Monthly Archives: September 2022

Some of the biggest stars in womens surfing including soul surfer and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton will be showing off their skills at a surf contest and music festival event in Oceanside on the weekend of Sept. 16.

The annual Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro World Surf League (WSL) Contest and festival event series will return to the Oceanside Pier for its 16th year, with appearances by Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore, Olympic surfer Caroline Marks and other professionals from around the world. The event, which is free and open to the public, will also be comprised of a concert series with artists such as The Offspring, Smash Mouth and more.

The Super Girl Pro competition created and run by ASA Entertainment is the worlds largest female surf competition, according to the WSL, with 140 competitors featuring over 90 top pro surfers. ASA Entertainment started Super Girl Pro as part of an effort to improve opportunities for women in action sports like surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding.

We saw a huge disparity in the opportunities that were being afforded to women in the action sports space, as opposed to what the men were receiving, CEO of ASA Entertainment and founder of Super Girl Pro Rick Bratman said. So, as one of the leaders in that industry, we thought it was really important that someone put a stake in the ground and create a series of events that was going to show the world how badass these women are, not just on a surfboard or snowboard, but also off the mountain and out of the water.

More than a celebration of surfing, Super Girl Pro hosts a series of other events and activities aiming to empower women across many fields. This year, it will add a female comedy showcase, beach soccer competition and elite-level longboarding competition incorporated because of the sports significance to the Oceanside community to its roster for the first time. In order to empower young women through surfing, Moore will be hosting a mentorship event at the festival for young surfers in collaboration with her Moore Aloha Foundation.

If youre a young woman, we want you to believe that nothing is impossible, Bratman said. And if you put your mind to it, your dreams can become reality. So many of the people that are competing or performing or creating have been able to achieve their dreams, and that aspirational element is what we really strive for.

The event series will also include 15 live concerts by artists The Offspring, Smash Mouth, Hoobastank, The Expendables, Kira Kosarin, and more. Female creators will also be spotlighted in the Super Girl DJ competition and female art exhibition. Fitness and wellness classes, from Zumba to yoga to dance, featured speakers and panel discussions highlighting sustainability and female leadership are among the activities offered to attendees for free.

At the center of the competition and event series affectionately nicknamed the smile factory by Bratman is Super Girls mission: to embolden female empowerment, inclusion and equality.

On a more personal level, my daughter was struggling with a number of opportunities that she was trying to work her way into, Bratman said. So this became a really personal quest for me to create a world in which my daughter wouldnt have to struggle to get the same opportunities that men would.

What began 16 years ago as a humble event with less than 300 attendees is now a cultural landmark for the Oceanside community, with an anticipated crowd of 75,000 attendees this year, according to Bratman.

"[The event] is a part of the fabric of the city. When Im there and Im wearing Super Girl shirt, Ill get hit up nonstop just walking on the streets by people telling me its their favorite event, Bratman said. I think people are really, really proud of it they love the message that it sends. That its an empowerment-oriented festival bringing together so many different industries with successful, powerful women.

See the original post:

Super Girl Surf Pro returning to Oceanside with global surf stars like Bethany Hamilton and a music festival - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Running your own business forces you to focus on many different areas. However, trying to do everything on your own can make things harder than they need to be. Thats why business experts exist and you should consider working with one if you need the support.

Collaborating with business experts who have a lot more experience, knowledge, and expertise will only lead to better results and a more successful business. They will help you become more efficient, provide insight, create stability, grow a strong network, attract top talent, and so much more.

The tricky part is finding the right fit! To help with that, heres a selection of some of the best and brightest business experts to learn from in 2022.

CEO and Co-Founder of Liinchpin, Keely White, is a highly experienced business expert who specialises in advising CEOs, General Managers and Founders to systemise and scale their businesses while creating high-performing, harmonious teams. Before starting this current company, Keely was the Executive Director of Training and Development for Australias most successful entrepreneurial education company and wrote curriculum across various pillars of business excellence.

She also helped grow REA Groups flagship company, realestate.com.au, throughout Queensland, and she was the host speaker of the Entrepreneurs Unconvention, which was voted in the top 3 best events for business owners worldwide by Entrepreneur.com. Keely is a successful entrepreneur who has sold two of her own 7-figure businesses and she has received multiple business awards in sales and leadership.

Keely has had an incredibly impressive and diverse career and has gathered a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience. She leverages this to advise high-profile founders and professionals using The Liinchpin System, a 6-step framework that can be easily integrated into any business so clients can work on their business rather than in it.

Keely has also recently founded The Collective Campus, a resort-style homestead that facilitates business and personal empowerment retreats year-round to help leaders and teams thrive. She is a master at solving challenges and clearing roadblocks to help people reach ambitious career and life goals.

Founder of Aligned Tribe Pty Ltd, Amy Smith is an incredible Business and LinkedIn strategist, coach, and speaker. She is passionate about guiding service-based business owners, coaches, and consultants in the process of launching and growing their online businesses. She leverages years worth of experience and knowledge to provide clients with the support they need to make their business work in the digital space.

Throughout her career, Amy has worked across Canada, the UK, and Australia in the fields of Human Resources, Business Development, and Coaching. She has worked with brands such as The CEO Institute, YMCA NSW, General Assembly, Open Colleges, The Executive Connection, and The Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL), to name a few.

Amy has supported large company CEOs behind the scenes and trained over 1,500 professionals on career, business, and LinkedIn strategies. She practices what she preaches, which is how she grew her LinkedIn profile to over 27,300+ 1st degree connections. She has been featured in the CEO Global Magazine, 6PR Newstalk, Nine Radio, Directors Institute publications, and The Future of Work Summit.

One of Amys biggest passions is to teach the strategies she has battle-tested on her own businesses to help clients flourish and leverage LinkedIn to access untapped opportunities. This is what her In Demand Coach program is all about and it is the secret to stop hustling as most others do! She provides practical, actionable steps for long-lasting results with none of the fluff.

