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Dick Turpin's romanticized image as the famed "Highwayman" of English lore was built on the big lie about his one-night ride from York to London on his faithful steed, Black Bess. Nor was he in any way a latter-day Robin Hood.
by Mark Pulham
"Stand and deliver," Dick Turpin would shout, and with a brace of pistols levelled at the coachman, the romantic and reckless highwayman would relieve the passengers of their valuables. Dashing and daring, his tri-corn hat pulled low and a mask covering his face, he would flee on his gallant steed, Black Bess, into the night, his black cloak flowing behind him.
It's an image that has been enhanced by numerous films going back to 1912, particularly by the Disney version and the 1970's British television series. Who could ever forget his ride from London to York in a single night, his brave horse Bess dying from exhaustion to save his life? Who could not love the charming, handsome, courteous rogue that made robbery almost a pleasure? Certainly, this image of this latter day Robin Hood has passed down through the years with almost no change, thrilling generations of British schoolboys as the hero of numerous books. But is this an accurate portrayal of Turpin, was he really the handsome romantic hero we have seen in the movies? Hardly.
In the 18th century, highway robbery was a common event throughout Europe and Great Britain, and anyone foolish enough to venture into the woods after dark risked robbery at gunpoint and even death. For the most part, highwaymen were ordinary criminals, but in England, on occasion, they were gentlemen who were maybe down on their luck, or were in it for the adventure. Dick Turpin, however, was not a gentleman.
This 16th century historic country inn was the birthplace of Dick Turpin, the notorious highwayman, in 1705.
John Turpin, a former butcher, was the landlord of the Bell Inn (now the Bluebell Inn) in Hempstead, Essex. It was here in 1705 that his wife, Mary Elizabeth Parmenter, gave birth to their fifth child, Richard, who was baptised on September 21of that year. By the time he was 16, he had received enough education to enable him to read and write, and was possibly apprenticed to a butcher in Whitechapel. During the next five years, Turpin's life changed. First of all, he became a married man, taking Elizabeth Millington as his bride sometime around 1725. Secondly, his taste for the good life matured.
Around 1728, Turpin and his wife moved first to Thaxted, Essex, then to Enfield, where he set himself up as a butcher either in Buckhurst Hill or Stewardstone, both of which are now just on the outskirts of London. But business was poor, and Turpin's extravagant lifestyle needed financing. It was a small step from butchering cattle to stealing them.
However, things didn't always go according to plan, and two oxen that he had stolen were traced back to him. Turpin had got wind of the fact that his crime had been detected, and he escaped before he could be arrested, fleeing into the Essex countryside. His intention, it seems, was to head for the continent, but instead, he fell in with smugglers. This new career didn't last long. Customs agents made it necessary for Turpin and the gang to lay low.
Soon, he was back on home ground, and now had joined the "Essex Gang," also known as "Gregory's Gang" after the three Gregory brothers, Samuel, Jeremy (or Jeremiah), and Jasper, who were the gang leaders. No doubt he had known of them before, they were notorious deer poachers, and who better than a young butcher to help them dispose of the stolen deer. Soon, he was stealing deer in what was then the Royal Forest of Waltham, now Epping Forest.
Dick Turpin's Baptism record (fifth one down). Reproduced by Essex Record Office.
This was a dangerous game. In 1723, the Black Act came into force to deal with the poaching problem. It was so named after the practice of poachers to disguise themselves by blackening their faces. The rewards were small, and the risks were great. As with cattle stealing, deer poaching carried the death penalty.
Soon, a reward was offered. Anyone who helped identify the thieves would receive a £10 reward, and any thief who informed on his partners would be pardoned. With this sort of money involved, it was inevitable that someone would inform on them, and by October 1734, many of them had been caught or had moved away.
Poaching was now abandoned as a crime. Instead, the gang embarked on a new career, home invasion. They invaded the home of Peter Split, a chandler who lived in Woodford, and two nights later struck again in the same town, this time the home of Richard Woolridge. The actual identities of the invaders are unknown, but it is very likely that Turpin was amongst them. Over the next few weeks, several other home invasions occurred. The attacks were brutal, frequently involving beatings and threats to put the victim on the fire until told where the money was, a threat carried out in some cases.
