Women's Views Research Articles

Managing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: A qualitative interview study with women and healthcare professionals.

To explore the experiences of women who have had ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, and healthcare professionals who care for them. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is a side effect of fertility treatment. Little research exists internationally that explores the experiences of women who have had this condition, or the healthcare professionals who manage it. Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Eighteen interviews with women who had experienced ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (n = 10) and healthcare professionals (n = 8) in six UK fertility centres. Framework analysis was used. This paper is reported following COREQ guidelines. Women described a range of symptoms and severity, sometimes experiencing worrying physical health problems such as abdominal swelling and shortness of breath. The combination of the symptoms, and their management, on delaying future fertility treatment could cause emotional distress. Healthcare professionals at different centres described variation in practice, which generally involved 'active monitoring' until symptoms became severe, when women would be hospitalised. Women expressed feeling 'left in limbo' while waiting for symptoms to improve or worsen, and described a lack of control during this waiting period. Healthcare professionals felt they provided adequate information about ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and its management. This, however, did not align with women's perceptions that information, including potential delays to their fertility treatment, was missing. There was similar mismatch between women's and healthcare professionals' views of decision-making about fertility treatment following ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, including women's concerns about having to make rushed, unplanned decisions about their fertility treatment when they did not feel adequately informed to do so. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and its management can have a significant physical and emotional impact on women, and influence their fertility treatment. Improvements could be made to the information women receive about this condition, its management and its implications for wider fertility treatment. Nurses have the skills and knowledge to support women through the physical and emotional stresses of fertility treatment. Therefore, they are well placed to provide specialist information and support for OHSS and ensure women are fully informed about all aspects of the condition, including how its management might delay fertility treatment.

Exploring disability prevalence among childbearing women attending a tertiary maternity service in Melbourne, Australia using an audit and cross-sectional survey

BackgroundAlthough there is an estimated rate of 10% of women of childbearing age in Australia who have a disability, there is a lack of accurate prevalence data, with the true rate unknown. The timing and questions used to collect women's disability status in pregnancy vary, and there is limited knowledge on how women accessing maternity services in Australia would like to be asked about their disability status. ObjectiveTo explore the prevalence of women with a disability receiving maternity care using a direct and indirect disability identification question. Secondary aims were to explore how women would like to be asked about their disability status and to examine the difference between self-reported and clinician-documented disability status within medical records. Research design/SettingThe study was conducted at a tertiary maternity hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and included two components. Component one used a cross-sectional survey with two different cohorts of women administered face-to-face on the postnatal ward (Cohort 1 – February 2019, Cohort 2 – December 2019). In Cohort 1, a specific disability identification question asked: ‘Can you please tell me if you identify as someone who has a disability?’. In Cohort 2, an indirect disability identification question asked: ‘Do you require additional assistance or support?’. Other questions explored women's views on disability identification. Component two consisted of an audit of the medical records to compare disability documentation in the medical records of the women who participated with women's disability self-identification status. Results371/467 (79%) of eligible women that were approached participated in Cohort 1 and in Cohort 2, 295/346 (85%) of eligible women that were approached participated in the study. In Cohort 1, 5% (17/371) of women self-identified with having a disability. In Cohort 2 16% (46/295) of women reported needing additional assistance/support, however of these, only nine women viewed this as a disability. In Cohort 1, of the women who self-identified as having a disability, 82% had this recorded in their medical record. An additional 12% (43/354) of women in Cohort 1 who may have had a disability according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics classification, did not self-identify as having a disability. In Cohort 2, 37% (17/43) of women who self-identified as needing additional support did not have these needs documented in the medical record. Less than a quarter of women in both cohorts were asked about their disability status during their maternity care. Women with a disability or additional support needs suggested both direct and indirect ways of being asked about their disability status, and their responses were similar to women who did not self-identify with having a disability or additional support needs. ConclusionsDisability prevalence data is highly dependant on the wording of the disability identification question. It may be appropriate to ask about disability both indirectly, in terms of additional support needs, and directly, to enable disclosure for those who do identify with a disability. Disability questioning should be routine and standardised guidelines around disability identification should be developed to allow for tailored adjustments to care on an individual level.

