Pregnant with her third child, she was conducting a series of interviews聽as research for聽the play, , on loss and how it is transformed, when she lost her son Ethan. 鈥淚 was just struck by how I was immersed in this phenomena and living it at the same time,鈥� she says. I'm Still Here was co-created with 91亚色 nursing Professor Gail Mitchell and playwright Vrenia Ivonoffski.

Right: Christine Jonas-Simpson, holding the children's book she wrote, Ethan's Butterflies

Ethan was stillborn at 38 weeks 鈥� or, as Jonas-Simpson prefers to say, born still 鈥� causing a rent in the universe as she knew it. After the loud silence of her delivery, she remembers hearing a primal scream of agony, realizing some moments later it was coming from her.

Almost a decade later, Jonas-Simpson is about to premiere her third research-based documentary film, about how mothers and their families live with the loss of a child. The premiere will take place Sunday, May 15, from 1 to 3:30pm at the Fox Theatre, 2236 Queen St. E. in Toronto. Tickets are $25 per ticket with proceeds going to Bereaved Families of Ontario-Toronto. To buy tickets, call 416-440-0290 or e-mail info@bfotoronto.ca.

Enduring Love looks at the lives of four women, the agony of loss, the impact the death of their infant has had on them and their families and聽how they learned to live with their loss. It also traces聽the importance of recognizing their other children are also grieving, the continuing presence of their deceased child in their lives, the rituals they鈥檝e developed and how they not only endured but have been transformed by their loss. Funded by聽91亚色's聽Faculty of Health and the Health Leadership & Learning Network: Interprofessional Education Initiative Fund, the documentary answers the research question, what is the meaning of living and transforming with loss for mothers who experience the loss of their baby?

As one woman in the film says of her family, it was a 鈥渟eminal event in their lives鈥�; there was a before and an after. The women make the point that many fail to realize that losing their baby, whether at 24 weeks gestation or several weeks after delivery, is a profoundly felt loss that changes, not only them, but their husbands and their children, forever. One of the universally hard moments for these women was going home from the hospital without their baby. It feels so unnatural, says Jonas-Simpson.

It was the experience of losing her own son that guided Jonas-Simpson鈥檚 research toward providing a body of arts-based research for others who experienced perinatal loss. She had often used music in her nursing practice and research, and then began incorporating art, drama聽and film. 鈥淲ith grieving and loss it seemed appropriate to keep going with the arts.鈥� Although, she聽will write papers on her latest research, she believes presenting her findings with an art-based approach makes it more accessible and touches people in a way a research paper in a journal wouldn鈥檛. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of showing the human experience, rather than just telling,鈥� she says.

Being a researcher, I looked at the literature to see what was out there. I was struck by how little there was out there in light of grieving and loss聽about mothers鈥� lived experiences. My graduate student, Jennifer Noseworthy, and I are conducting a comprehensive literature review and we鈥檝e only found a few qualitative studies focused on the human lived experience of perinatal loss.鈥� And that moved Jonas-Simpson to conduct research and create resources for others like her.

Enduring Love is her third film. Her first was , while her second, is a short made from footage shot for聽Enduring Love, which focuses on the surviving children. 鈥淭hese children have an incredible bond and relationship with the babies,鈥� their siblings who鈥檝e died. Jonas-Simpson recently gave a talk and showed Why Did Baby Die? at a聽Women's Health and Mental Wellbeing Speakers Series聽event at 91亚色.

Some of the children, as seen in Enduring Love, have drawn family portraits years later that have included their deceased siblings. 鈥淕rieving and loss isn鈥檛 always something we talk about openly, but it is experienced by many, if not all, of us,鈥� says Jonas-Simpson. Even after the physical death, the relationship continues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still hidden. Perinatal loss is also disenfranchised in our society.鈥� To help grieving children with the loss of a baby sibling, she also wrote the children's book .

Jonas-Simpson started talking about her own experience of losing Ethan, born with vibrant red locks, and how her other two sons, now 11 and 13, have integrated him into their lives as a way to help others. 鈥淭he children integrate this loss very well,鈥� she says. One of her children even wrote a letter to Ethan as a school assignment, asking if there are dinosaurs in heaven and if it hurt to die. The teacher may have been uncomfortable, but Jonas-Simpson says it鈥檚 important to talk about and to understand the continuing relationship following death.

Next, she is hoping to do research on children age three to 18 who are grieving a loss of a baby sibling. Children, she says, are often forgotten about, but they too grieve. 鈥淚f we can be more open about grief and loss as a natural human experience and if we can begin in the schools with that,鈥� it could be really helpful for the children, she says. She would also like to explore the common and聽unique threads of grieving around the world.

For more information or to view or buy Jonas-Simpson鈥檚 films, visit the Faculty of Health鈥檚 Living and Transforming with Perinatal Loss website.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Despite decades of feminism and co-parenting and men grappling with diaper changes and night feedings, moms are often by default or tradition the ones who end up having the sex talk, wrote the . Often it鈥檚 because they are the parent who spends the most time with the children.

鈥淥ften if there is a woman in the household, she takes over that part of the parenting,鈥� says Andrea O鈥橰eilly, a professor in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Women鈥檚 Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and founder & director of the Association for Research on Mothering.

Women are typically the family CEO, in charge of remembering who got which shots and setting up play dates. Having 鈥渢he talk鈥� falls into that realm. 鈥淭he talk is part of a larger paradigm of gender. Until we dislodge that, women will probably be the ones to have 鈥榯he talk鈥�. I try to de-gender caregiving, but it鈥檚 a hard sell,鈥� O鈥橰eilly says.