At the beginning of February, 1735, at an inn on The Broadway, London, Turpin met up with Samuel Gregory and three other members of the gang, John Fielder, Joseph Rose, and John Wheeler. There, they planned a robbery, that of Joseph Lawrence, a farmer in Edgware. That afternoon, armed with pistols, they burst into Lawrence's house, where they bound the maidservants and viciously attacked the 70-year-old man. Badly beaten, he had his pants pulled down to his ankles and they sat him on the fire until he told them where the money was. Gregory even raped one of the maidservants. The gang escaped with only £30. Three days later, along with two other members of the gang, Humphrey Walker and William Saunders, they committed a similar attack on a farm in Marylebone.
These attacks, prompted the 1st Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, to offer a reward of £50 for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the persons involved in the attacks. On February 11, Fielder, Saunders, and Wheeler were drinking in an alehouse, along with a woman who may have been Mary Brazier, another gang member who served as their fence. They were seen, and immediately arrested.
|E-fit of Dick Turpin created by York Police in 2009. Courtesy of York Castle Museum.
Wheeler, who was very young, possibly around 15 years old, swiftly turned informer. He gave descriptions of his comrades which were then circulated. Turpin, according to Wheeler, was a "tall fresh coloured man, very much marked with the small pox, about five feet nine inches high." In July of 2009, an E-fit was made of his face for the York Castle Museum. (An E-fit is an electronic picture of a person's face made from composite photographs of facial features, created by a computer program. In Turpin's case, the E-fit was made based on eyewitnesses accounts of his face.)
Wheeler's confession reached the ears of the gang, and most members fled. On February 15, Turpin and three other gang members, most likely Samuel Gregory, Thomas Rowden (or Rawdon), and Herbert Haines, robbed a house in Chingford, and the next day, Turpin and Rowden split with the other two, Turpin and Rowden heading for Hempstead where Turpin visited his family.
The Essex Gang, now missing several members and hunted by the authorities, kept a low profile, hiding most likely in Epping Forest. Joseph Rose, Humphrey Walker, and Mary Brazier were captured several days after Wheeler's confession, and during the last week of February, Rose, Fielder, Walker, and Saunders were tried for burglary. Although absent, Gregory and Turpin were also named on the indictment.
On March 10, Fielder, Rose, and Saunders were taken to Tyburn, where they were hanged. Walker had already died in prison. All four bodies were hung in gibbets, Walker's in chains, along Edgware Road, where they were left to rot.
Turpin and four remaining members of the gang performed another robbery in early March, but the gang's end was fast approaching. Jasper Gregory was caught, tried and executed in late March, and his brothers were caught in early April in Rake, West Sussex. During this capture, Jeremy was shot in the leg and Samuel lost the tip of his nose in a swordfight. Jeremy died in jail, and Samuel, tried in May, was hanged on June 4. His body was hanged in chains next to his companions on Edgware Road. Haines was caught on April 13, found guilty and hanged in August, and Mary Brazier was transported. John Wheeler, thanks to his confession and help in capturing the other members of the gang, was freed. In January of 1738, he died in Hackney. What he died from is unknown, but it is assumed that it was natural causes.
Turpin now began the career that would make him famous. Along with Thomas Rowden, he became a highwayman. On July 10, 1735, the two robbed a gentleman between Wandsworth and Barnes Common. Though they may have been committing highway robbery since early April, this was their first recorded exploit. Several days later, they struck again, this time in Epping Forest. The reward for their capture had now reached £100.
They continued their robberies through the rest of the year, robbing a coach party of five in Barnes Common, and shortly after, between Putney and Kingston Hill, another coach party. They attacked and robbed a Mr. Godfrey on August 20 on Hounslow Heath.
The two stayed together until the winter of 1735, but then separated. Rowden, using the alias Daniel Crispe, was captured and convicted of passing counterfeit money. As Rowden, he had previously been found guilty of counterfeiting, and when Crispe's true identity became known, he was transported in June 1738.
