for those born elsewhere (p < .0001). A longer time from birth to BAS was associated with longer ICU (r = 0.21, p = 0.046) and hospital length of stay (r = 0.24, p = 0.02) and increased likelihood of elevated right ventricular pressure on post-operative discharge echocardiogram (p = 0.01). There were no differences in mortality between the groups. Therefore, prenatal planning for patients with known d-TGA should include a delivery plan with access to urgent BAS.

A systematic review of individual and ecological determinants of maternal mortality in the world based on the income level of countries

BackgroundThis systematic review was conducted to map the literature on all the existing evidence regarding individual and ecological determinants of maternal mortality in the world and to classify them based on the income level of countries. Such a systematic review had not been conducted before.MethodsWe conducted an electronic search for primary and review articles using “Maternal Mortality” and “Determinant” as keywords or MeSH terms in their Title or , indexed in Scopus, PubMed, and Google with no time or geographical limitation and also hand searching was performed for most relevant journals. STROBE and Glasgow university critical appraisal checklists were used for quality assessment of the included studies. Data of the determinants were extracted and classified into individual or ecological categories based on income level of the countries according to World Bank classification.ResultsIn this review, 109 original studies and 12 review articles from 33 countries or at global level met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were published after 2013. Most literature studied determinants of low and lower-middle-income countries. The most important individual determinants in low and lower-middle-income countries were location of birth, maternal education, any delays in health services seeking, prenatal care and skilled birth attendance. Household-related determinants in low-income countries included improved water source and sanitation system, region of residence, house condition, wealth of household, and husband education. Additionally, ecological determinants including human resources, access to medical equipment and facilities, total fertility rate, health financing system, country income, poverty rate, governance, education, employment, social protection, gender inequality, and human development index were found to be important contributors in maternal mortality. A few factors were more important in higher-income countries than lower-income countries including parity, IVF births, older mothers, and type of delivery.ConclusionA comprehensive list of factors associated with maternal death was gathered through this systematic review, most of which were related to lower-income countries. It seems that the income level of the countries makes a significant difference in determinants of maternal mortality in the world.

Factors influencing the timing and frequency of litters in captive fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda)

Maintaining reproductive seasonality can be vital to the fitness of wild animals. Certain species, however, may display aseasonal reproduction and may produce multiple yearly litters when maintained in captivity. Wild fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda), for example, produce a single litter in March or April although their reproductive behaviors are reportedly variable in captivity. Here, we used the fennec fox studbook to extract traits related to reproductive variability in 220 captive-born litters. The captive litters in our dataset were born during every month of the year and nearly half (47%) were born outside of the expected months. The production of multiple litters in a single year was common, where 67% of the litters represented a second annual litter for a given dam. We detected several traits related to multi-litter years, including the dam’s ability to habituate to the birth location, the dam’s age, the dam’s number of previous litters, and the dam’s birth month. Although producing multiple litters within a year has been anecdotally associated with the loss of a previous litter, we did not detect a relationship between multi-litter years and the survivorship of previous litters. These findings suggest that captive populations of fennec foxes may experience a destabilization of their reproductive patterns, which may culminate in the production of multiple litters outside of the typical window of reproduction. Fennec foxes are a common captive species bred in zoos worldwide. Developing a greater understanding of their reproduction can allow for more successful captive management, which may improve future reproductive successes.

The Perception of Women in Rural and Remote Scotland About Intrapartum Care: A Qualitative Study.

The views of mothers are important in shaping policy and practice regarding options for intrapartum care. Mothers in rural and remote areas face unique challenges accessing services, and these need to be well understood. Therefore, our aim was to understand the compromises that women who live in remote and rural settings, more than 1h from a maternity unit, face regarding intrapartum care. Qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews (n=14) were undertaken in rural Scotland with 13 women who had young children and one who was pregnant. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed by two researchers. Key themes identified were women's perceptions about risk and the safety of different pathways of maternity care and birth locations; the actual and perceived distance between home and the place of birth, and the type of maternity care available at a place of birth. Mothers in rural and remote areas face particular challenges in choosing where to have their babies. In addition to clinical decisions about 'place of birth' agreed with healthcare professionals, they have to mentally juggle the implications of giving birth when at a distance from family support and away from familiar surroundings. It was clear that many women from rural communities have a strong sense of 'place' and that giving birth in a geographical location, community and culture that feels familiar is important to many of them. Health care staff need to appreciate the impact of non-clinical factors that are important to mothers in remote and rural areas and acknowledge these, even when they cannot be accommodated. Local and national policy also needs to reflect and respond to the practical challenges faced by rurality.