Business Influencer and Owner of Success and Broker Ruan Burger landed in Australia from the UK in 2005 to forge a career as a mortgage broker. He rose to Australias Top 100 Brokers List and he made a name for himself in the industry by establishing his position as an expert with his adaptable and visionary thinking.

During his mortgage broking career, he built two successful businesses that attracted many important awards and accolades. It gave him a platform to practice what he preachesclients always come first. Ruan eventually started focusing on becoming a business influencer; today, he works with industry bodies, mortgage brokers, loan writers, and mortgage broking businesses.

Through Success and Broker, he leads clients through the next stages of growth and success so they can achieve their goals. He offers a variety of valuable services, including The Broker Journal, an online broker coaching program thats truly game-changing; strategy-led State of Play sessions, and the Proventus Program, a group coaching program that offers outstanding tools.

Ruan coaches and influences mortgage broking businesses and brokers across the country. Success and Broker provides valuable programs that simplify the complex ins and outs of the industry and make them compelling so clients can take full advantage. Ruan doesnt only provide guidance, he also leverages years of experience in the field to arm clients with powerful strategies and tailored solutions so they can enjoy the best outcomes.

Expert business consultant Jem Graham leverages 13 years of experience in business management and consulting to help clients transform their businesses, and achieve their most ambitious goals.

Jems clients have been situated in varying industries and sectors including construction, manufacturing, logistics, medical and health services, IT, telecommunications, accounting, joinery and trades with turnovers starting at $1m all the way up to $140m.

Jems approach to business consulting is based on transferring her practical knowledge to clients and helping them increase useful skills and systems. This way, they can learn to stand on their own two feet to achieve long-lasting, sustainable success.

Jem says, I work with businesses to ensure they are solvent and scalable. Most business owners know their product or service inside out but not always their businesss finances. Through simple education and practical application together we gain clarity and certainty on your businesss future.

Jem implements a 4 point business management system that leads to viability, solvency, and a collaborative, focused team that works seamlessly with management to achieve business goals.

Additionally, she developed a 2-day Financial Power Workshop where business owners can learn the points of view, frameworks, and tools they need to take full control of their finances and achieve the stability and power they seek.

Led by Digital Strategist Mareike Niedermeier, Sales Savvy Online was founded in 2019 to offer business owners the expertise they need to take control of their revenue growth. This team of business experts, digital marketers, and sales consultants serve over 50 clients in 4 different countries from their headquarters in Barangaroo, Sydney.

Sales Savvy Online takes business growth seriously and they are entirely dedicated to it. This is not the typical marketing agency because staff members have the necessary business acumen to help clients create strategies and execute them to perfection.

Essentially, Sales Savvy Online becomes the partner clients need to achieve carefully set goals. Clients are not locked in by long-term contracts because the team is confident they will deliver what they promise. If they dont clients can always opt-out.

One of the many things that Sales Savvy Online does differently is that they dont see sales and marketing as intuitive art. They believe that sales and marketing can be planned and executed to achieve desired outcomes. Thats exactly what they accomplish with their proven SME Marketing & Sales Processes and Frameworks.

They leverage digital solutions and a wealth of sales expertise to put businesses in control of their revenue growth so they can sell beyond word of mouth or network referrals. The Sales Savvy Online approach is different because they first determine the outcomes clients want and then they apply their effective approach to achieve them. Theres no room for loose ends!

Make sure to go and follow all these amazing business experts to continue to watch as they make their mark on the world.

Go here to read the rest:

5 Business Experts to Learn from in 2022 - The Australian Business Journal

To have once been a criminal is no disgrace. To remain a criminal is the disgrace.

BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) was designed by the South African government to redress racial imbalances in the economy. But the policy has been hijacked and repurposed by individuals and factions within the ruling party for the purpose of corruption and self-enrichment, notably during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The governments cadre-based BBBEE narrative has been roped in to restructure the economy amid the Covid-pandemic, so as to perpetuate an economic crime by the state. This phenomenon is well explained by the Canadian social and political activist Naomi Kleins notion of disaster capitalism, read alongside Reimans pyrrhic defeat theory, which I probe in the context of a criminological perspective.

Jeffrey Reiman, a conflict criminologist based in the US, contends that the criminal justice system in capitalist states, such as South Africa, demonises the poor as criminogenic in order to deflect the crimes of the rich, thereby legitimising the unjust and unequal distribution of income and wealth that underpins that social order.

BBBEE was repurposed as an ideological vehicle to fulfil an unstated nefarious purpose, namely self-enrichment, under the banner of so-called black economic empowerment. Said in another way, the narrative to which I refer is built around the fictitious idea of black economic empowerment but increasingly serves as a vehicle for fraudulent personal enrichment by politicians and well-connected tenderpreneurs.

Repurposed BBBEE is fictitious, because it only benefits a tiny group at the top, amid widespread unemployment, economic stagnation and poverty.

Stanley Cohen, a world expert on crimes committed by the state, suggests that crimes typically committed by the rich and powerful are not only rarely prosecuted but are not even classified as crimes.

Green criminology, a branch of critical criminology, highlights the governments complicity in environmental crimes, especially its patchy record on global warming.

Consider how easily and surreptitiously the government can repurpose its response to a pandemic disaster for personal gain.

In a recently published paper, I argue that the South African governments BBBEE agenda has, in most cases, been hijacked by at least a faction within the ruling party as a pretext for the large-scale looting of the public purse.

I demonstrate how vested interests in the government used the Covid19 pandemic as a form of disaster capitalism (a term coined by Klein) to divert the lions share of funding for crucial PPE (personal protective equipment) procurement, for personal gain.

Klein explains the idea of disaster capitalism in the following riveting terms: Once a crisis has struck it was crucial to act swiftly, to impose rapid and irreversible change before the crisis-racked society slipped back into the tyranny of the status quo.

The bottom line is that while Friedmans economic model is capable of being partially imposed under democracy, authoritarian conditions are required for the implementation of its true vision.

Kleins highlighting of authoritarianism might be the missing link between the South African governments hard lockdown and the looting of the public purse with such impunity.

