Women’s satisfaction with maternity experience at a regional hospital in Swaziland: A cross sectional survey

Clinical care during labor and childbirth is important, however understanding women’s preferences and experiences have become more important in assessing quality health care delivery and maternity services utilization. Knowledge on women’s satisfaction will be one of the important steps towards solving maternal and child health problems faced in Swaziland. The aim of the study was to determined maternity experiences and women’s demographic characteristics that affect perceived satisfaction with maternity care at a regional hospital in Swaziland. A cross sectional survey using structured interview questionnaire was used to obtain data from 198 women who had a normal childbirth during their postnatal hospital stay. One-way ANOVA and t-test were used to examine association between variables and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of satisfaction. The final model indicated that respecting women’s description of pain/discomfort, staff kindness, gender of birth assistant, never being alone during labor and woman’s education level determined satisfaction with maternity experience, explaining 44.6% of the variation in maternity satisfaction (F= 30.932, p <.001). The study findings show the importance of provider related factors (interpersonal aspect of care, gender of provider) and consideration of woman’s education on satisfaction with care during intrapartum and postpartum.   Les soins cliniques pendant le travail et l'accouchement sont importants, mais la compréhension des préférences et des expériences des femmes est devenue plus importante pour évaluer la qualité de la prestation des soins de santé et l'utilisation des services de maternité. La connaissance de la satisfaction des femmes sera l'une des étapes importantes vers la résolution des problèmes de santé maternelle et infantile rencontrés au Swaziland. L'objectif de l'étude était de déterminer les expériences de maternité et les caractéristiques démographiques des femmes qui affectent la satisfaction perçue à l'égard des soins de maternité dans un hôpital régional du Swaziland. Une enquête transversale utilisant un questionnaire d'entretien structuré a été utilisée pour obtenir des données de 198 femmes qui ont eu un accouchement normal pendant leur séjour à l'hôpital postnatal. Une ANOVA à un facteur et un test t ont été utilisés pour examiner l'association entre les variables et une analyse de régression linéaire multiple par étapes a été menée pour identifier les prédicteurs de la satisfaction. Le modèle final a indiqué que le respect de la description de la douleur/de l'inconfort par les femmes, la gentillesse du personnel, le sexe de l'assistante d'accouchement, le fait de ne jamais être seule pendant le travail et le niveau d'éducation de la femme déterminaient la satisfaction à l'égard de l'expérience de la maternité, expliquant 44,6 % de la variation de la satisfaction de la maternité p <.001). Les résultats de l'étude montrent l'importance des facteurs liés au prestataire (aspect interpersonnel des soins, sexe du prestataire) et la prise en compte de l'éducation de la femme sur la satisfaction des soins pendant l'intrapartum et le post-partum &nbsp

Dilemmas of Children Raised by Single Parents in the Kingdom of Eswatini

Children raised by single parents face many challenges that can be social, psychological, cultural or economic, resulting in erratic behavior. This study explored the dilemmas of children raised by single parents in the Kingdom of Eswatini in Lubombo region. The study was undertaken in a transformative research paradigm, and the Participatory Action Learning Action Research (PALAR) design was used. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to get views from single parents and children in single parenting, and the data were analysed through thematic analysis. A sample of six single parents and six children raised by single parents were selected from the Lubombo region using the purposive sampling technique. Informed by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the findings of the study revealed that single parenting led to children feeling abandoned, rejected and unloved by the absent parent, which had social and psychological effects on the children. The study concluded that children raised by single parents face psychological, social, economic and cultural challenges. Most of them are fixated and need counselling. The study suggests, for Eswatini, that the Home Affairs Department, in partnership with relevant non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should make psychological counselling readily available for single parents and their children.

Soil Erosion and Deposition Distribution at Kaoping River Basin under Climate Change

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchive

Community transformation through the Pentecostal churches

This article constitutes an attempt at reflecting on the extent Pentecostal churches in Swaziland are transforming their communities towards God’s justice mandate. The article shows that liberation has not yet gone beyond the split between socio-political engagement and spiritual enrichment in the liturgy for the Pentecostal churches in Swaziland, such that the fruit of liturgy is not lived out in the community, including polity and the judicial order. A transformative liberative pastoral care methodology is purposed for this article.This research is part of the research project, ‘Pastoral Care and Trauma Counselling’, directed by Prof. Dr Maake Masango, Department of Practical Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.http://www.hts.org.zaam2017Practical Theolog

The Variation of Riverbed Material due to Tropical Storms in Shi-Wen River, Taiwan