Turpin vanished from sight for a while, possibly going to Holland until he felt it was safe to come back. In February 1736, after his return, he was travelling on the London to Cambridge Road when he saw a well-dressed gentleman on a very fine horse. Turpin drew his pistol and told the man to hand over his money. Turpin was surprised when the man started laughing. According to legend, the man then said, "What, dog eat dog? Come Brother Turpin. If you don't know me, I know you and shall be glad of your company."The intended victim was Matthew "Captain Tom" King, also known as "The Gentleman Highwayman." one of the most famous highwaymen at that time. Turpin had found himself a new partner.
They found a cave in Epping Forest between the King's Oak and Loughton Roads that was large enough to hold their horses and themselves, which afforded a view of the roads through the forest yet kept them hidden from sight. From here, they could spot any number of victims.
The two men were unlike each other. King was a gentleman, dashing and reckless, while Turpin was basically a thug. At one point, while in Bungay, Suffolk, the two came across a couple of young women who had just sold some livestock in town. Between them, the women had £14 and Turpin decided to rob them. King, the gallant gentlemen, said they were too pretty to rob, and wanted to let them go. Turpin, however, was not in agreement, and took their money.
The successful partnership continued into 1737, and by this time, had an additional member of the team, Stephen Potter. The three men were certainly responsible for a series of robberies between March and April.
At this point, they did something stupid. In May of that year, they were travelling toward London and had reached a point close to the Green Man public house in Leytonstone. Turpin, King, and Potter caught up to a Joseph Major who was travelling the same road. They stole Major's horse, which would not be unusual if it wasn't for the fact that the horse, named White Stocking or Whitestockings, was a moderately well known racehorse and very recognizable. Turpin and his comrades had to have known this, yet arrogance or recklessness made them carry on with the theft.
Major rushed to the Green Man where he informed the landlord, Richard Bayes, about the robbery, swearing that it was Turpin who had committed the crime. Bayes traced the horse to the Red Lion in Whitechapel, and he got Major to come and identify the horse. Bayes and some constables lay in wait to see who would collect the horse.
Accounts differ on what happened next. Some say King's brother came to collect the horse, others say it was King himself. According to Bayes's own account, in his The History of the Life of Richard Turpin (1739), it was King's brother, and once he was caught, he said that was just picking up the horse for someone else. Pressed for information, he said it was for a "lusty man in a white duffel coat waiting for it in Red Lion Street."Bayes rushed to Red Lion Street where he attacked the waiting Tom King in the hopes of restraining him and "King immediately drew a pistol, which he clapp'd to Mr. Bayes's breast; but it luckily flash'd in the pan; upon which King struggling to get out his other, it had twisted round his pocket and he could not. Turpin, who was waiting not far off on horseback, hearing a skirmish came up, when King cried out, Dick, shoot him, or we are taken by G—d; at which instant Turpin fir'd his pistol, and it mist Mr.. Bayes, and shot King in two places, who cried out, 'Dick, you have kill'd me;' which Turpin hearing, he rode away as hard as he could. King fell at the shot, though he liv'd a week after, and gave Turpin the character of a coward." Later reports, and Turpin's own account, would state that the fatal shot that killed King was fired by Bayes himself.
Turpin fled and hid in Epping Forest, but he had not been unobserved. Thomas Morris was a servant working for Henry Thompson or Tomson, one of the Epping Forest keepers. Morris recognized Turpin and hoped to collect the large reward. On May 4, armed with pistols, he went to arrest the highwayman. He was not successful. When he challenged Turpin, according to the Newgate Calendar, "Turpin spoke to him in a friendly manner and gradually retreated at the same time, till, having seized his own gun, he shot him dead on the spot."