One example of this is the tendency of governments around the world to turn the fight against crime into an exercise for authoritarian control over society, as the well-known Norwegian criminologist Nils Christie warned in his book Crime Control as Industry: Towards Gulags Western Style (2017).

By analogy, I suggest that disasters such as Covid-19 have provided a similar opportunity for government, certainly in South Africa, to perpetuate self-enrichment schemes under the guise of a false-flag operation such as BBBEE.

Despite President Cyril Rama-phosas influential anti-corruption election ticket, there is no guarantee that he would survive politically, considerably compounded by the robbery at his Phala Phala game farm.

In the perceptive words of Ralph Mathekgas The ANCs Last Decade (2021): This picture [the prospects of Ramaphosas presidency] becomes complex in the sense that the more Ramaphosa achieves what he promised in government for example, fighting against corruption the more tensions emerge within the ANC, making it difficult for him to win a second term in the party. That Ramaphosas anti-corruption drive in the government is creating enemies for him in the party is an open secret.

With the ANCS cadre-based deployment policy, combined with BBBEE, the ruling party is discriminating against all those communities (both white and non-white) not aligned with ANC thinking. The rationale for this design is, of course, to feed the vast patronage network within the ANC.

Decisions [were] made to serve the patronage networks flowing through the ANC, observes Mathekga in his book, which benefits the interests of an elite group of party officials and business [people]. It also points to the danger of surreptitious state crimes during times of disaster.

The crux of my argument is that BBBEE is a false-flag operation which has been repeatedly used to hoodwink the public by operating as a Ponzi scheme of sorts for personal enrichment while masquerading as a vehicle for black economic empowerment. In the case of the governments proposed economic restructuring during Covid-19, the same criminal modus operandi was essentially employed.

In particular, the roll-out of both the supply and distribution of the vaccine and PPE were enacted within the framework of BBBEE, namely not on merit or even qualified merit but, supposedly, solely on the criterion of being a cadre.

The Special Investigating Unit found tender corruption accounted for as much as 66% of all national funding set aside for the procurement of PPE. The cost of the vaccine roll-out in South Africa was inflated by as much as 400% of procurement prices. BBBEE is clearly a race-based ideology which has led, and is leading, to significant social discohesion in the ranks of those left behind.

Even though one must admit that economic redress is certainly justified in view of South Africas failed project of economic redistribution (one of the ANCs election promises in 1994), the point remains that the vast majority of South Africans of all races are excluded from the fruits of this looting.

The confluence of state capture, as well as BBBEE and patronage networks within the ANC, created a perfect storm which culminated in the governments opportunistic response to Covid-19 in March 2020, even if one concedes that a mere faction within the ruling party drove the initiative in favour of self-enrichment.

Understanding the allure of the state in fusing its agenda with that of Big Business is the central focus of green criminology, noted above.

My research has highlighted the seminal import of free speech and critical thinking, so often absent from mainstream, empirically based criminology, in seeing the forest for the trees.

In fact, had free speech been a fundamental right adhered to throughout the world, we might not even have had to contend with a Covid pandemic.

Dr Casper Ltter is a conflictcriminologist affiliated withNorth-West Universitys School of Philosophy (Potchefstroom) as a research fellow.

Read more from the original source:

Stealthy state crimes during times of disaster - Mail and Guardian

As a young girl residing in the Melkheda village of Madhya Pradesh, Neha Mujawdiya raised many questions. She not only wondered why she had to struggle for quality education but how girls in her village only stayed at home and never stepped out to learn, work and earn. Her questions led to self-discovery, some uncomfortable answers, and the most empowering solutions she could find she did everything she could to study and became the first girl from her village to graduate with a degree.

Neha Mujawdiya is now the founder and CEO of Indore-based TutorCabin, an ed-tech startup that she started in 2018. From providing door-to-door tuitions to becoming a digital entrepreneur today, Mujawdiya believes she is and will always be a teacher, and teaching kids, especially those who are being deprived of quality education, is what defines her innate purpose.

In an interview with SheThePeople, Neha Mujawdiya talks about her journey, how teaching drove her to start TutorCabin, how teachers have the power to change generations, why we need to respect them more and why entrepreneurship matters if we want to open more horizons for women.

Suggested Reading:

Why Iranian-American Shahla Ettefagh Moved To Rishikesh To Start A School For Underprivileged Kids

Mujawdiya faced several challenges in her journey to gain an education. She had to walk several kilometres to reach her school in her village, wanted to study math but couldnt because there were no proper classes for mathematics, and eventually started facing criticism because she raised questions about why no girls were studying further around her.

Apart from me, my parents had to face a lot of criticism because they let me study. I came out of that place, but I often thought about those kids who dont get quality education either due to lack of facilities, lack of quality schools or due to their gender. It made me want to make education accessible to children across the country, for those residing in rural areas, especially girls from my own village, she recalls.

She slowly started working towards becoming financially independent and aimed to further her career by starting something of her own that aligned with her purpose of educating kids.

Neha moved to Indore in 2009, and after struggling with admissions because of the ineligibility of her previous degree, she enrolled herself for an ACA course at a private institution after clearing the exam. She soon cracked her MBA entrance as well and finished her degree.

I havent forgotten where I come from, and while I am proud of my roots I also believe its not always a good idea to follow cultures and traditions blindly because youre stuck to a certain idea of who you should be, especially as a woman. I wanted to break the cycle.

However, it all boiled down to finances. She took up as many classes as possible and saved a decent amount to cover her expenses and save. She would leave the house early in the morning, attend MBA classes, and take home-to-home tuition. Despite running operations and managing the business herself, Mujawdiya does not let the teacher in her get lost in between business. She tries her best effort to offer personal attention to each student, especially the ones who hail from remote areas. Coming from a small village, I understand the struggles. Education is the most powerful catalyst that can help break cycles of poverty as well, reflects Mujawdiya.

Mujawdiya set up an office for TutorCabin at a co-working space in 2018. She first built a simple website and started the hiring and training process for tutors. What started with ten tutors in 2018 is now a platform featuring over two thousand tutors.