Taiwan, because of its location, is a flood prone region and is characterised by typhoons which brings about two-thirds to three quarters of the annual rainfall amount. Consequently, enormous flows result in rivers and entrain some fractions of the grains that constitute the riverbed. Hence, the purpose of the study is to quantify the impacts of these enormous flows on the distribution of grain size in riverbeds. The characteristics of riverbed material prior to and after the typhoon season are compared in Shi-Wen River located at southern Taiwan. These include grain size variation, bimodality, and roughness coefficient. A decrease (65%) and increase (50%) in geometric mean size of grains were observed for subsurface and surface bed material, respectively. Geometric standard deviation decreased in all sites after typhoon. Subsurface material was bimodal prior to typhoons and polymodal after. For surface material, modal class is in the gravel class, while after typhoons it shifts towards cobble class. The reduction in geometric mean resulted to a decrease in roughness coefficient by up to 30%. Finally, the relationship of Shields and Froude numbers are studied and a change in the bed form to antidunes and transition form is observed, respectively

Seasonal variations of transpiration efficiency coefficient of irrigated wheat

Global diminishing water resources, especially due to climate change have serious impacts on evaporation (E) from the soil surface, transpiration (T) from plants (crops) and grain yield, which relates to water use efficiency of different crops. A study was conducted at Kenilworth over two wheat cropping seasons (2007 and 2008) with the objectives of: (i) evaluating the effect of soils and seasons on T, E and yield, and (ii) relating these parameters to transpiration efficiency coefficient. The treatments included two soil types and two soil surface treatments (bare and mulched), which were all replicated four times. Weekly irrigation was done using a surface drip system while maintaining the water table at a constant depth. Soil water content was monitored using a neutron probe. Neither soils nor seasons were found to significantly influence the partitioning of evapotranspiration (ET), and T varied from 74 to 76% of ET while E varied between 24 and 26%. Surface treatments caused significant differences in grain yield in both seasons. Reducing evaporative loss improves the water productivity of wheat, which has an important implication in dryland farming

The participation of Pentecostal churches in politics : a pastoral perspective

The journey in writing this thesis has been both intellectual and spiritually challenging keeping in mind that I am a Pentecostal scholar an “insider” responding to issues of politics which are perceived as foreign to the Pentecostal discourses in Swaziland. The subject of political participation though, still under debate and being pursued by the Church of Jesus Christ even this time around has not wholly been appreciated by most Pentecostals. This is despite the fact that some of the early Pentecostals, including the early Church as seen from the ‘Acts of the Apostles,’ chose to pursue political dimensions of the gospel in addition to the Church’s mandate of ‘pure evangelism.’ Although political engagement has been at the very heart of Jesus Christ’s mission and early Pentecostal theology, traditionally speaking, the Pentecostals under The Swaziland Conference of Churches (SCC) has been seen to place much emphasis on ‘pure evangelism’, which is winning souls to Christ and the establishment of churches rather than ‘embracing’ both spiritual and political reforms of the nation. Pentecostals have not been heard publicly voicing their position on political issues affecting Swazi people. They could rather privately confront the parties involved in disputes. The main line churches governed under Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC), voice out their position on political issues. For instance, they normally speak out when there are issues affecting people’s justice and the peace of the country, whether the inconsistency is from the government or civil society. The traditional Swazi churches, under The League of African Churches (LACS), on the other hand do not speak politics at all. Their position is to support the government of the time. However, this trend is slowly changing as observed from the political involvement that some of the Pentecostal congregations and institutions are currently undertaking; such as occupying government political posts while at the same time shepherding churches. It is, however, noted that most of them are appointed by the majesties in office, not through a voting system. The study views that part of the reason for the lack of an all-round political involvement by Pentecostals lies in the state-church position. In the view of this study the church has become the state, and the state has become the church. The church should be being assertive by remaining the moral conscience and moral compass of the nation. The study also reveals that the lack of clear constitutional guidelines concerning this has contributed to the absence of political forums in most of Pentecostal churches resulting in not having a strong ‘political’ voice compared to the main line churches. The other aspect is the non-awareness of the Kingdom of Swaziland Constitutional rights that could normally enhance their speaking from an informed political position. This position impedes the Pentecostal churches’ call to God’s justice mandate as codified by Jesus Christ teachings As this study is in the practical theology field, the thesis uses a positive deconstruction and mentoring praxis cycle to structure its theoretical framework and research methodology.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016.Practical TheologyPhDunrestricte

Mentorship at higher education institutions : a pastoral challenge

The study is an analytical investigation on morality decline with the youth at Higher Education Institutions in Swaziland. The contribution which this article has made with regard to the issues of morality is to share on how morals can be formed with the Youth at Higher Education Institutions. The study addressed the cultural and religious factors which contribute to the tendency of the youth to act in ways that are congruent with their own well-being and the welfare of others. The main objectives of the study were to analyze the extent to which tertiary institutions see the need for Pastoral care at higher education institutions. It was also to formulate a methodology for pastoral care that will be appropriate to the life situation of students in Tertiary institutions. This would prepare young people to be able to nature the next generation. Morals were shared with the recognition of religion and culture, of course without neglecting the value of education as the means of developing appropriate behavior with the youth more especially in Higher Education Institutions. Morals were also discussed looking at justice. Such that how to behave when the national laws are against human rights and the holy biblical mandate. Pastoral care was identified as the basic task of fostering the development of young people who respect themselves and others. This was the core concern for moral judgments and consequent actions in the content of moral development of young people.Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2013.Practical Theologyunrestricte

