Associations of diarised sleep onset time, period and duration with total and central adiposity in a biethnic sample of young children: the Born in Bradford observational cohort study (2021)
Journal Article
Collings, P. J., Blackwell, J. E., Pal, E., Ball, H. L., & Wright, J. (2021). Associations of diarised sleep onset time, period and duration with total and central adiposity in a biethnic sample of young children: the Born in Bradford observational cohort study. BMJ Open, 11(5), Article e044769. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044769

Objectives: To investigate associations of parent-reported sleep characteristics with adiposity levels in a biethnic sample of young children. Design: A cross-sectional observational study. Setting: The Born in Bradford 1000 study, UK. Participants:... Read More about Associations of diarised sleep onset time, period and duration with total and central adiposity in a biethnic sample of young children: the Born in Bradford observational cohort study.

‘Covid-19 and Me’. A Serendipitous Teaching and Learning Opportunity in a 1st Year Undergraduate Medical Anthropology Course (2021)
Journal Article
Russell, A., Johnson, L., Tupper, E., Keegan, A., Atkher, H., & Mullard, J. (2021). ‘Covid-19 and Me’. A Serendipitous Teaching and Learning Opportunity in a 1st Year Undergraduate Medical Anthropology Course. Teaching Anthropology, 10(3), Article 38-45. https://doi.org/10.22582/ta.v10i3.604

'Covid-19 and Me' was an affective learning blog post exercise assigned to 1st year undergraduate students taking a medical anthropology module at the start of academic year 2020-21. We describe the way in which a collective analysis of the accounts... Read More about ‘Covid-19 and Me’. A Serendipitous Teaching and Learning Opportunity in a 1st Year Undergraduate Medical Anthropology Course.

Is the sleep of normal babies the same as 'normal infant sleep'? (2021)
Digital Artefact
Ball, H. L. (2021). Is the sleep of normal babies the same as 'normal infant sleep'?. [[Media unknown]]

Marrying expectations about infant sleep with the postnatal reality is a difficult task for many new parents. Prenatal fantasies of a baby sleeping soundly in their carefully prepared cot are rarely realised, while unrealistic expectations are uninte... Read More about Is the sleep of normal babies the same as 'normal infant sleep'?.

Biologically normal sleep in the mother‐infant dyad (2021)
Journal Article
Rudzik, A. E., & Ball, H. L. (2021). Biologically normal sleep in the mother‐infant dyad. American Journal of Human Biology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23589

Objectives We examine infant sleep from evolutionary, historico‐cultural, and statistical/epidemiological perspectives and explore the distinct conceptions of “normal” produced by each. We use data from the “Sleeping Like a Baby” study to illustrate... Read More about Biologically normal sleep in the mother‐infant dyad.

Development and evaluation of 'Sleep, Baby & You' -- a discussion tool to support parental well-being and responsive care-giving (2020)
Journal Article
Ball, H. L., Taylor, C. E., Thomas, V., & Douglas Pamela, S. (2020). Development and evaluation of 'Sleep, Baby & You' -- a discussion tool to support parental well-being and responsive care-giving. PLoS ONE, 15(8), Article e0237240. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237240

Disrupted parental sleep, presenting as post-partum fatigue and perceived as problematic infant sleep, is related to increased symptoms of depression and anxiety among new mothers and fathers. Previous research indicates that UK parents would value a... Read More about Development and evaluation of 'Sleep, Baby & You' -- a discussion tool to support parental well-being and responsive care-giving.

Baby-box schemes in England: parent and practitioner experiences, and recommendations (2020)
Journal Article
Ball, H. L., & Taylor, C. E. (2020). Baby-box schemes in England: parent and practitioner experiences, and recommendations. BMC Pediatrics, 20(1), Article 154. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02064-2

Background: Programmes offering carboard baby boxes to parents in England began in some NHS Trusts in 2016. This study aimed to examine the strengths and weaknesses of English baby-box schemes as experienced by healthcare providers and parents. Metho... Read More about Baby-box schemes in England: parent and practitioner experiences, and recommendations.