The platform offers personalised and group classes for students of all ages. The courses cover all classes starting from primary, secondary and college levels and also expand to competitive and entrance exams preparation for students. The 15-person startup made Rs 50 lakh in revenue in FY20-21 and hopes to enrol 2,50,000 students by the end of the year, with ambitions to expand its teaching base to 5,000. She is in talks with several investors for further funding.

Her startup is also in talks with local governments to venture into a space where they can educate children studying in those schools who hold great potential but get held back owing to a lack of resources or opportunities.

Teachers have the power to bring a positive shift in the world.

Mujawdiya started teaching temporarily to cover her finances, but it wasnt long before she realised her love for the profession. She believes teachers have the power to drive narratives across the world and empower generations like no other. You know if a child finds that one teacher who, despite all odds, brings a positive change in the childs life, thats all it takes to further empowerment. I appreciate and salute all those teachers who work all their lives towards the betterment of their students not just because its their professional ability but also because they dedicate themselves to the cause of education. We need to respect such teachers more, and give them their due, she said.

The ed-tech founder also offers free English classes to children in remote places who seek to learn the language but struggle with it. Growing up in a tiny village town, she finished her school through a Hindi medium and considering English is a global language, she realised it was important for her to learn and adapt to it to further her career. She says, Hindi is our mother tongue and I am so proud of it. Having said that, learning a global language for children is important in this day and age, I want as many children to have as many opportunities I didnt have, and I try and do that through my teaching ability at the startup.

The founder also touches upon the chronic problem of society looking down upon Hindi-medium and Hindi-speaking students. We need to break off the linguistic barrier and focus on quality education. Our priorities are so blurred and its important to realise potential is what matters at the end of the day, she suggests.

Neha Mujawdiya, Founder of TutorCabin

Education alongside Entrepreneurship is the way forward if we need to empower women at the grassroots level.

Stressing on the idea of entrepreneurship for women, Mujawdiya discusses that if we need to empower more women, especially in areas where women are deprived of basic opportunities, empowering them through entrepreneurship and self-dependency is the right way forward. Her contribution, she adds, will be to forever encourage girls to break free from societal cycles and have access to the freedom of choice that comes with education to pursue their respective choices in life.

Its your life and if you see that you have a better solution to some existing problem which you wish to implement and work on, then never stop yourself from doing so no matter what. Bank on your inner instincts, creativity and power, and educate yourself every step of the way. Big things will happen if we focus and appreciate the small opportunities, and we need to trust this more, advises Mujawdiya.

Read the original post:

Neha Mujawdiyas Personal Journey In Accessing Basic Education Inspired Her Startup - SheThePeople

Background

Childbirth and pregnancy are both a natural physiological phenomenon. During these stages, pregnant women face physical and psychological changes, which cause many health needs.1 Studies have shown that pregnant women have different health needs, such as nutritional management, drug and vaccine use, weight management, physiological changes, sexual behavior, delivery methods, neonatal care.15 Therefore, it is important that pregnant women get timely and accurate information about care and treatment options during pregnancy.6

Currently, the antenatal health care mode includes universal prenatal health management model, low-risk prenatal health management model, enhanced prenatal health management model, and high-risk prenatal health management model.7 The Chinese prenatal health management model predominantly adopts the universal prenatal health management model, which shows the care is provided based on a medical model (ie obstetric-led prenatal care).8 However, most women spend very little time with their obstetric providers during pregnancy. Thus, the social and psychological support for women during pregnancy was very poor, lacking a systematic management method.9 Due to the disconnection between health education during pregnancy and examinations, the concept of making pregnant women the center was ignored, which made it difficult to meet the diversified and personalized needs of pregnant women. This resulted in a low utilization rate of health care during pregnancy.1 Group prenatal care has emerged as a new way to provide prenatal care, which helps to meet multiple needs of pregnant women.10 The most widely known model of group prenatal care is the CenteringPregnancy model,9 which has been currently available at many countries throughout the world,11 such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Iran and Nigeria.

In the 1990s, Sharon Schindler Rising developed a new antenatal examination mode which through evaluation, education, and providing support for pregnant woman, helps to improve pregnancy outcomes.12 In CenteringPregnancy, a group of 812 pregnant women of similar gestational weeks can participate in a seminar with their families every 24 weeks. They participate in self-assessment, which includes measurement of blood pressure and weight. An obstetrician, a certified nurse-midwife/certified midwife, or nurse practitioner, skilled in the group process, provide other professional prenatal examinations.12 Studies have shown that the CenteringPregnancy model uses group health education, peer discussion, and antenatal examination of pregnant women to effectively provide adequate knowledge of nutrition, fetal monitoring, needs during labor, and neonatal care,13,14 improve pregnant womens health awareness, satisfaction with medical treatment, and reduce the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.9,15 It has gradually become the most concerned prenatal care model in the world due to its efficiency and effectiveness. It has attracted more attention due to the vital needs to improve prenatal care outcomes.9,10,16 The effectiveness of the CenteringPregnancy model in China was significant. It improved adverse pregnancy outcomes,17,18 reduced postpartum anxiety and depression, and increased the rate of natural delivery and satisfaction in pregnant women.19 The potential of digital technology to deliver healthcare services has been increasingly recognized worldwide.20 An increasing number of Internet-based medical services are being utilized as they can reduce the time and space limitations and better optimize medical resources. Studies have shown the Internet was a common pathway for accessing prenatal care-related sources among Chinese pregnant women,21,22 as well as in the western countries.23 It is still unclear whether the Internet can be used for CenteringPregnancy. We combined the Internet with the CenteringPregnancy model to construct a new model, the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy management model. The purpose of this study was to explore the participants experience of the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy management model, which would improve the prenatal care management model in China and in countries with similar healthcare systems and demographics as China.