She believes "the talk" is declining in importance in any case. 鈥淲e live in such a sex-saturated culture. Kids know about sex long before children 10, 20, 30 years ago did,鈥� she says.

Children want information about sex, according to a study of 1,200 Toronto teens released last summer. The found 28 per cent of teens weren getting information about sex from their parents and 53 per cent were getting it from their friends.

Parents might feel they lack the skills or even the stomach for a discussion about sex with their children, says Sarah Flicker, a professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies and principal researcher on the Toronto Teen Survey. 鈥淣ot all parents feel comfortable telling children where a clitoris is, but you could talk about what makes a healthy relationship.鈥�

Coverage also appeared in .

Reposted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin, and .

The post Mom is usually the one who tells the kids where they came from appeared first on Research & Innovation.

, a psychology PhD candidate in the Faculty of Health at 91亚色's Centre for Infancy Studies, describe her research, which was conducted under the direction of Professor Maria Legerstee and published in the Journal Infancy. The clip runs approximately 10 minutes.

Edited by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

The post Listen to 91亚色 PhD student describe research on babies and manipulation appeared first on Research & Innovation.

A 91亚色 study about has caused considerable stir in the media. The study, published in the journal Infancy, suggests that six-month-olds know when someone is teasing or manipulating them. But they also understand if someone is trying to help, but can鈥檛 because of factors beyond the adult鈥檚 control.

Coverage featuring PhD student Heidi Marsh from the in the appeared in or on:

• at ParentCentral.ca on Feb. 8.
• The on Feb. 11.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 8.
• CFRB鈥檚 鈥溾��
• CKEM-TV鈥檚 鈥溾�� in Edmonton on Feb. 9
• CJOB-AM鈥檚 鈥溾�� in Winnipeg on Feb. 8.

Edited by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files from YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post 91亚色 study on infants' ability to perceive manipulation gets media coverage appeared first on Research & Innovation.

A study by 91亚色 researchers reveals that infants as young as six months old know when we鈥檙e 鈥減laying鈥� them 鈥� and they don鈥檛 like it.

Researchers in 91亚色鈥檚 examined six- and nine-month-old babies鈥� reactions to a game in which an experimenter was either unable or unwilling to share a toy. Babies detected and calmly accepted when an experimenter was unable to share for reasons beyond her control, but averted their gazes and became agitated when it was clear she simply wouldn鈥檛 share.

鈥淏abies can tell if you鈥檙e teasing or being manipulative, and they let you know it,鈥� says study lead author Heidi Marsh, a PhD student who worked under the direction of psychology Professor , head of the Centre for Infancy Studies in 91亚色鈥檚 .

鈥淭hese results are exciting as it鈥檚 the first demonstration that used infants鈥� social behaviour to successfully show that at six months they comprehend the goals of our actions. Previously, there was only evidence based on visual habituation (observing the pattern of infants鈥� gazes towards stimuli) which is prone to interpretative issues, and even those results were very mixed,鈥� Marsh says.

Other studies have concluded that this ability doesn鈥檛 develop until nine months of age. However, that research used measures which Marsh proposes are unsuited to younger infants.

鈥淎 six-month-old as compared to a nine-month-old has different ways of expressing what they know,鈥� says Marsh. 鈥淭he innovative aspect of this research is that we used measures that are consistent with a six-month-old鈥檚 everyday behaviour in order to understand what they comprehend. We recorded their social responses, such as sadness, gaze aversions, smiles and vocalizations, in addition to more physical responses such as reaching and banging,鈥� she says.

The study looked at 40 infants, evenly divided between genders. Infants sat in their mothers鈥� laps at a table, with the experimenter seated across from them. In half the test trials, the toy was not passed to the infant because the experimenter was unwilling to share it, and in the others, it was not passed because the experimenter was trying, but unable, to pass it.

Infants were administered three tasks: block, mock and play. Each task differed with respect to the toy that was shared and the nature of the sharing game, but in all tasks there was a corresponding unwilling and unable condition. For instance, in the mock task, a rattle was held out toward the infant and then pulled back teasingly (unwilling condition), and a ball was "accidentally" dropped and rolled back to the experimenter (unable condition).

The visible movements of both the experimenter and the toy were matched across conditions, as was the outcome that the toy was not shared. This meant that the main difference between conditions was the experimenter鈥檚 intent.

鈥淲e also used the experimenter鈥檚 facial expressions to convey unwillingness or inability, as they鈥檙e important cues for babies to understand others鈥� goals,鈥� says Marsh.

Infants at both ages averted their gazes during unwilling trials. They also reached more in the unable conditions, suggesting they understood there was a problem and were trying to elicit the adult鈥檚 assistance. The nine-month-olds banged their arms in the unwilling conditions, whereas the six-month-olds showed more negative affect, such as frowns, in those trials, and positive affective behaviours in unable conditions.

鈥淥ur finding that affective measures are stronger for younger infants may be related to their level of independence,鈥� Marsh says. 鈥淎s infants become more independent, they decrease affective behaviour such as crying, and increase physical actions such as actively resisting. These distinctions point to the importance of studying infants鈥� social and cognitive abilities not only over time, but also in paradigms that capture the spectrum of their social behaviours.鈥�

The study, 鈥溾��, is co-authored by Legerstee, Jennifer Stavropoulos and Tom Nienhuis. It was published online in in January 2010.

This research was supported by grants from the .

By Melissa Hughes, Media Relations Officer.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Think baby knows when you tease? Study from Centre for Infancy Studies says six-month-olds know difference between play and teasing appeared first on Research & Innovation.