Measuring the Orbits of the Arches and Quintuplet Clusters Using HST and Gaia: Exploring Scenarios for Star Formation near the Galactic Center

We present new absolute proper-motion measurements for the Arches and Quintuplet clusters, two young massive star clusters near the Galactic center. Using multiepoch HST observations, we construct proper-motion catalogs for the Arches (∼35,000 stars) and Quintuplet (∼40,000 stars) fields in ICRF coordinates established using stars in common with the Gaia EDR3 catalog. The bulk proper motions of the clusters are measured to be (μ α*, μ δ ) = (−0.80 ± 0.032, −1.89 ± 0.021) mas yr−1 for the Arches and (μ α*, μ δ ) = (−0.96 ± 0.032, −2.29 ± 0.023) mas yr−1 for the Quintuplet, achieving ≳5× higher precision than past measurements. We place the first constraints on the properties of the cluster orbits that incorporate the uncertainty in their current line-of-sight distances. The clusters will not approach closer than ∼25 pc to Sgr A*, making it unlikely that they will inspiral into the nuclear star cluster within their lifetime. Further, the cluster orbits are not consistent with being circular; the average value of r apo/r peri is ∼1.9 (equivalent to an eccentricity of ∼0.31) for both clusters. Lastly, we find that the clusters do not share a common orbit, challenging one proposed formation scenario in which the clusters formed from molecular clouds on the open stream orbit derived by Kruijssen et al. Meanwhile, our constraints on the birth location and velocity of the clusters offer mild support for a scenario in which the clusters formed via collisions between gas clouds on the x 1 and x 2 bar orbit families.

Digital gravity? Firm birth and relocation patterns of young digital firms in Germany

AbstractThis paper analyses the spatial patterns of young (&lt;10 years) digital firms in Germany between 2008 and 2017 on county level. Determinants of firm birth locations as well as relocations are considered jointly to understand differences in location choices within firms' life cycles. I match commercial register data of 107,321 firms with county‐level administrative data to capture local characteristics. Using an OLS model with fixed effects, I find that the local knowledge base—that is, universities, research institutes, and colocated incumbents—are significant key determinants of digital firm birth when controlling for a host of local characteristics. My results indicate that for five firms per 1000 inhabitants, there is around one firm birth. Second, using a fixed effects gravity model for the analysis of relocations, I find that the most dominant explanatory factor for firm relocation across specifications is distance, that is, relocation costs. Relocation flows are more than twice as high to neighboring counties relative to other locations which shows that digital firms are not as footloose as their business model may suggest. Jointly, my results reflect economic activity's regional persistence, particularly for new firms. My paper provides evidence for policies targeting homogenous digital clusters based on strong colocation and that digital economic activity is not shifted over long distances, but the regional entrepreneurship capital is crucial for local growth.

Impact of Outborn/Inborn Birth Status of Infants Born at

This study designed to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of outborn and inborn preterm infants enhancing the regional perinatal system in South Korea. It is a prospective cohort study of the Korean neonatal network database for infants born at <29 weeks of gestation between 2013 and 2015. Of 2995 eligible infants, 312 were outborn, and 976 completed the assessment of long-term outcome at 18–24 months of corrected age. The mean gestational age was significantly younger in outborn infants than in inborn infants (p = 0.004). The mean Apgar score at 5 min was higher in inborn infants (p = 0.046). More inborn preterm infants died before discharge (p < 0.001); however, most of the other short-term outcomes occurred significantly more often in outborn infants than in inborn infants. The outborn infants had higher odds of neurodevelopmental impairment (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.412, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.585–3.670), cerebral palsy (aOR 4.460, 95% CI 2.249–8.845) and developmental impairment (aOR 2.238, 95% CI 1.469–3.408). In preterm infants, the location of birth may be a key factor influencing short- and long-term outcomes. Thus, to provide adequate care and efficiently allocate medical resources to high-risk preterm infants, nationwide regional perinatal systems need to be improved and standardized.

S4 - What women want for the next birth: a content analysis on the wishes for future pregnancy in a national Australia survey (BESt)

Although women in Australia have access to a variety of models of care and birth locations there is not universal access to all choices due to location, State/Territory and cost. Recent data from AIHW found most women (40%) accessed public hospital maternity care that is fragmented in nature. Midwifery continuity of care has been found to reduce interventions in labour, reduce pre-term birth and increase women’s satisfaction however only 15% of women in Australia had care through midwifery group practice and 2% have private midwifery care. An essential aspect to evaluating the impact of maternity models of care is to consider the experiences and attitudes of women who access maternity care. In 2021 The Birth Experience Study (BESt) surveyed women who had birthed in Australia in the previous 5 years to explore a variety of factors contributing to pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences, including what women would choose if they were to have another pregnancy. To understand the wants and wishes of women when planning a future pregnancy and birth experience in Australia. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken on 6,101 open text responses to the survey question “Would you do anything different if you were to have another baby”. The open-text quotes were analysed using an inductive content analysis where the categories developed from the dataset by a team of experienced and developing research members There were seven main categories, five that focused on what women wanted for their next birth, one where women didn’t want another pregnancy and one where women didn’t wish to make any changes. The largest category ‘I want to be a better advocate for myself’ described how women internalised their previous experience, feeling the need to better advocate for themselves in future to receive the care or experience they deserved.