Parental knowledge of safe infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome is inadequate in Croatia (2020)
Journal Article
Barbir, I., Ball, H., & Zakarija‐Grković, I. (2020). Parental knowledge of safe infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome is inadequate in Croatia. Acta Paediatrica: Nurturing the Child, 109(9), 1887-1888. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15207

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading category of death for post‐neonatal babies in wealthy countries and rates range from 0.06 to 0.9/1000 liveborn infants (1). Most research into infant sleep safety and SIDS is conducted in large count... Read More about Parental knowledge of safe infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome is inadequate in Croatia.

Bedsharing and Breastfeeding: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol #6, Revision 2019 (2020)
Journal Article
Blair, P. S., Ball, H. L., McKenna, J. J., Feldman-Winter, L., Marinelli, K. A., Bartick, M. C., & Committee, T. A. O. B. M. P. (2020). Bedsharing and Breastfeeding: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol #6, Revision 2019. Breastfeeding Medicine, 15(1), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2019.29144.psb

A central goal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is the development of clinical protocols for managing common medical problems that may impact breastfeeding success. These protocols serve only as guidelines for the care of breastfeeding mother... Read More about Bedsharing and Breastfeeding: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol #6, Revision 2019.

Breastfeeding and infant sleep--what medical practitioners need to know (2019)
Book Chapter
Ball, H. L. (2019). Breastfeeding and infant sleep--what medical practitioners need to know. In A. Brown, & W. Jones (Eds.), A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession. Routledge

Toward an integrated anthropology of infant sleep (2019)
Journal Article
Ball, H., Tomori, C., & McKenna, J. (2019). Toward an integrated anthropology of infant sleep. American Anthropologist, 121(3), 595-612. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13284

This paper provides a novel synthesis of anthropological research on infant sleep focusing on work in biological and sociocultural anthropology in the past decade. First, we briefly review early biological anthropological research into infant sleep b... Read More about Toward an integrated anthropology of infant sleep.

An Integrated Analysis of Maternal-Infant Sleep, Breastfeeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Supporting a Balanced Discourse (2019)
Journal Article
Marinelli, K. A., Ball, H. L., McKenna, J. J., & Blair, P. S. (2019). An Integrated Analysis of Maternal-Infant Sleep, Breastfeeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Supporting a Balanced Discourse. Journal of Human Lactation, 35(3), 510-520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334419851797

Breastfeeding and the place of sleep for the mother and the infant have been controversial internationally due to reported concerns regarding infant deaths despite the known benefits of exclusive and prolonged breastfeeding, which are increased by br... Read More about An Integrated Analysis of Maternal-Infant Sleep, Breastfeeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Supporting a Balanced Discourse.

About Research: Conducting Online Surveys (2019)
Journal Article
Ball, H. L. (2019). About Research: Conducting Online Surveys. Journal of Human Lactation, 35(3), 413-417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334419848734

There is an established methodology for conducting survey research that aims to ensure rigorous research and robust outputs. With the advent of easy-to-use online survey platforms, however, the quality of survey studies has declined. This article sum... Read More about About Research: Conducting Online Surveys.

Domestic Geographies of Parental and Infant (Co-) becomings: home-space, night-time breastfeeding, and parent-infant sleep (2019)
Journal Article
Tomori, C., & Boyer, K. (2019). Domestic Geographies of Parental and Infant (Co-) becomings: home-space, night-time breastfeeding, and parent-infant sleep. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 109(4), 1172-1187. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2018.1558628

This article explores how understandings of parental and infant personhood are negotiated in and through the space of the home. We argue that through spatial practices of creating and using (and not using) nurseries, understandings of parental and in... Read More about Domestic Geographies of Parental and Infant (Co-) becomings: home-space, night-time breastfeeding, and parent-infant sleep.

