Publications

Preconception is a critical time for the establishment of healthy lifestyle behaviours and psychological well-being to reduce adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. This study aimed to explore relationships between preconception lifestyle and psychological factors and prospectively assessed short- (currently trying to conceive) and long-term (future parenthood aspirations) pregnancy intentions. Data from Wave 3 (age 25-30 years; n = 7656) and Wave 5 (age 31-36 years; n = 4735) from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health were used. Pregnancy intentions and parenthood aspirations were evaluated. Logistic regressions explored cross-sectional associations between demographic, lifestyle and psychological factors and pregnancy intentions/parenthood aspirations.

PhD Thesis Doctor of Philosophy University of Otago

Screening pregnant women for substance use is highly recommended in antenatal care settings. Although midwives provide routine screening for substance use and referral for treatment in pregnancy, little is known about the barriers and facilitators they experience. The study explored barriers and facilitators experienced by midwives in antenatal settings to screening and referral of pregnant women who use alcohol or other drugs.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy carries known risks to the foetus in the form of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). One of the interventions for the prevention of FASD is the application of warning labels to packaged alcoholic beverages. Between 2011 and 2018, the Australian Government allowed the alcohol organisation, DrinkWise, to operate an industry self-regulatory scheme to provide alcohol producers with prototype warnings about drinking during pregnancy. In 2018, the government announced that it would be mandating alcohol and pregnancy warnings through Food Standards Australia New Zealand. This section argues that a proper appraisal of the DrinkWise Labelling Scheme at the outset would have demonstrated its inherent regulatory incapacity to operate as an effective health information policy. The DrinkWise Labelling Scheme is missing two essential elements of functional industry self-regulation: a strong normative framework and mechanisms for norm creation, implementation and enforcement.

Undertaking research with young people presents an array of methodological challenges. The study report the findings from a qualitative study that took place alongside a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) prevalence study among detainees in Australia. Of 38 participants, 27 were Aboriginal youth. Interviews were conducted using “social yarning” and “research topic yarning,” an Indigenous research method which allows for data collection in an exploratory, culturally safe way. A complex interplay emerged between social yarning and research topic yarning which provided a space to explore responsively with participants their experiences of FASD assessments. Flexibility, including language adaptation and visual descriptions about assessments, was utilized to assist participants recall and retell their experiences. There were, however, challenges in gathering data on the assessment experiences of some participants. The study describe how employing a “yarning” method for collecting data could benefit children and young people undergoing neurodevelopmental assessments in the future.

Given that most women who drink alcohol cease consumption upon pregnancy recognition, we aimed to investigate the effect of alcohol around the time of conception on offspring renal development and function. This study was published in 2019