Alcohol use during pregnancy: prevalence and patterns in selected Buffalo City areas, South Africa
- Macleod, Catriona I, Young, Charles S, Molokoe, Katlego C
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Young, Charles S , Molokoe, Katlego C
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443611 , vital:74137 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/205539"
- Description: The high rate of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which results from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is of concern in South Africa. The aims of this research were to establish the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with alcohol use amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in two former township areas of Buffalo City, South Africa. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that included socio-demographic questions, and the Alcohol Use Test (AUDIT). The questionnaire was administered in English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa by healthcare providers trained in its administration. Consecutive sampling was used, with all willing women presenting at public clinics offering antenatal care in the two townships being invited to participate. Of the 18 clinics operating in the two townships, 16 were willing to participate, resulting in a sample of 1028 women over a nine-month period. Data were analysed in Medcalc using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, independent samples t-test and a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Two-thirds of the sample did not drink alcohol, but results showed high levels of risky alcohol use: 20.1% on the total AUDIT scale, and 16.8% on the AUDIT-C scale. The following variables were found to be significantly associated with risky drinking: age; race; report of intimate partner violence (IPV); and other regular drinker in the home. Employment status, education status, relationship status, parity and gestation were not associated with risky drinking. Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use during pregnancy should address: drinking youth cultures; drinking norms within the home; and intimate partner violence. Future studies should include additional mental and physical health variables.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Young, Charles S , Molokoe, Katlego C
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443611 , vital:74137 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/205539"
- Description: The high rate of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which results from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is of concern in South Africa. The aims of this research were to establish the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with alcohol use amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in two former township areas of Buffalo City, South Africa. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that included socio-demographic questions, and the Alcohol Use Test (AUDIT). The questionnaire was administered in English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa by healthcare providers trained in its administration. Consecutive sampling was used, with all willing women presenting at public clinics offering antenatal care in the two townships being invited to participate. Of the 18 clinics operating in the two townships, 16 were willing to participate, resulting in a sample of 1028 women over a nine-month period. Data were analysed in Medcalc using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, independent samples t-test and a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Two-thirds of the sample did not drink alcohol, but results showed high levels of risky alcohol use: 20.1% on the total AUDIT scale, and 16.8% on the AUDIT-C scale. The following variables were found to be significantly associated with risky drinking: age; race; report of intimate partner violence (IPV); and other regular drinker in the home. Employment status, education status, relationship status, parity and gestation were not associated with risky drinking. Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use during pregnancy should address: drinking youth cultures; drinking norms within the home; and intimate partner violence. Future studies should include additional mental and physical health variables.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Cultural De-colonization versus Liberal approaches to abortion in Africa: The politics of representation and voice
- Chiweshe, Malvern T, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: Chiweshe, Malvern T , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443661 , vital:74142 , xlink:href="DOI/Handle/URL https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/175092"
- Description: Political discussions on abortion in Africa take place in the context of most countries having restrictive abortion legislation and high levels of unsafe abortion. In this paper two major political positions regarding abortion in Africa: a de-colonisation approach based on a homogenized view of ―culture‖, and a liberal approach based on ―choice‖ and rights are outlined. Using the Questions and Answers sessions of a United Nations event on maternal health in Africa as an exemplar of these positions, the paper argues that neither approach is emancipatory in the African context. A de-colonisation approach that uses static and homogenized understanding of ''culture'' risks engaging in a politics of representation that potentially silences the ―Other‖ (in this case women who terminate their pregnancies) and glosses over complexities and multiple power relations that exist on the continent. A liberal approach, premised on choice and reproductive rights, risks foregrounding individual women‘s agency at the expense of contextual dynamics, including the conditions that create unsupportable pregnancies. The paper argues for a grounded reproductive justice perspective that draws on the insights of the reproductive justice movement, but grounds these notions within the African philosophy of Hunhu/Ubuntu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Chiweshe, Malvern T , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443661 , vital:74142 , xlink:href="DOI/Handle/URL https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/175092"
- Description: Political discussions on abortion in Africa take place in the context of most countries having restrictive abortion legislation and high levels of unsafe abortion. In this paper two major political positions regarding abortion in Africa: a de-colonisation approach based on a homogenized view of ―culture‖, and a liberal approach based on ―choice‖ and rights are outlined. Using the Questions and Answers sessions of a United Nations event on maternal health in Africa as an exemplar of these positions, the paper argues that neither approach is emancipatory in the African context. A de-colonisation approach that uses static and homogenized understanding of ''culture'' risks engaging in a politics of representation that potentially silences the ―Other‖ (in this case women who terminate their pregnancies) and glosses over complexities and multiple power relations that exist on the continent. A liberal approach, premised on choice and reproductive rights, risks foregrounding individual women‘s agency at the expense of contextual dynamics, including the conditions that create unsupportable pregnancies. The paper argues for a grounded reproductive justice perspective that draws on the insights of the reproductive justice movement, but grounds these notions within the African philosophy of Hunhu/Ubuntu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
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