Examining actor–partner effects between social dominance, relationship power, sexism, and marital quality

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the actor–partner effects of attitudes toward group‐based inequality as measured by social dominance orientation (SDO) and marital quality, and the indirect actor–partner effects of SDO on marital quality via ambivalent sexism and partners' perceptions of their own relationship power toward their partner.BackgroundPrevious research suggests that certain social attitudes play a role in relationship processes. However, it is unclear whether broader views on social inequality could have an effect on partners' marital quality.MethodNinety heterosexual married couples in Turkey (N = 180) responded via an online survey on SDO, marital quality, relationship power, and ambivalent sexism. Actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) and actor–partner interdependence model of mediation (APIMeM) were conducted to examine the direct and indirect actor–partner effects.ResultsFor indirect effects, men's SDO was negatively associated with their marital quality through their relationship power and hostile sexism. No significant indirect effects were found for women. However, women's relationship power was positively and their benevolent sexism was negatively associated with their own and their partners' marital quality.ConclusionOur findings help develop a more comprehensive understanding of how the political, social, and personal aspects of our lives are connected with one another.ImplicationsOur study points to the importance of exploring the topic of men's and women's views toward social inequality and its effects on their close relationships in clinical practice and relational education.

Career Women's View of Single Parenthood in Lagos State, Nigeria: Factors and Trends

Career Women's View of Single Parenthood in Lagos State, Nigeria: Factors and Trends

Older women's view on frailty and an Emergency Department evidence-based Frailty Intervention Team (FIT) program: An evaluation using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance RE-AIM framework

BackgroundOlder women have higher levels of frailty resulting in disability and reduced quality of life. Presentation to an Emergency Department (ED) is an opportunity to address frailty and provide tailored interventions to promote function. An ED allied health team integrated frailty assessment and interventions into care through a ‘Frailty Intervention Team’ (FIT) program. MethodsA prospective study informed by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to evaluate the FIT program tailored to female older adults. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the FIT program over a three-month period and use the findings to further develop the intervention. ResultsOver three-months, 192 older females (>70 years) were identified with mild frailty and discharged directly home. Ninety percent were offered the FIT program with 83.3 % accepting all recommended frailty management strategies. Ninety percent of patients were satisfied with the FIT program, however staff and patient barriers to provision of frailty services were identified. ConclusionsThe FIT program was largely adopted by staff and accepted by older female patients with mild frailty in the ED. However, program effectiveness was limited by gaps in communication about frailty in the ED and implementation of frailty management strategies after discharge.

Australian women's views concerning non-medical egg freezing and factors motivating freezing decisions.

We aimed to determine women's views about egg freezing for non-medical reasons and the factors motivating freezing decisions. In this study, 514 women aged 18-44 years completed an online cross-sectional survey exploring fertility knowledge, reproductive intentions and views concerning non-medical egg freezing. Data were analysed descriptively. Additionally, 14 variables noted as potential motivators in prior literature were entered into a multinomial regression to explore factors that would motivate women to consider freezing their eggs for non-medical reasons. Views concerning non-medical egg freezing were generally positive, with 61.3% of participants reporting that they would consider egg freezing ('Yes' or 'Maybe'). Factors motivating decisions to freeze varied among women who responded 'Yes', 'Maybe' and 'I don't know' to whether they would consider freezing. The availability of Medicare subsidization and the procedure not affecting future fertility were significant predictors for all three groups of women. Acceptability of egg freezing for non-medical reasons was moderate to high. However, there is a need for targeted fertility information to educate women about fertility and optimal times to conceive and freeze their eggs. Future research about views concerning non-medical egg freezing among diverse populations and examining the health economics of this procedure would be beneficial.