The killing of Thomas Morris prompted the government to issue the following proclamation, which was published in The Gentleman's Magazine of June, 1735. "It having been represented to the King, that Richard Turpin did on Wednesday the 4th of May last, barbarously murder Thomas Morris, servant to Henry Tomson, one of the keepers of Epping-Forest, and commit other notorious felonies and robberies near London, his Majesty is pleased to promise his most gracious pardon to any of his accomplices, and a reward of £200 to any person or persons that shall discover him, so as he may be apprehended and convicted. Turpin was born at Thacksted in Essex, is about thirty, by trade a butcher, about 5 Feet 9 Inches high, brown complexion, very much mark'd with the Small Pox, his cheek-bones broad, his face thinner towards the bottom, his visage short, pretty upright, and broad about the shoulders."
With this increase in bounty, Turpin decided the area was too hot for him and he headed north, ending up in Lincolnshire, where he rustled horses for a while, until arrested. He escaped, and made his way into Yorkshire, changing his name along the way to John Palmer. Here, he represented himself as a horse and cattle dealer, and gained some respectability. However, he was set in his ways, and his lifestyle still needed financing. So frequently, he was "away on business," travelling back to Lincolnshire to commit more robberies and rustling.
In October 1738, Turpin had been on a shooting expedition, and foolishly, on the return home, shot and killed a game cock belonging to his landlord. For this, he was brought up in front of the magistrates. Refusing to pay the surety that was required, "Palmer" was sent to the Beverley House of Correction.
Suspicion began to grow about Palmer. His frequent trips away always resulted in him returning flush with money and with several horses. Authorities now made enquiries into how Palmer made his money, and it was discovered that John Palmer had been suspected of sheep stealing when he lived in Lincolnshire. Certain that they were dealing with someone whose criminal activities were a little more serious than the shooting of the game cock, authorities demanded sureties for his appearance at the assizes at York. Once again, Palmer refused, and was moved to York Castle.
A month passed, during which time three horses that Palmer had stolen were traced by the owner. Now it was clear that Palmer was a horse thief, and he was charged with this offence. Turpin believed that the charges against him would fail if he could find witnesses to swear to his good character. He wrote to his brother-in-law, Pompadour Rivernall, who was married to Turpin's sister, Dorothy.
Dear Brother,
York, Feb. 6, 1739.
I am sorry to acquaint you, that I am now under confinement in York Castle, for horse-stealing. If I could procure an evidence from London to give me a character, that would go a great way towards my being acquitted. I had not been long in this county before my being apprehended, so that it would pass off the readier. For Heaven's sake dear brother, do not neglect me; you will know what I mean, when I say,
I am yours,
John Palmer.
Rivernall refused to pay the postage due on the letter. Some sources say that it was because he knew no one in York, some that he knew who was writing and wished to distance himself from Turpin. Yet others suggest that he was just tight-fisted. Whatever the reason, the letter was refused. By a stroke of bad luck, the letter was seen by James Smith, a former teacher who had taught Turpin how to write. Immediately recognizing the handwriting, Smith contacted the local magistrate, Thomas Stubbing, who paid the outstanding postage and opened the letter. Sure enough, Smith confirmed that the letter was indeed written in Turpin's handwriting. Smith was sent to York to make a positive identification and did so on February 23. Smith collected the outstanding reward of £200.
With Palmer now revealed to be the infamous Dick Turpin, he became a celebrity and many visitors came to see him in jail. Turpin, kept in leg irons, was in high spirits and played to the gallery. Questions arose as to where the trial should take place. The Duke of Newcastle wanted the trial to take place in London, but authorities believed the risk of escape was too great and decided against moving the trial south. The trial would take place in York.
Turpin was charged, not with murder or his highwayman activities, but with the theft of the three horses belonging to Thomas Creasey, a mare and a gelding worth £3.00 each, and a foal worth £1.00. Horse stealing was a capital crime. On March 22, 1739, the trial began, Sir William Chapple presiding and Thomas Place and Richard Crowle prosecuting. At this time in England, anyone on trial had no right to any legal representation, and so Turpin was left to defend himself. He was asked if he had any questions for Creasey, he replied, "I cannot say anything, for I have not any witnesses come this day, as I have expected, and therefore beg of your Lordship to put off my trial 'till another day." Throughout the course of the trial, Turpin, claiming that he had not been given sufficient time to prepare his defense, continued asking for a delay so he could gather witnesses. But it fell on deaf ears.