We used an interpretative phenomenological research method to explore the participants experience of the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy management model. A semi-structured interview was used to collect qualitative data and Colaizzis 7-step method of phenomenological data analysis was used to analyze the data.24

Using purposive sampling, participants were recruited from a sample consisting of 12 pregnant women who had experienced Internet-based CenteringPregnancy during prenatal examination in a tertiary hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The recruitment continued until data saturation was reached. We interpreted the data as saturated when no new themes emerged.25 Inclusion criteria included: (1) pregnancy at less than 16 weeks gestation, singleton pregnancy, and no gestational complications (such as gestational diabetes, etc.); (2) took part in online discussions and offline seminars of Internet-based CenteringPregnancy during the prenatal period. Exclusion criteria included: participating in offline seminars less than twice in total. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The participants informed consent included publication of anonymized responses. Our study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Medical School of Wuhan University, China (2018jk002).

Our team designed the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy based on the CenteringPregnancy model. The designer has been working in maternal care for 10 years and has extensive experience. Internet-based CenteringPregnancy includes three parts: online discussion in WeChat group, regular offline seminars, and WeChat public account. The topics of seminars and WeChat public accounts were outlined in Figure 1.

Figure 1 The topics of seminars and WeChat public account.

Pregnant women could freely converse in the WeChat group, including asking questions to other pregnant women or researchers, as well as sharing their experiences and feelings during pregnancy. Time and topic were not limited. When the discussion got stalled due to the limitations of thinking or knowledge, researchers in the WeChat group guided the discussion and solved the problems that the participants could not solve on their own. For example, when a pregnant woman did not understand a biochemical indicator in a prenatal check, the researcher would explain it.

The specific times and topics of the regular seminars were discussed prior to the study with participants and were determined according to their health needs and time schedules. The midwives or nurses made a brief introduction to the theme of the seminar before the formal start of the seminar so that the pregnant women could better understand and be prepared to have a successful discussion. The pregnant women discussed their problems around the theme of the seminar and together in a group resolved them.

Nine pregnant women who participated in the online discussion and offline seminars of Internet-based CenteringPregnancy were interviewed. Data was collected from October 2019 to November 2019. Before the interview, the interviewees were assured that the results of the interview would not affect the quality of their future perinatal care. After getting the participants written informed consent, we collected a general demographic questionnaire of pregnant women which included age, monthly family income, educational background, gravidity, and parity. All interviews were conducted by the same trained researcher. The semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and techniques such as repetition, summarization, silence, were used appropriately. Interviewees non-verbal behaviors were also recorded. Each interview lasted an average of 3040 minutes. After the ninth interview, no new data was identified, terminating the data collection.

After consulting with experts and reading the literature, a preliminary interview outline was developed. Two participants were pre-interviewed, and the interview outline was modified according to the results. The interview guideline was attached in the Supplementary File. During the interview, we asked participants to describe their experiences and feelings after participating in Internet-based CenteringPregnancy. We used special known terms to represent each participant (eg Pregnant woman, 27 years) to protect the privacy of participants.

Within 24 hours after the interview, the audio recording was transcribed independently by two researchers using computer software (Luyinla),26 and the two transcripts were checked in combination with the interview notes to avoid errors. During the transcription process, the transcribers made notes on the interviewees modal words, pauses, and other details. Transcripts were uploaded to NVIVO (QSR International Pty Ltd. Version 10, 2014) software to manage the data. The raw data and transcripts produced during the interviews were in Chinese. The transcriptions were translated first into English by one researcher and then back into Chinese by another researcher, both with a PhD degree in the field of medicine. The two versions of the statement were compared until all researchers confirmed that the original meaning had been accurately retained and the results were unambiguous.

The Colaizzis 7-step phenomenological data analysis method was used to analyze the collected data.24 We followed a strict Colaizzis 7-step process, fully familiarizing the material, identifying significant statements, formulating units of meaning, clustering themes, developing an exhaustive description, producing the fundamental structure, and seeking verification of the fundamental structure. We read and compared the transcribed text repeatedly, focused on the interviewees experiences and the meaning behind them. We identified the relevant content, encoded, compared the codes, and summarized it into different categories. Using the crowd-sourcing method, we extracted the themes and summarized them. Finally, the original data and the extracted themes were passed to the experts of the research team for checking and sorting, and then sent to the participants to verify whether the data matched their expressed wishes, to enhance the credibility of the results.

After inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered, nine participants were finally included in the study. The average age of the 9 pregnant women was 28.71 (SD1.49, range 2630 years). Other characteristics of these participants were shown in Table 1. We extracted three themes from participants interviewed contents, see Figure 2.

Table 1 Characteristics of 9 Participants

Figure 2 Overarching themes.

The Participants believed that participating in online and offline discussions would allow them to learn and exchange pregnancy knowledge to help each other. When there were questions that no partner can answer, the participants said they will take the initiative to ask the researchers and receive prompt and patient answers.

(We) could discuss pregnancy knowledge together. If you did not understand relevant information, you could ask the teacher (researcher) and discuss with other pregnant women. We have learned a lot, and I believe that I would be a good mother. (Pregnant woman, 28 years)

Some participants expressed confidence to be a good mother because they mastered the practical skills such as nutritional management and baby care.

The model was pretty good. It had online discussion and, offline seminars, which meet individual needs . Eh, from the online discussion and offline seminars, I learned how to keep nutrition balanced, how to take care of my baby when she is coming. I am confident to be a mother. (Pregnant woman, 30 years)

Most participants had a high evaluation of the new management model, believing that they could gain knowledge, experience, and comfort from their partners during the discussion, which could not only learn and communicate pregnant health knowledge better, but also improve their mood.

In the prenatal exam, everyone would encounter a lot of problems, and then we could discuss and comfort each other in the group. (Pregnant woman, 26 years)

Everyone in the group had the same gestational week, so we could discuss similar problems together and this could help to improve your mood during pregnancy. (Pregnant woman, 28 years)

Most participants pointed out that offline seminar schedules tend to conflict with their own lives. For example, everyones spare time may not be the same, so the time the researchers set for the seminar did not match everyones free time. Some participants said that they had planned to attend the offline seminar, but something happened suddenly, so they had to change their plan and could not go to the offline seminar.

Id love to go (to the offline seminar), but because I was busy on weekends, sometimes missed because the seminar schedules conflicted with my own time. (Pregnant woman, 29 years)

The participants expressed the offline seminar topics may be a little general and not detailed enough, the knowledge introduced is too professional and theoretical. They suggested that the topics should be more practical.