Response of pearl millet to water stress during vegetable growth

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) is a drought tolerant cereal crop planted mainly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Water stress still remains one of the challenges facing agriculture. Crops face water stress at various stages due to low and erratic rainfall in arid and semi-arid regions. The response of two pearl millet lines (GCI 17 and Monyaloti) to water stress during vegetative growth was investigated at University of Free State, Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences experimental farm at Kenilworth during the 2009/2010 growing season. The two pearl millet lines were grown under three irrigation treatment levels, namely full (IR3) moderate stress (IR2) and rainfed (IR1). A line source sprinkler system was used to irrigate the experiment. Stressed plants of GCI 17 were about 30% shorter than irrigated plants. For Monyaloti, the stressed plants were 25% shorter than irrigated plants. The highest leaf area index (LAI) of 7.9 was found in IR2 plants of GCI 17 at 7 weeks after planting while the stressed plants of this line attained a highest LAI of 3.6 at 8 weeks after planting. The highest LAI attained by Monyaloti was 9.5 in IR2 plants at 8 weeks after planting and the stressed plants attained a highest LAI of 4.7 during the 9th week after planting thus showing that mild water stress caused a delay in canopy development and limited the size to about half. However, the number of tillers and leaves on the main shoot were not affected by water deficit conditions. The leaf water potential measured by the pressure chamber showed some difference between irrigated and stressed plants after 3 days of withholding rain of 5.6mm from stressed plots. The differences in water potentials of stressed plants and irrigated plants were increasing simultaneously with water stress progression. The water potential of GCI 17 dropped to as low as -1.83 MPa on water stressed plants after 11 days of withholding rain. The leaf water potential for Monyaloti remained significantly higher in the corresponding irrigation treatments. The diurnal changes of leaf water potential showed well watered GCI 17 plants to have water potential of -1.08 MPa around midday while the stressed plants had lower potential of -1.75 MPa. Well-watered plants of Monyaloti had leaf water potential of -0.76 MPa while their stressed counterparts had -1.05 MPa. The seasonal stomatal conductance did not show differences between the pearl millet lines. Stressed plants had lower stomatal conductance values than the irrigated plants, which was also more pronounced as water stress progressed. The stomata of GCI 17 were partly closed for the whole day as revealed by diurnal stomatal conductance. For Monyaloti even the stressed plants had their stomata wide open in the morning and became partly closed by 1300hrs and during the rest of the afternoon. On day 16 after withholding rain (17th February 2010) from water stressed plots, GCI 17 plants had relative water content (RWC) of 72.7% while the well watered plants had 90.3%. Water stressed Monyaloti plants were at 82.8% RWC while the well-watered plants had a RWC of 92.9%. The RWC of stressed plants was continuously decreasing with progress in water stress. The osmotic potential at full turgor was -1.62 MPa for well-watered plants of GCI 17 while -1.83 MPa was measured in the water stressed plants of this line. For Monyaloti, well-watered plants had osmotic potential of -1.11 MPa compared to -1.47 MPa for water stressed plants. At turgor pressure equal to zero, GCI 17 plants from stressed and well-watered plots did not show any adjustments as they were about similar (-2.22 and -2.27 MPa respectively). For Monyaloti water stressed plants had potential of -1.72 MPa and well-watered plants had -1.61 MPa at turgor pressure equal to zero showing an osmotic adjustment of 0.11 MPa. The density of stomata was found to be lower on water stressed plant leaves than on well-watered plants. The abaxial surfaces of pearl millet leaves were found to have lower densities than the adaxial surfaces. The stomata areas calculated from the length and width of the stomata were larger on the adaxial surfaces of GCI 17 plants than those found on the abaxial surfaces. The opposite of this was observed in Monyaloti. The plant height, LAI and biomass accumulation for the two pearl millet lines were found to be lower in water stressed plants when compared with irrigated plants. Monyaloti plants were taller, had higher LAI and accumulated more biomass than GCI 17 plants at corresponding water treatment levels, showing that Monyaloti was less affected by water stress. It was also observed that water stressed plants have lower leaf water potential when compared to irrigated plants. The leaf water potential was maintained higher in Monyaloti plants compared to GCI 17 plants and the same effect was seen with the stomatal conductance which was also lower in water stressed plants than irrigated plants in the pearl millet lines. The highest growth was observed for IR2 plants. Thus from all of growth and physiological field measurements it can be seen that Monyaloti is better adapted to the water stress conditions. It will continue to grow and produce a crop despite the mild water stress due to maintenance of leaf water potential and through osmotic adjustment. Further investigation of the effects of age on the leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, RWC and stomatal characteristics in relation to photosynthesis was recommended.Water Research Commission (WRC