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Bringing a design perspective to the birth environment this fascinating book collects and critically examines the knowledge we have. It exposes the social political and historical thinking that influences the way birth spaces have been designed and looks at how they can be designed in future. The book starts by examining changing historical attitudes to childbirth and uses maternity and architectural policy and practice to develop this story. It explores both the idea of fitting childbirth into the machine and the resistance to this along with the emergence of the idea of the birth environment. From there it describes the best evidence we have on how the design of spaces impact on childbirth experiences and outcomes. Drawing on an international selection of case studies the book gives the reader insights into regional differences in birth culture and environments across the globe and offers the opportunity to imagine birth environments of the future based on the most up-to-date evidence from medicine midwifery anthropology design and architecture. Including practical recommendations as well as big picture thinking this book is written for all those with an interest in creating the best possible environments for childbirth as part of supporting a healthy start to a child’s life. It is especially relevant for midwives and other maternity care practitioners and administrators. | Birth Environments Spaces and Architecture A Guide for Everyone

This book explores the social and economic development of Zimbabwe Zambia and Malawi over the course of the twentieth century. These three countries have long shared and interconnected pasts. All three were drawn into the British Empire at a similar time and the formation of the ill-fated Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland formally linked these countries together for a decade in the mid-twentieth century. This formal political relationship created dynamics that resulted in yet closer economic and social links. After Federation the economic realities of industry transport and labour supplies meant that these three countries continued to be intricately interconnected. Yet despite these connected pasts comparative work on the economic histories of Malawi Zambia and Zimbabwe and how these change over time is rare. This book addresses the gap by providing the first comprehensive collection of labour and census data across the twentieth century for these three countries. The different economic models and performances of these states offer good comparison allowing researchers to look at different models of development and how these played out over the long-term. The book provides data on population growth and change industrial and occupational structure and the various shifts in what the economically active population did. It will be useful for historians economists development studies scholars and non-governmental organisations working on twentieth-century and contemporary southern Africa. | Labour and Economic Change in Southern Africa c. 1900-2000 Zimbabwe Zambia and Malawi

Non-thermal operations in food processing are an alternative to thermal operations and similarly aimed at retaining the quality and organoleptic properties of food products. This volume covers different non-thermal processing technologies such as high-pressure processing ultrasound ohmic heating pulse electric field pulse light membrane processing cryogenic freezing nanofiltration and cold plasma processing technologies. The book focuses both on fundamentals and on recent advances in non-thermal food processing technologies. It also provides information with the description and results of research into new emerging technologies for both the academy and industry. Key features: Presents engineering focus on non-thermal food processing technologies. Discusses sub-classification for recent trends and relevant industry information/examples. Different current research-oriented results are included as a key parameter. Covers high-pressure processing pulse electric field pulse light technology irradiation and ultrasonic techniques. Includes mathematical modeling and numerical simulations. Food Processing: Advances in Non-Thermal Technologies is aimed at graduate students professionals in food engineering food technology and biological systems engineering. | Food Processing Advances in Non-Thermal Technologies