Too much professional knowledge I did not want to know. I want to know something more practical about my daily life I think some knowledge was too theoretical. I want to know how to solve a problem about pregnancy when I have it. (Pregnant woman, 28 years)

Although most participants could learn from the offline seminars and discuss freely in the WeChat from the Internet, some participants thought the discussion in the offline seminars and WeChat need to be managed better by the researcher. For example, researchers should correct the discussion direction if the content strays from the topic.

I know everyone could discuss, however, sometimes someone talked about other things, which I did not want to know. At that time, your research team should come to manage it by asking them not to discuss that topic. It influenced others in this group. (Pregnant woman, 26 years)

The Participants expressed that the information in the WeChat group was too much and confusing. Some participants felt fatigued to find useful information from beginning to end. They said the researchers should collate and summarize useful information and send it at fixed time points.

Sometimes When I opened my WeChat, there was so much information in our WeChat group. I did not have time to read all of them, but I was afraid that I would miss some useful information. So, if you could summarize some useful information at the end of each discussion and send it to us. I think it would be helpful. (Pregnant woman, 30 years)

The Internet-based CenteringPregnancy elicited a range of advantages among pregnant women. The results of the interview showed that pregnant women could obtain the knowledge needed for pregnancy through online discussions and offline seminars, thus empowering the women. It also could improve health literacy and meet their health needs, which was consistent with the other study.27 Respondents believed that the new prenatal management model enabled them to gain the knowledge and experience they needed, such as the meaning of pregnancy test results and nutrition management.28,29 When the participants had a problem, and their family, friends, and peers in the group could not answer, they could also ask nurses or midwives to get reliable and accurate information. In the traditional model of prenatal examination, obstetrician doctors and nurses and ultrasound doctors may have time constraints or other factors that could not always give them enough time to answer the questions and meet the needs of pregnant women. The doctors also may not be familiar with the pregnant women due to prenatal examination doctors being different every time. They also may not provide personalized solutions and support for each pregnant woman.29,30 The offline group discussions also provided participants with a platform for face-to-face consultation, discussion, and sharing.29

The participants believed that the new pregnancy management model provided them with opportunities to learn, communicate about their experiences, and discuss, from which they could obtain the required assistance to meet their own needs.27 CenteringPregnancy model could also help participants establish social networks and provide pregnant women with social support,31 which was like the results of our study. Most participants also reported that participating in online discussions and offline seminars helped them improve their mood as well as gain empathy and psychological support from their peers. In the new model, participants shared their questions and worries with peers. Listening to other peoples questions and communicating with each other in the discussion to solve the problems increased their sense of belonging, helped them to build a new social network and emotional support system,32 and reduced their isolation and anxiety during pregnancy.30,33

The Internet-based CenteringPregnancy was generally satisfactory to the participants but there were some challenges in developing the model. Currently, there are few studies focused on the factors influencing participants attendance at CenteringPregnancy seminars.34 In this Internet-based CenteringPregnancy, most interviewees believed that the schedule and timing of the offline seminar was the main factor behind whether they attended or not. This relates to one of the obstacles encountered in the current study as each participant had their own schedule so it was difficult to arrange a time where everyone could attend the seminar.28 In our study, the seminar was scheduled after the time of prenatal examination, which in theory saved time for pregnant women. Nevertheless, in practice, pregnant women still found that the offline seminar clashed with their personal schedules. Therefore, it was a big challenge to find a suitable time for everyone to participate. In the context of the times following COVID-19, we believe that increasing the number of online discussions and reducing the number of offline seminars could potentially be a good solution to the problem.

The participants also mentioned other factors that affected their participation. Some participants believed that the authority and experience of the experts invited to help host the offline seminar would influence their decision. Therefore, Internet-based CenteringPregnancy should frequently invite experts who had rich experience to assist the team in hosting seminars. Before the offline seminar start, the resume and experience of the invited experts and the number of participants who plan to go should be released to pregnant women in detail through a group of WeChat, which may improve the participation rate of offline seminars.

In Internet-based CenteringPregnancy, the topics of each seminar were proposed by the participants, but there were some challenges encountered while gathering consensus from the participants about offline seminar topics. Whatever, everything goes, and I dont know what I need were the most common responses when collecting opinions on the seminar. This indicates that the pregnant women were not clear about their own needs and that there are knowledge deficits as only a small number of pregnant women were able to come up with specific needs and ideas when the research team collected the offline seminar topics. To identify topics efficiently, we can retrospectively analyze some important topics by reviewing the literature and combining it with clinical experience in obstetrics. This could narrow down the range and help pregnant women to make choices. In addition, online discussion topics should be regularly posted in the WeChat group to guide the to ask questions, express their feelings and communicate their views around the topic. If the online discussion deviates significantly from the topic, promptly remind them to return to the topic. At the end of each online discussion, summarize useful information and send it to pregnant women in the group announcement to prevent them from missing important information.

At the beginning of the seminar, researchers gave a brief introduction of the discussion topic, so that the participants could understand the topic better and share their own experiences and feelings in the topic. However, some interviewees thought health education content was relatively broad and theoretical. From the research teams perspective, the health educations purpose was to introduce the seminar topic so that participants could have a general understanding of the topic and facilitate the subsequent discussion. Nonetheless, in the offline seminar, participants paid too much attention to the introduction of the topic and lacked enthusiasm in the discussion part.

Although there are some problems in the virtual CenteringPregnancy model, it also has some unintended benefits. Compared with traditional care models, relationships among patients that develop in the Internet group enhance pregnant womens social support levels, which may help women cope with their stress levels.9,28,35 For pregnant women with disabilities which is one of the most vulnerable pregnant individuals, the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy model can provide more comprehensive support especially when they are in trouble at home. The speed of information transmission on the Internet allows for timely resolution of pregnant womens problems, but there is also a risk that, due to untimely management by researchers, pregnant women may obtain the wrong information and take the wrong advice on the Internet group, which may affect the pregnancy outcome. Moreover, there are still problems with network coverage in some areas, so the network accessibility needs to be improved and the cost of Internet communication needs to be further reduced to promote the development of Internet-based medical services.