Paradigm and Views of Women's Marriage in Culturs Positions

The results of this study show that marriage from a traditional perspective is still used today, as evidenced in several regions, in particular, they still apply customary marriage law in the midst of modern times. It is important for women that a traditional marriage is sacred, because it is a cultural variety for the Indonesian nation that is not shared by other countries. The customary marriage law certainly has its own characteristics which are different in every region in Indonesia. The difference lies in the subject, system, principles, forms and implementation as well as prohibitions which have their own characteristics from each region.

Paradigm and Views of Women's Marriage in Culturs Positions

Paradigm and Views of Women's Marriage in Culturs Positions

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance During Pregnancy, Women's Views, and Influencing Factors.

COVID-19 vaccination is advised for pregnant women all over the world; however, vaccine acceptance is variable across the globe. This study was conducted by enrolling 292 antenatal women attending the outpatient department (OPD) in a tertiary care hospitalin Delhi, India, between August 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022, with the aim to determine the acceptability of vaccination against COVID-19 disease in pregnancy, women's views regarding the vaccine and to ascertain reasons for acceptance or denial during pregnancy. Of the 292 pregnant women who completed the questionnaire, 39.73% had received both doses of vaccination against COVID-19 disease before pregnancy, and 39.04% had received a singledose. Twenty-one percent of women did not receive any vaccine. Eighty-four percent of the unvaccinated and 35% of the women with a single dose of thevaccine refused further doses during pregnancy. The most common concern was the fear that the vaccine might cause harm to the fetus (35.3%), followed by the fear of vaccine-related reactions (25.4%). Also, 14.6% of women feared that the vaccine might cause them to abort the ongoing pregnancy. Thirteen percent of women stated their intent to receive the vaccine after they were informed regarding its safety and requirement. No difference was found in the acceptability of the vaccine based on the educational status of women or on the monthly income of the families. Adequate communication regarding safety information on COVID-19 vaccines is a must forpregnant women and their families to provide reassurance about the need and safety of the vaccines. It would facilitate making informed decisions and is likely to be helpful in increasing vaccine acceptance.

Assessing Hair Concerns and Physical Activity Measures Among African American Women: a Mixed-Method Exploratory Study.

Research on the association between hair concerns and physical activity (PA) constructs among African American (AA) women is lacking. Demographics such as age and income are indicated to influence hair concerns. In this study, quantitative methods were used to assess demographic differences in hair concerns and associations between hair concerns and PA. Qualitative interviewing explored AA women's views about their hair and engagement in PA. Participants (n = 48; M age = 37.57, SD = 13.72) completed a survey that included demographics, hair type and hairstyle management (HTHM), decisional balance (pros, cons), perceived benefits and perceived barriers scale, and level of physical activity. HTHM consists of six items measuring different factors related to hair concerns. 25 completed a qualitative interview. Chi-square or analysis of variance tests were conducted as appropriate. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Proportion differences were noted between age groups (≤ 32 vs. ≥ 33) and average cost of haircare per month (p = .048). A statistically significant effect was noted for average monthly haircare cost and pros (p = .05), and for alter behavior due to hair concerns and perceived benefits to physical activity (p = .05). For level of physical activity, proportion differences were noted between exercisers and non-exercisers for average minutes spent on hair care (p = .009). Qualitative results showed few participants view hair concern as an important barrier to PA. Some participants suggested strategies for overcoming hair concerns to exercise (e.g., braids, twists). Implications of findings including development of PA intervention approaches that may appeal to AA women are discussed.

"Tell us what's going on": Exploring the information needs of pregnant and post-partum women in Australia during the pandemic with 'Tweets', 'Threads', and women's views.

