Publications by authors named "M Kaitz"

Mothers who were pregnant and widowed on September 11, 2001, and their 4-6-month infants (in utero on 9/11) were filmed during face-to-face interaction and their vocal dialogues were examined via microanalysis. Mothers were White, well-educated, mean age 34.3 years, and far from the World Trade Center site on 9/11; infants were 4-6 months, half female.

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The potential effects of maternal trauma on mother-infant interaction remain insufficiently studied empirically. This study examined the effects of the September 11, 2001, trauma on mother-infant interaction in mothers who were pregnant and widowed on 9/11, and their infants aged 4-6 months. Split-screen videotaped interaction was coded on a one-second basis for infant gaze, facial affect, and vocal affect; and mother gaze, facial affect, and touch.

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This article presents information on unintended pregnancies and the ongoing efforts of policy makers to promote long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) to reduce the numbers of such pregnancies. Also discussed is the tension between the encouragement of LARC to promote the public's interests in achieving that goal versus the need to assure that all women can decide about their bodies and reproductive needs. Our discussion includes information, primarily from the United States, on (a) risks associated with unintended pregnancies, (b) LARC devices approved in the United States (copper intrauterine devices (IUDs), hormone IUDs, and implants), (c) public and social benefits of increasing the use of LARC, (d) disadvantages and barriers to using LARC, (e) dangers of promoting LARC in unjust ways, and (f) the meaning of reproductive justice and its connection to social justice.

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We assessed mothers' self-reported gains from a postpartum home-visiting (HV) project in which home visitors are volunteer mothers from the community. Hypotheses were that gains are positively related to (a) mothers' felt-closeness with their home visitor, (b) mothers' level of sociodemographic risk, and (c) the home visitors' preproject training in support services for families or children (Professionalism). One hundred sixty-four clients returned written evaluations of the HV project.

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Objective: To examine the association between gestational age (GA) at birth across the normal GA spectrum (37-41 weeks) and the temperament and health of 3-month old infants.

Methods: The sample comprised 242 "low-risk" mothers and infants without chronic illnesses or severe pregnancy complications. Infant temperament was defined by three constructs: Negative Affectivity (NA), Extraversion, and Regulation, assessed by parents' reports on the Infant Behavior Questionnaire.

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