The strength of our study is that it was the first study to explore the pregnant womens experience in the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy model, contributing to the qualitative literature and showing the potential benefits of Internet technology in group maternal health care. Studies have shown that the CenteringPregnancy model could improve the accessibility and quality of pregnancy care services, and health outcomes in disadvantaged areas.36,37 Thus, the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy may provide a new solution to the problem of health care services during pregnancy in underprivileged and under-resourced areas. The policymakers are suggested to incorporate the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy model into routine prenatal care through the combination of offline group care and online medical services provided by the hospitals official WeChat.

There are several limitations in the current study. First, at the time of the interview, we did not know the outcome of the newborn after the birth or the maternal postpartum outcomes. A follow-up study to explore the long-term effects of the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy model on the outcomes of mother and child is needed. Second, we only explored pregnant womens experiences in one Wuhan hospital. Thus, the representativeness of the study was limited.

The Internet-based CenteringPregnancy retains the advantages of CenteringPregnancy: empowerment and psychological and social support for pregnant women. At the same time, it uses the Internet for more timely communication and improved flexibility. The process of implementation of the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy management model also encountered many difficulties, including time arrangement, topic selection, and discussion management, which showed the need for us to improve in the next step of the design. The Internet-based CenteringPregnancy provided a strategy for optimizing prenatal care models in China. Further research is needed on how to adapt the Internet-based CenteringPregnancy to different regional healthcare settings, increasing the coverage and quality of health care during pregnancy.

Research data can be made available to interested parties upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Medical School of Wuhan University, China (2018jk002).

The authors would like to acknowledge the research participants who gave their time for this study.

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81903334), The MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences [Grant No. 17YJCZH113] and Research Project of Health Commision of Hubei Province [Grant No. ZY2021M088]

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare relevant to this studys content.

1. Kamali S, Ahmadian L, Bahaadinbeigy K, Khajouei R. Health information needs of pregnant women: information sources, motives and barriers. Health Info Libr J. 2018;35(1):2437. doi:10.1111/hir.12200

2. Hmeen-Anttila K, Jyrkk J, Enlund H, Kokki E, Nordeng H, Lupattelli A. Medicines information needs during pregnancy: a multinational comparison. BMJ Open. 2013;3(4):e002594. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002594

3. Miranda EF, Nunes da Silva AM, Teixeira Mand EN. Approaching health needs by nurse in prenatal consultation. Revista de Pesquisa. 2018;10(2):524533. doi:10.9789/2175-5361.2018.v10i2.524-533

4. Fuentes-Pelez N, Amors P, Garz MCM, Checa MJ, Bueno CM. The design of a maternal education program based on analysis of needs and collaborative work. Revista De Cercetare Si Intervenie Soc. 2013;42(4):5067.

5. Benediktsson I, McDonald SW, Vekved M, McNeil DA, Dolan SM, Tough SC. Comparing CenteringPregnancy to standard prenatal care plus prenatal education. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2013;13:110. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-13-S1-S5

6. Peng Y, Lin H, Yi J. Relationship among Nesbitt score of high risk pregnancy, uncertainty in illness and anxiety level in pregnant patients. Chin J Mod Nursing. 2016;22(33):48374840. doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2016.33.027

7. Berhan Y. No hypertensive disorder of pregnancy; no preeclampsia-eclampsia; no gestational hypertension; no hellp syndrome. vascular disorder of pregnancy speaks for all. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2016;26(2):177186. doi:10.4314/ejhs.v26i2.12

8. Liu Y, Wang Y, Wu Y, Chen X, Bai J. Effectiveness of the CenteringPregnancy program on maternal and birth outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;120:103981. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.103981

9. Carter EB, Temming LA, Akin J, et al. Group prenatal care compared with traditional prenatal care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol. 2016;128(3):551561. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000001560

10. Jolivet RR, Bella Vasant U, Meaghan OC, Kanchan L, Jigyasa S, Mary Nell W. Exploring perceptions of group antenatal care in Urban India: results of a feasibility study. Reprod Health. 2018;15(1):111. doi:10.1186/s12978-018-0498-3

11. Decesare JZ, Jackson JR. Centering pregnancy: practical tips for your practice. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2014;291(3):499507. doi:10.1007/s00404-014-3467-2

12. Sharon S. Rising. CENTERING PREGNANCY: an interdisciplinary model of empowerment. J Nurse Midwifery. 1998;43(1):4654.

13. Hartzler AL, Chaudhuri S, Fey BC, Flum DR, Lavallee D. Integrating patient-reported outcomes into spine surgical care through visual dashboards: lessons learned from human-centered design. eGEMS. 2015;3(2):117. doi:10.13063/2327-9214.1133

14. Salmon M, Salmon C, Bissinger A, et al. Alternative ultrasound gel for a sustainable ultrasound program: application of human centered design. PLoS One. 2015;10(8):111. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134332

15. Liwei C, Crockett AH, Covington-Kolb S, et al. Centering and Racial Disparities (CRADLE study): rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial of centeringpregnancy and birth outcomes. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2017;17(13):113. doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1295-7

16. Ekhtiari YS, Majlessi F, Foroushani AR, Shakibazadeh E. Effect of a self-care educational program based on the health belief model on reducing low birth weight among pregnant Iranian women. Int J Prev Med. 2014;5(1):7682.