Breastfeeding with HIV: An Evidence-based Case for New Policy (2019)
Journal Article
Gross, M. S., Taylor, H. A., Tomori, C., & Coleman, J. S. (2019). Breastfeeding with HIV: An Evidence-based Case for New Policy. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 47(1), 152-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073110519840495

To help eliminate perinatal HIV transmission, the US Department of Health and Human Services recommends against breastfeeding for women living with HIV, regardless of viral load or combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) status. However, cART radicall... Read More about Breastfeeding with HIV: An Evidence-based Case for New Policy.

“In the United States, we say, ‘No breastfeeding,’ but that is no longer realistic” : provider perspectives towards infant feeding among women living with HIV in the United States (2019)
Journal Article
Tuthill, E. L., Tomori, C., Van Natta, M., & Coleman, J. S. (2019). “In the United States, we say, ‘No breastfeeding,’ but that is no longer realistic” : provider perspectives towards infant feeding among women living with HIV in the United States. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 22(1), https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25224

Introduction: Currently, the United States (U.S.) recommends that infants born to women living with HIV (WLHIV) be fed formula, whereas many low‐resource settings follow the World Health Organization's recommendation to exclusively breastfeed with on... Read More about “In the United States, we say, ‘No breastfeeding,’ but that is no longer realistic” : provider perspectives towards infant feeding among women living with HIV in the United States.

The Possums Infant Sleep Program: parents' perspectives on a novel parent-infant sleep intervention in Australia (2018)
Journal Article
Ball, H. L., Douglas, P. S., Kulasinghe, K., Whittingham, K., & Hill, P. (2018). The Possums Infant Sleep Program: parents' perspectives on a novel parent-infant sleep intervention in Australia. Sleep Health, 4(6), 519-526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2018.08.007

Aim: To evaluate parental perspectives on the acceptability and usefulness of a ‘cued-care’ approach to infant sleep implemented in an Australian primary care setting. The Possums Infant Sleep Program aims to empower parents to better understand thei... Read More about The Possums Infant Sleep Program: parents' perspectives on a novel parent-infant sleep intervention in Australia.

Changing Cultures of Night-time Breastfeeding and Sleep in the US (2018)
Book Chapter
Tomori, C. (2018). Changing Cultures of Night-time Breastfeeding and Sleep in the US. In S. Dowling, K. Boyer, & D. Pontin (Eds.), Social experiences of breastfeeding: building bridges between research, policy and practice (115-130). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv4rftfc.14

Expectant parents in the US usually receive advice on all aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and infant care from multiple medical experts. This guidance reflects cultural assumptions that childbearing requires specialised medical knowledge, which divi... Read More about Changing Cultures of Night-time Breastfeeding and Sleep in the US.

Sudden infant death and social justice: A syndemics approach (2018)
Journal Article
Bartick, M., & Tomori, C. (2019). Sudden infant death and social justice: A syndemics approach. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 15(1), Article e12652. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12652

Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) prevention has focused on modifying individual behavioural risk factors, especially bedsharing. Yet these deaths are most common among poor and marginalized people in wealt... Read More about Sudden infant death and social justice: A syndemics approach.

Discrepancies in maternal reports of infant sleep vs. actigraphy by mode of feeding (2018)
Journal Article
Rudzik, A. E., Robinson-Smith, L., & Ball, H. L. (2018). Discrepancies in maternal reports of infant sleep vs. actigraphy by mode of feeding. Sleep Medicine, 49, 90-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2018.06.010

Objectives: Many studies of infant sleep rely solely on parentally-reported data, assuming that parents accurately report their infant’s sleep parameters. The objective of this paper is to examine whether night-time sleep parameters of exclusively br... Read More about Discrepancies in maternal reports of infant sleep vs. actigraphy by mode of feeding.

Breastfeeding, Antidepressants and Depression in the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study (2018)
Journal Article
Watson, S., Ball, H., Lewis, A., & Galbally, M. (2019). Breastfeeding, Antidepressants and Depression in the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study. Journal of Human Lactation, 35(1), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334418758658

Background: Depression is consistently shown to predict lower rates of breastfeeding. In a handful of studies, breastfeeding has predicted lower depression symptoms. However, studies demonstrating the latter are limited in their measurement of both d... Read More about Breastfeeding, Antidepressants and Depression in the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study.