Evidence-based care is a well established principle in contemporary healthcare & a worldwide health care movement. However despite the emphasis on promoting evidence-based or effective care without the unnecessary use of technologies & drugs intervention rates in childbirth continue to rise rapidly. This new edition emphasises the importance of translating evidence into skilful practice. It updates the evidence around what works best for normal birth aspects of which still remain hidden & ignored by some maternity care professionals. Beginning with the decision about where to have a baby through all the phases of labour to the immediate post-birth period it systematically details research & other evidence sources that endorse a low intervention approach. The second edition: has been expanded with new chapters on Preparation for Childbirth & Waterbirth highlights where the evidence is compelling discusses its application where women question its relevance to them & where the practitioners expertise leads them to challenge it gives background & context before discussing the research to date

Includes:: questions for reflection skills sections & practice recommendations generated from the evidence. Using evidence drawn from a variety of sources Evidence & Skills for Normal Labour & Birth critiques institutionalised scientifically managed birth & endorses a more humane midwifery-led model. Packed with up-to-date & relevant information this text will help all students practising midwives & doulas keep abreast of the evidence surrounding normal birth & ensure their practice takes full advantage of it.

...

At a time when the credibility of social work is again being questioned this book offers a critical approach to the debate concerning the reliability & validity of the evidence research & knowledge that underpins professional social work practice. It critiques the notion of 'evidence' & argues that 'knowledge' is a much broader more appropriate concept to consider. There is analysis of the different components & sources of this knowledge & an exploration of the often discordant interface between practice & knowledge. Finally it supports the view that knowledge can be actively developed & tested by a range of people. ...

Breastfeeding is a major public health issue. Breast milk provides all the nutrients a baby needs for their first six months. Research studies also show that breastfeeding doesnt just help to protect infants from infection but has other benefits such as reducing obesity & can help protect mothers from some diseases in later life. Breastfeeding rates are low however & women need the support of their midwives & health visitors when beginning breastfeeding & throughout their childs infancy. Based on the UNICEF UK BFI Best Practice Standards for Higher Education Institutions this accessible textbook addresses all 18 outcomes to ensure that students are equipped with the essential knowledge & skills to effectively promote & support breastfeeding mothers including: anatomy & physiology; essential skills & good practice guidance; dealing with common problems; public health considerations; babies & mothers with special needs; complementary feeding. Suitable for both undergraduate students & practitioners undertaking continuing professional development Evidence-based Care for Breastfeeding Mothers is designed to aid learning. Each chapter

Includes:: specific learning outcomes linked to the Baby Friendly standards key fact boxes clinical scenarios & activities.

...

This book is for those who believe that good government should be based on hard evidence & that research & policy ought to go h&-in-h&. Unfortunately no such bond exists. Rather there is a substantial gap some say chasm between the production of knowledge & its utilization. Despite much contrary evidence the authors propose there is a way of doing public policy in a more reflective manner & that a hunger for evidence & objectivity does exist. The book is pragmatic drawing on advice from some of the best & brightest informants from both the research & policy communities. In their own voices researchers provide incisive analysis about how to bridge the research/policy divide & policymakers provide insights about why they use research what kind is most useful where they seek it & how they screen its quality. The book breaks through stereotypes about what policymakers are like & provides an insiders' view of how the policy process really works. Readers will learn what knowledge skills approaches & attitudes are needed to take research findings from the laboratory to lawmaking bodies & how to evaluate one's success in doing so. The book's balance between theory & practice will appeal to students in graduate & upper-level undergraduate courses in family studies & family policy educational policy law political science public administration public health social work & sociology. This book will also be of interest to researchers who want to bring their ideas into policy debate & to those who work with policymakers to advance an evidence-based policy agenda. ...

The need for an evidence base for nursing practice is widely accepted. However what evidence is & how nurses might appraise & apply it to their practice is still a matter of some debate which can leave the novice nurse feeling confused. This book uses clear language to help the reader develop skills in the identification appraisal & application of evidence for nursing practice. It guides the reader in the development of underpinning skills such as reflection critical thinking & research which allow the nurse to make sense of all the different forms of information & evidence that influence practice. ...

Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen & held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four & a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news & contact with anyone other than his jailers & later his fellow hostages amongst them John Mc Carthy. ...

In a sea-cave on Lovatt Island just off the west coast of Scotland a skeleton is found shackled to the rocks. Although the apparent victim of a crime of unparalleled brutality the skeleton seems to belong firmly in the past. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming called in to investigate anticipates a straightforward case unhampered by the pressures of time. But when a modern watch is discovered on the skeletons wrist Fleming realises the crime may be far closer to home than she initially assumed. Meanwhile in the nearby village of Innellan mysterious events begin to occur. Matt Lovatt eponymous owner of the island is at the centre of a series of escalating crimes
- could someone be targeting him? The villagers members of a small & introverted community are little help
- many seem damaged by their own enigmatic pasts & all are reluctant to speak out. Fleming sensing a pattern she cannot clearly make out becomes increasingly desperate to prevent more violence. Are the skeleton & the current spate of crimes connected? If so what evil act could have motivated such a deadly merciless design?

...

The engineer Ziani Vaatzes designed & built a war. Thousands died as a consequence of his elaborate plan. The civil servant Manuo Psellus took the decision that started the war. The very foundations of his world are now threatened. The ruler Duke Valens brought the war on himself. Now he must decide whether to sacrifice his country to save his people. They embarked on the war for their own reasons but as it takes on a life of its own they find they've become components in their own machine. & the machine it seems has one purpose: to render evil for evil. ...

Despite standing as chief prosecution witness in the Moors Murders trial David Smith was vilified by the public due to the accusations thrown at him by Myra Hindley & Ian Brady about his involvement in their crimes. Hindleys later confession that she & Brady had lied in an attempt to reduce their sentences did little to diminish the slurs against his name. For over four decades Smith was asked by writers & film-makers to tell his story. Apart from a handful of brief interviews he always refused. Carol Ann Lee met Smith during her research for One of Your Own her critically acclaimed biography of Hindley following which he finally agreed to reveal all. In Evil Relations (previously published as Witness) interviews archival research & most significantly David Smiths own vivid memoir are fused to create an unforgettable often harrowing account of his life before during & after the Moors Murders. ...

Something inside me remembers & will not forget... When Alice Farrell is drawn to Grantchester churchyard & reads the strange inscription on Rosemary Virginia Ashleys gravestone she feels oddly disturbed. & when former boyfriend Joe returns to Cambridge with his new girlfriend Ginny Alice is repelled by the ethereal lavender-eyed beauty
- & is certain of her evil. Then Alice finds an old diary in Ginnys room & reads the story of Daniel Holmes who lived in Cambridge forty years earlier & fell under the fatal spell of Rosemary Ashley. As the two stories intertwine Alices suspicions about Ginny increase
- until the past meets present in a terrifying climax...

...