17. Xiao S, Fang Y, Huang Y, Yao Q, Liu F, Wang J. Application and effect evaluation of group prenatal care model in primiparas. Chin J Pract Nurs. 2021;37(11):820825. doi:10.3760/cma.j.cn211501-20200601-02574

18. Xiao S, Fang Y, Liu F, Wang J. Effects of Group Prenatal Care model on the fear of childbirth and pregnancy outcome of primipara. Chin J Mod Nursing. 2021;27(1):1116. doi:10.3760/cma.j.cn115682-20200422-02950

19. Guo S, Ma Y, Mao X. Effect of center group pregnancy care mode on outcome of delivery in elderly pregnant parturient for a second child. J Third Military Med Univ. 2020;42(1):99103. doi:10.16016/j.1000-5404.201907161

20. Zuccolo PF, Xavier MO, Matijasevich A, Polanczyk G, Fatori D. A smartphone-assisted brief online cognitive-behavioral intervention for pregnant women with depression: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2021;22(1):227. doi:10.1186/s13063-021-05179-8

21. Tang L, Lee AH, Binns CW, Duan L, Liu Y, Li C. WeChat-based intervention to support breastfeeding for Chinese mothers: protocol of a randomised controlled trial. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2020;20(1):300. doi:10.1186/s12911-020-01322-8

22. Sun Y, Pan P, Zhang Q, Dai Z, Su Q. Research on the influence of Internet + midwife outpatient service model on pregnancy outcome and postpartum depression. J Modern Med Health. 2020;36(22):35373540. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-5519.2020.22.001

23. Gao L, Larsson M, Luo S. Internet use by Chinese women seeking pregnancy-related information. Midwifery. 2013;29(7):730735. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2012.07.003

24. Colaizzi PF. Psychological research as the phenomenologist views it. Existential Phenomenological Alternative for Psychology. 1978.

25. Morse JM. Data were saturated . J Article Qual Health Res. 2015;25(5):587588. doi:10.1177/1049732315576699

26. Encyclopedia B. Guangzhou Luyinla Network Technology limited liability company. Available from: http://www.luyinla.cn/. Accessed August 31, 2022.

27. Poshan T, Alex Harsha B, Isha N, et al. The power of peers: an effectiveness evaluation of a cluster-controlled trial of group antenatal care in rural Nepal. Reprod Health. 2019;16(1):114. doi:10.1186/s12978-019-0820-8

28. Klima C, Norr K, Vonderheid S, Handler A. Introduction of CenteringPregnancy in a public health clinic. Article. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2009;54(1):2734. doi:10.1016/j.jmwh.2008.05.008

29. Sultana M, Ali N, Akram R, et al. Group prenatal care experiences among pregnant women in a Bangladeshi community. PLoS One. 2019;14(6):115. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218169

30. McNeil D, Vekved M, Dolan S, Siever J, Horn S, Tough SC. Getting more than they realized they needed: a qualitative study of womens experience of group prenatal care. Article. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2012;12(1):1726. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-12-17

31. Kania-Richmond A, Hetherington E, McNeil D, Bayrampour H, Tough S, Metcalfe A. The impact of introducing centering pregnancy in a community health setting: a qualitative study of experiences and perspectives of health center clinical and support staff. Matern Child Health J. 2017;21(6):13271335. doi:10.1007/s10995-016-2236-1

32. Massey Z, Rising SS, Ickovics J. CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care: promoting relationshipcentered care. J Obstetr Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2006;35(2):286294. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2006.00040.x

33. McDonald SD, Sword W, Eryuzlu LE, Biringer AB. A qualitative descriptive study of the group prenatal care experience: perceptions of women with low-risk pregnancies and their midwives. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14(1):112. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-334

34. Shayna DC, Jessica BL, Jordan LT, Stephanie AG, Jeannette RI. Expect With Me: development and evaluation design for an innovative model of group prenatal care to improve perinatal outcomes. Article. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2017;17(1):113. doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1327-3

35. Picklesimer AH, Billings D, Hale N, Blackhurst D, Covington-Kolb S. The effect of CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care on preterm birth in a low-income population. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012;206(5):415. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2012.01.040

36. Harsha Bangura A, Nirola I, Thapa P, et al. Measuring fidelity, feasibility, costs: an implementation evaluation of a cluster-controlled trial of group antenatal care in rural Nepal. Reprod Health. 2020;17(1). doi:10.1186/s12978-019-0840-4

37. Adaji SE, Bawa U, Ibrahim HI, et al. Womens experience with group prenatal care in a rural community in northern Nigeria. Int J Gynecol Obstetr. 2019;145(2):164169. doi:10.1002/ijgo.12788

Read the original:

The Experience of Pregnant Women in the Health Management Model of Int | IJWH - Dove Medical Press

Express News Service

RAIPUR: The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report that revealed data on the suicide victims by age and sex group states that the women & men suicide victims ratio is 1:1 till 18 years and it rises to 1:5 in 45-60 years.

It's clear that while mens suicide is consistent, women remain more or less stagnant.

From childhood to teenager (18 years) the ratio of suicide committed by male and female were almost the same at 1:1 with figures 5075 and 5655 respectively. However, the ratio began to widen for men as they grow older.

NCRB data cited (Between the age group 18-30 years) 37941 men and 18588 women with a ratio of 2:1 respectively have committed suicide.

As they reach the productive age of 30-45 years, the suicide victim ratio of men and women turned to be 3:1 with 40415 and 11629 respectively. At 45-60 years, the number rose to 24555 men and 5607 women with a ratio of 5:1.

That means steps taken for women's empowerment or welfare are somewhat fruitful for women but on contrary, it seems to have a negative impact on men who are often seen as culprits, asserted the activists fighting for the rights of men.

So, are men becoming the most depressing segment and thrown to the margins of endurance limit under family, personal and social pressure?

It's the government's duty to offer a protective advantage to men too and make policies for them. Why cant there be a Men Commission? Despite knowing the facts, people usually don't speak up for men, said Barkha Trehan, chairperson of voluntary organisation Purush Aayog advocating for gender-neutral laws and further added that over 50 laws exist to safeguard the interests of women but virtually nothing for the men.

Across the country, a man commits suicide every 4.45 minutes while a woman every 9 minutes apparently creates speculations on who is more vulnerable.

Again the data shows that the rate of committing suicide among married men is three times that of married women. In 2021 as many as 81063 married men committed suicide while the womens figure stood at 28660.

Family problems and illness were the major causes of suicides which account for 33.2 per cent and 18.6 per cent of total suicides respectively in 2021.

Read this article:

Men are more prone to suicide than women, reveals NCRB data - The New Indian Express