Postpartum women experience various changes in their physical and psychological health and in their relationships with their spouse and newborn. This study aimed to identify and evaluate the factors that affect the quality of life (QoL) of women within six weeks after childbirth. A prospective, cross-sectional correlational study was used. A convenience sample of 179 postpartum women was recruited from four postpartum care centers in South Korea. Participants completed structured questionnaires on postpartum fatigue, postpartum depression, marital intimacy, breastfeeding adaptation, and quality of life. Marital intimacy (β = 0.466, p < 0.001) was the most influencing factor on the QoL of women during the postpartum period. In descending order, postpartum fatigue (β = −0.192, p = 0.001), postpartum depression (β = −0.190, p = 0.001), breastfeeding adaptation (β = 0.163, p = 0.002), and occupation (β = 0.163, p = 0.004) all had a significant influence on QoL (F = 32.09, p < 0.001), and the overall explanatory power was 63.6%. It is necessary to assess and consider the physical, psychological, relational, and demographic factors of women during the early postpartum period. Comprehensive interventions need to be developed to improve the QoL of women during the postpartum period.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of extracting reserves of natural gas and oil from shale formations deep underground. This process, initially met with public support in the United Kingdom, has since become a highly contentious issue primarily debated between government, industry, and anti-fracking advocacy groups. Through the employment of three levels of agenda-building as a theoretical lens of examination (object, attribute, and network connections), this study investigated the political discourse between these stakeholder groups and national news media in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2014. In total, 1354 unique messages were coded, with 840 information subsidies and 514 news media content analyzed. To determine the short-, mid-, and long-term effects of agenda-building, a time-lag analysis was conducted. The results suggest solid support for all three levels of agenda-building. Our findings indicate that anti-fracking advocacy groups were more successful at influencing news media content across all three time periods, in addition to supporting the growing influence of digital information subsidies as an effective tool for agenda-building strategies. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
1 February 2022 in European Journal of Oncology Nursing