The provision of maternity services in Australia has been significantly disrupted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many changes were initiated quickly, often with rapid dissemination of information to women. The aim of this study was to better understand what information and messages were circulating regarding COVID-19 and pregnancy in Australia and potential information gaps. This study adopted a qualitative approach using social media and interviews. A data analytics tool (TIGER-C19) was used to extract data from social media platforms Reddit and Twitter from June to July 2021 (in the middle of the third COVID-19 wave in Australia). A total of 21 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with those who were, or had been, pregnant in Australia since March 2020. Social media data were analysis via inductive content analysis and interview data were thematically analysed. Social media provided a critical platform for sharing and seeking information, as well as highlighting attitudes of the community towards COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy. Women interviewed described wanting further information on the risks COVID-19 posed to themselves and their babies, and greater familiarity with the health service during pregnancy, in which they would labour and give birth. Health providers were a trusted source of information. Communication strategies that allowed participants to engage in real-time interactive discussions were preferred. A real or perceived lack of information led participants to turn to informal sources, increasing the potential for exposure to misinformation. It is vital that health services communicate effectively with pregnant women, early and often throughout public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This was particularly important during periods of increased restrictions on accessing hospital services. Information and communication strategies need to be clear, consistent, timely and accessible to reduce reliance on informal and potentially inaccurate sources.

Cultural adaptation of the person-centered maternity care scale at governmental health facilities in Cambodia.

In Cambodia, the importance of valuing women's childbirth experiences in improving quality of care has been understudied. This is largely because of absence of reliable Khmer tools for measuring women's intrapartum care experiences. Generally, cross-cultural development of those tools often involves translation from a source language into a target language. Yet, few earlier studies considered Cambodian cultural context. Thus, we developed the Cambodian version of the Person-Centered Maternity Care (PCMC) scale, by culturally adapting its original to Cambodian context for ensuring cultural equivalence and content validity. Three rounds of cognitive interviewing with 20 early postpartum women were conducted at two governmental health facilities in Cambodia. Cognitive interviewing was composed of structured questionnaire pretesting and qualitative probing. The issues identified in the process of transcribing and translating audio-recorded cognitive interviews were iteratively discussed among study team members, and further analyzed. A total of 14 issues related to cultural adaptations were identified in the 31 translated questions for the Cambodian version of the PCMC scale. Our study identified three key findings: (i) discrepancies between the WHO recommendations on intrapartum care and Cambodian field realities; (ii) discrepancies in recognition on PCMC between national experts and local women; and (iii) challenges in correctly collecting and interpreting less-educated women's views on intrapartum care. Not only women's verbal data but also their non-verbal data and cultural contexts should be comprehensively counted, when reflecting Cambodian women's intrapartum practice realities in the translated version. This is the first study that attempted to develop the tool for measuring Cambodian women's experiences during childbirth, by addressing cross-cultural issues.

Sticking points: Incarcerated women's views on barriers to a prison needle exchange program

While prison needle exchange programs, or prison needle and syringe programs, have existed in different parts of the world since the 1990s, little is known about how currently incarcerated people perceive them—particularly in Canada, where such programs have only recently been implemented. This study explores incarcerated women's perceptions of a recently implemented prison needle exchange program using in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 56 federally incarcerated women in Western Canada. In particular, we explore the barriers that women perceive in accessing the prison needle exchange program. These perceived barriers contributed to our participants’ negative views of the prison needle exchange program as well as their overwhelming lack of support for its implementation. Our participants felt that the prison needle exchange program acts as an obstacle to sobriety and could increase different types of harm—including encouraging injection drug use and contributing to overdoses—within the prison. Participants also identified other barriers to using the prison needle exchange program, including a perceived lack of confidentiality/anonymity for users of the program and that the prison needle exchange program itself is structurally incompatible with the rules and operations of a prison system that continues to criminalize drugs. Using an implementation science framework, we argue that this situation accentuates the need for significant consultations with incarcerated people about the operation of such programs, and for funds to support other programs that target participant-identified root causes of substance misuse, such as programs that address past trauma and victimization. At the same time, we caution that some barriers may be inherent in how prisons are structured.