Comparing two data collection methods to track vital events in maternal and child health via community health workers in rural Nepal

BackgroundTimely tracking of health outcomes is difficult in low- and middle-income countries without comprehensive vital registration systems. Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly collecting vital events data while delivering routine care in low-resource settings. It is necessary, however, to assess whether routine programmatic data collected by CHWs are sufficiently reliable for timely monitoring and evaluation of health interventions. To study this, we assessed the consistency of vital events data recorded by CHWs using two methodologies—routine data collected while delivering an integrated maternal and child health intervention, and data from a birth history census approach at the same site in rural Nepal.MethodsWe linked individual records from routine programmatic data from June 2017 to May 2018 with those from census data, both collected by CHWs at the same site using a mobile platform. We categorized each vital event over a one-year period as ‘recorded by both methods,’ ‘census alone,’ or ‘programmatic alone.’ We further assessed whether vital events data recorded by both methods were classified consistently.ResultsFrom June 2017 to May 2018, we identified a total of 713 unique births collectively from the census (birth history) and programmatic maternal ‘post-delivery’ data. Three-fourths of these births (n = 526) were identified by both. There was high consistency in birth location classification among the 526 births identified by both methods. Upon including additional programmatic ‘child registry’ data, we identified 746 total births, of which 572 births were identified by both census and programmatic methods. Programmatic data (maternal ‘post-delivery’ and ‘child registry’ combined) captured more births than census data (723 vs. 595). Both methods consistently classified most infants as ‘living,’ while infant deaths and stillbirths were largely classified inconsistently or recorded by only one method. Programmatic data identified five infant deaths and five stillbirths not recorded in census data.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that data collected by CHWs from routinely tracking pregnancies, births, and deaths are promising for timely program monitoring and evaluation. Despite some limitations, programmatic data may be more sensitive in detecting vital events than cross-sectional census surveys asking women to recall these events.

Determining population structure and connectivity through otolith chemistry of stout whiting, Sillago robusta

AbstractFish otoliths encode information on surrounding environmental conditions. This study used otolith chemistry to investigate population structure and potential connectivity in stout whiting (Sillago robusta) along the east coast of Australia. Otoliths were analysed for both minor and trace elements, targeting the otolith core (location of birth) and otolith edge (location of capture), along with Ba:Ca transects to investigate life histories. Significant differences were found between core and edge signatures as well as among sample zones for select trace and minor elements. Otolith edge signatures showed evidence of some heterogeneity among zones, likely influenced by both environmental and physiological factors. This combination of factors is reflected in poor separation of sample zones from the multielement analysis, suggesting that future research may benefit from incorporating additional natural markers. Transects reflected some degree of individuality in Ba:Ca profiles, with evidence for potential exposure to upwelling events, or movement from shallow, inshore habitats into deeper waters. The variation in Ba:Ca profiles among fish suggests that populations are comprised of both resident and migratory individuals. While analysis of otolith chemistry could not reliably separate capture locations, patterns in the data suggest that inshore juvenile habitats are likely to be important in supporting exploited populations.

Prevalence and Predictors of Postpartum Cosleeping Practices after Midwife-Led Births in the US

To evaluate patterns of mother-infant sleeping behaviors among US-based mothers who received care from midwives and breastfed their infants the majority of time at 6weeks postpartum. Infant sleep locations were reported for 24 915 mother-infant dyads followed through 6weeks postpartum, following midwife-led singleton births. Using data derived from medical records, we used multinomial logistic regression to identify predictors of sleep location. The median maternal age was 31years (IQR, 27-34years). The majority were White (84.5%), reported having a partner or spouse (95%), had a community birth (87%), and reported bedsharing with their infant for part (13.2%) or most of the night (43.8%). In the adjusted analysis, positive predictors of always bedsharing included increasing maternal age (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.13-1.21; per 5years), cesarean birth (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.18-1.86), Medicaid eligibility (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.62-1.91), and maternal race/ethnicity (Black OR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.09-1.79]; Latinx OR, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.35-1.74]; multiracial OR, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.39-2.07]). Negative predictors of bedsharing included having a partner/spouse (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.56-0.77) and birth location in hospitals (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.49-0.64) or birthing centers (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.44-0.51). Partial breastfeeding dyads were less likely to bedshare than those who were exclusively breastfeeding (always bedsharing OR, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.41-0.56]; sometimes bedsharing OR 0.69 [95% CI, 0.56-0.83]). These data suggest that cosleeping is common among US families who choose community births, most of whom exclusively breastfeed through at least 6weeks.