This paper examines whether maternity leave policies have an effect on women's mental health in older age. We link data for women aged 50 years and above from countries in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to data on maternity leave legislation from 1960 onwards. We use a difference-in-differences approach that exploits changes over time within countries in the durat...

Figures we are told can prove anything. Cannot we deduce from those quoted by Professor Lennon in his stimulating contribution to the January Journal that Bristol has been relatively successful in reducing maternal deaths to the occasional unavoidable ones from haemorrhage or toxaemia? I think also that there will be very mixed views concerning the Professor's ideas on domiciliary midwifery. If...

" The proposals contained in the MIaternity Services (Scotland) Bill constitute the first real attempt on the part of the Government to grapple intelligently with the problem of puerperal morbidity and mortality. It is the first step of the SecretarY of State for Scotland to carry into practical effect some of the recommendations contained in the Scottish Report, and if the Bill becomes an Act,...

not only by referring those cases which he desires the consultant to see but by filtering all his cases through the consultant clinic at least twice, early in the ante-natal period and again at the thirty-sixth week, even if he is delivering the patient in her own home or in a General Practitioner Hospital or Home. In other cases the consultant may reciprocate by getting the general practitione...

BACKGROUND Studies introduce maternal and neonatal safety phenomena as important challenges to the public health, particularly in low-income countries. However, few researches are conducted on the identification of safety issues in maternity hospitals in Iraq. It was the first study on nurses' perspectives on safety issues in Kurdistan, Iraq. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to describe nur...

Across Australia, comprehensive maternity services in rural and remote areas are becoming a scarcity and yet it is in these areas that the fertility rate is the highest1. Consultations suggest that many women, particularly Indigenous women, would prefer to give birth closer to home and many government sponsored documents recommend changing current models of care2,3,4,5,6,7. Nationally, maternit...

BACKGROUND Disparity exists in maternal and infant birth outcomes of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women giving birth in the United Kingdom (UK) compared to the majority. There is therefore a need to reconsider existing maternity service provision to ensure culturally competent services. The purpose of this scoping review was to ascertain what specific maternity interventions have been imple...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of leaflets on promoting informed choice in women using maternity services. DESIGN Cluster trial, with maternity units randomised to use leaflets (intervention units) or offer usual care (control units). Data collected through postal questionnaires. SETTING 13 maternity units in Wales. PARTICIPANTS Four separate samples of women using maternity services. Ant...

The role of men in maternity care in Africa is understudied, despite their economic dominance and decision making power. In a patriarchal society like northern Nigeria, pregnancy and childbirth are often regarded as exclusively women’s affairs. Using data from interviewer administered questionnaires and in-depth interviews; we assessed birth preparedness, complication readiness and male partici...