Indicting Frost for Androcentric Speciesism: An Ecofeminist Reading of Robert Frost’s “The Most of It”

Using the critical framework of ecofeminism, this paper examines Robert Frost’s attitudes towards both women and nature in his poem “The Most of It”. Whether ecocritical or feminist, the mainstream readings of Robert Frost fall into two main axes: 1) Frost for Nature and/or Women Views argue that Frost’s poetry is for nature and women (Srivastava, 2017; Shah, 2022); and 2) Frost for Ambiguity Views claim that Frost’s poetic work is ambiguous—it could be for or against nature and women (Benin, n.d). This paper belongs to neither of the two. This study makes it unequivocally clear that Frost's view of nature, in “The Most of It”, is androcentric as well as anthropomorphic. Ecofeminism is about making connections, on the one hand, between the earth and the entire forms of life on it, and on the other hand, between the patriarchal exploitation of nature and women’s domination. This paper, too, attempts establishing many connections: between the poet’s use of the male generic language and the oppression of nature and women; between the female’s invisibility in the poem and women’s domination in the Western patriarchal culture; and between Frost’s fame as a poet and his advocacy (through his poetry) for the androcentric worldviews of the patriarchal American society of his time. The findings of this research reveal that “The Most of It” contains strata of male-centric, speciesist worldviews and, consequently, stress the need for more research into Frost’s oeuvre using ecofeminist theory.

Emotional Intimacy and the Black Matrifocal Family in Northeast Brazil

AbstractIn this article, I explore the affective landscape of matrifocal kinship in Brogodó to examine how the emotional intimacy that Black women shared with their women kin buffered the effects of unmet marital expectations, marital conflict, and divorce. I describe how women viewed their relationships with their families as a source of love and emotional intimacy that was more reliable and fulfilling than what they could expect from husbands who did not meet the romantic love ideal. Research that relies too heavily on functional assumptions about the relationship between matrifocality and marriage dissolution misses how the desire for emotional intimacy influences women's perspectives on and decision‐making around marriage dissolution. I argue that women's reliance on consanguineal kin as an affective alternative to romantic love and companionate marriage was a critical factor in their decisions to end their marriages. I also assert that rather than weakening extended family ties, in Brogodó the spread of notions of romantic love and companionate marriage strengthened the matrifocal family model by reinforcing women's views that consanguineal rather than affinal kin were at the center of their worlds.

"Minding My Business": Understanding Black HBCU Undergraduate Women’s Responses to Online Harassment Scenarios

While research exists exploring college students' witnessing and reporting online harassment experiences, this work has primarily been situated at predominantly white institutions among majority-white college students, thus limiting our understanding of the role of race. Particularly, little is known about the experiences of Black college women. This mixed methods study integrated survey and focus group data of 29 Black undergraduate women enrolled at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). This paper answers the question, How do Black HBCU undergraduate women respond to instances of witnessing online harassment? Findings reveal that these women would contact friends and family, but expressed concern about engaging with authorities (e.g., law enforcement/university administration), police/authority violence, or re-traumatization. We conceptualize this study using a racial trauma framework. Findings can inform higher education professionals to consider how Black Women view online harassment, intervene, and prefer support.

