The impact of litigation on midwives.

Litigation is rising in maternity care and there is no evidence that it will slow down. Advertisements with a 'no win no fee' message encourage people to seek out lawyers. It is true that we are becoming an increasingly litigious society and claims in maternity care often lead to very high pay-outs.

Aicardi syndrome in a 47 XXY male - a variable developmental phenotype?

Background: Aicardi syndrome (AS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the triad of corpus callosum agenesis, chorioretinal lacunae, and infantile spasms. Most patients with AS also have intractable epilepsy, moderate to severe learning disability, and a reduced life expectancy. An X-linked dominant inheritance caused by de novo mutations pattern, lethal in males, is postulated, but the gene has not yet been isolated.

QTL and candidate gene mapping for polyphenolic composition in apple fruit.

Background: The polyphenolic products of the phenylpropanoid pathway, including proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins and flavonols, possess antioxidant properties that may provide health benefits. To investigate the genetic architecture of control of their biosynthesis in apple fruit, various polyphenolic compounds were quantified in progeny from a 'Royal Gala' × 'Braeburn' apple population segregating for antioxidant content, using ultra high performance liquid chromatography of extracts derived from fruit cortex and skin.

Results: Construction of genetic maps for 'Royal Gala' and 'Braeburn' enabled detection of 79 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for content of 17 fruit polyphenolic compounds.

Traditional birth attendant training and local birthing practices in India.

Training birth attendants (TBAs) provide essential maternal and infant health care services during delivery and ongoing community care in developing countries. Despite inadequate evidence of relevance and effectiveness of TBA training programmes, there has been a policy shift since the 1990s in that many donor agencies funding TBA training programmes redirected funds to providing skilled attendants during delivery. This study aimed to assess the ways in which a TBA training programme in India has been successful in disseminating evidence-based knowledge on birthing practices.

The utility and challenges of using ICD codes in child maltreatment research: A review of existing literature.

Objective: The objectives of this article are to explore the extent to which the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) has been used in child abuse research, to describe how the ICD system has been applied, and to assess factors affecting the reliability of ICD coded data in child abuse research.

Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, PsychInfo and Google Scholar were searched for peer reviewed articles written since 1989 that used ICD as the classification system to identify cases and research child abuse using health databases. Snowballing strategies were also employed by searching the bibliographies of retrieved references to identify relevant associated articles.

Queensland nurses' attitudes towards and knowledge of the legislative duty to report child abuse and neglect: results of a state-wide survey.

In 2005, legislation commenced requiring Queensland nurses to make reports of suspected child abuse and neglect to government child protection authorities. This development further harmonised Australian mandatory reporting laws and their application to the nursing profession, although inconsistencies still exist between States and Territories. As indicated by research published in 2006, little is known about nurses and the reporting of child abuse and neglect.

Parents' childhood fever management: community survey and instrument development.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to explore Australian parents' knowledge, beliefs, practices and information sources about fever management and develop a scale to measure parents' fever management practices.

Background: Parental fever phobia and overuse of antipyretics to reduce fever continue. No scales to measure parents' fever management practices are available.

Over-the-counter medication use for childhood fever: a cross-sectional study of Australian parents.

Aim: To report Australian parents' medication (paracetamol, ibuprofen and homeopathic) use in childhood fever management.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 401 Queensland parents of children aged between 6 months and 5 years recruited through advertising (48.4%), face-to-face (26.

Influences on parents' fever management: beliefs, experiences and information sources.

Aim: To identify parents' knowledge, beliefs, management and sources of information about fever management.

Background: Despite numerous studies exploring parents' management of childhood fever; negative beliefs about fever and overuse of antipyretics and health services for mild fevers and self-limiting viral illnesses continue to be reported.

Design: Qualitative design using semi-structured interviews and discussions.