Parental well-being: Russian women's view

The article presents the results of a qualitative sociological study using the author's technology in order to conceptualize the phenomenon of parental well-being. The methodology of the study is based on the generalization of the theoretical provisions of parenthood and family well-being. It is concluded that parental well-being as a factor of demographic processes has not been studied enough, the concept of parental well-being has vague contours, there is no detailed formulation of its content and basic elements. In May — July 2022, on the results of an online survey there were collected and processed empirical data based on the responses of women (N = 335) to the open question "What do you associate with the concept of "parental well-being"? Write one or two phrases/sentences." The respondents' responses were processed using semantic content analysis. The word "happiness" was used in 18.8% of the responses received. Thematic coding was applied, individual and collective trajectories of meanings were identified. There are 10 collective trajectories combined in the author's system of markers of parental well-being. The frequency of markers mentioning in women's responses was calculated, that made it possible to identify key, basic markers: relationships with children (32.5%); well-being and success of children (29.6%); health (28.4%); security: income, work, housing (19.1%); emotional state of parents (10.4%); time (8.4%). Childless women were 3 times less likely to mention the topic "Well-being and success of children", but they are much more likely to associate parental well-being with finances and the ability to provide everything necessary for children. It makes sense to take these results into account when forming programs to popularize parenthood among young people. The author has formulated a "working" definition of the concept of parental well-being, substantiated the need for further research to clarify it on the basis of surveys of men using a similar technology. The practical value of the system of basic markers of parental well-being lies in the possibilities of its application for further development of the sample survey program "Digitalization of employment, fertility and parental well-being".

Women's View in Street and Lamenting Songs

Lamenting songs are one of the genres in Tamil literature. Music is intertwined in the life of the village people. Lamennting songs are sung to express the feeling of sorrow that arises in one's heart when a mother, father, husband, child, sibling or relative dies. People who do not know about the history of the dead people they can learn about the dead person’s history through those songs. A musical instrument known as Roar is played in death house. The sound of roar announces the death news in society. The same custom is seen in the streets. The street songs are intertwined with the roar music. This article brings out the hidden lamenting songs of street artists. In addition, we see that the relationship between the artists and the context of the story is revealed through comparison. Also, dictionary description of lamenting, lamenting in literature, structure of street songs is described in this article.

From Sin to Sexual Self-Awareness: Black Women's Reflection on Lifetime Masturbation.

To date, there has been very little empirical research on Black women's masturbation practices and views on masturbation. This study fills the gap by exploring the messages Black women received about masturbation and self-pleasure and the sources of these messages using valence theory. Data were collected in 2021 from 242 Black women who participated in a survey during phase one of the triphasic Big Sex Study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze this short-form qualitative data. Results indicated a range of responses, with mixed messages reported more than negative, positive, and neutral messages. The three primary sources of messages were religion, family, and friends. There were several themes across the valence of messages including the development of positive messages, sexual self-awareness, masturbation as sin, health benefits and consequences, relationship difficulties, devaluation, and masturbation as dirty and gross. These results provide a basis for sexuality professionals to improve sociocultural knowledge about masturbation beliefs, practices, and message sources among Black women.

Perceived Value of Prenatal Ultrasound Screening: A Survey of Pregnant Women.

Routine prenatal screening ultrasounds primarily serve to diagnose major fetal anomalies which may prompt further testing and inform clinical decision-making, including possible pregnancy termination. Meanwhile, expectant parents may view the ultrasound experience and information gained differently from their clinicians. In this setting, how to best counsel patients, especially regarding the increasing findings of indeterminant clinical significance, is unclear. Greater understanding of women's views before undergoing their ultrasound may help to guide anticipatory counseling about the purpose of screening and interpretation of results. We surveyed 289 patients presenting for scheduled prenatal ultrasounds at an academic tertiary care center. Discrete and open-ended questions assessed views surrounding the receipt of abnormal results and management of the pregnancy once fetal anomalies are detected. Qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Most (95%) desired information about abnormal sonographic findings, although only half would consider pregnancy termination for anomalies. Reasons for wanting return of abnormal results included preparedness, valuing knowledge, and to a lesser extent, informing decision-making. When considering potential termination as a result of ultrasound findings, participants' rationales demonstrated deontological (seeing termination as inherently impermissible or permissible), relational (duties arising from the role of being a mother), and consequentialist (weighing harms and benefits) reasoning. This study highlights women's perceptions of prenatal ultrasounds as an inherently valuable source of information and preparedness, beyond their role in informing clinical decision-making. Identifying the ethical constructs underpinning patients' perspectives may help direct development of counseling tools responsive to individual needs and values regarding prenatal ultrasound findings.