Large bets were laid that he would not be convicted, but the evidence was clear. Turpin was found guilty of the theft of the mare and foal. A second trial followed, for the theft of the gelding. The jury brought in the guilty verdict and the judge pronounced the death sentence. Turpin's father wrote a letter pleading for his son's life, requesting that instead of death, he be transported. But the sentence stood, Dick Turpin would be hanged.
In the days leading up to the execution, Turpin bought some new clothes, including a frock coat cut from fustian cloth, and a pair of shoes. He also gave gifts and possessions to friends, including a ring to a married woman from Lincolnshire with whom he was acquainted. On the day before the execution he hired five men to act as mourners, for which he paid them ten shillings each.
The next day, Saturday, April 7, 1739, Turpin climbed into the cart that would take him on his last journey. With his mourners following, the cart made its way through York, with Turpin bowing to the spectators as he passed them.
The cart reached the gallows at Knavesmire, now part of York racecourse, and Turpin climbed the ladder to where the executioner waited. According to The Gentleman's Magazine, "Turpin behaved in an undaunted manner." Turpin felt his right leg start to tremble. To hide his fear, Turpin stamped his leg until the trembling stopped. He spoke to the guards and the executioner for about half an hour. Then, once the noose was in place, he threw himself off, and died within five minutes. And so, Dick Turpin, a smallpox scarred, violent criminal, ended his life with bravado.
The body was left hanging until the afternoon, when it was removed and taken to the Blue Boar Inn at Castlegate. It stayed there until the next morning, when it was taken to the graveyard of St. George's Church in Fishergate. By the following Tuesday, according to reports, the body had been dug up by body-snatchers, a not unusual occurrence. The body was recovered, and re-interred, this time covered in quicklime.
So what of the Turpin legend? Certainly a lot of the legend came from the pamphlet written by Richard Bayes. Hastily put together to satisfy the public, it contains a mixture of fact and fiction, including a reference to Turpin having married a woman named Palmer, which is supposedly why he picked that name as an alias. However, according to biographers of Turpin, this is almost certainly wrong. In fact, Bayes account of Turpin's life is highly suspect. Bayes's involvement in the White stocking affair sounds like self promotion. King's pistol misfires, sparing Bayes, and Turpin's shot misses Bayes completely, killing King instead. Contemporary newspapers that initially published Bayes's account of the events later retracted them. So, was it Bayes that actually fired the shot that killed King, and decided to cover himself by blaming Turpin? Quite likely. According to some sources, King was a popular figure, and shooting a popular figure cannot be good for business, or maybe he was afraid of retribution. In any case, the whole account of this incident is suspect.
But it is the ride from London to York on Black Bess that has been the centerpiece of Turpin's legend. Did it really happen? Of course not, it's impossible. York is 175 miles from London as the crow flies and 210 miles by roadway. But the account of this ride appeared long before Turpin's life.
Between 1724 and 1726, the British author Daniel Defoe published a major work. A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain was a three volume account of his travels around the country, and includes an episode that mirrors Turpin's ride. A highwayman named William (or John) Nevison robbed a man in Kent one morning in 1676. Realizing he needed an alibi, he took off at great speed, finally ending up in York that night. But even that story is probably not true.
The ride captured the imagination, and Turpin was associated with it at least as early as 1808. But it was Rookwood that solidified it in the public mind, and created the modern version of Dick Turpin. Rookwood was written by William Harrison Ainsworth and published in 1834. Turpin's appearance in the book is that of a minor character, yet it was a popular one. Here, he was the romantic and dashing figure that we have come to know, and it appealed to the public. The ride to York was embellished and the legend was set. Turpin's squalid violent past was erased, and the new Robin Hood-like version became the true character, and has remained ever since. Today, you can see his cell at York Castle Museum, which is well worth the visit.
Dick Turpin was transformed from a smallpox scarred horse and cattle thief, sheep stealer, murderer, torturer, house-breaker into a gallant, romantic, chivalrous protector of the weak. A Knight of the Road. It's ironic that even in death he couldn't resist one last piece of larceny. His legendary ride, his greatest feat, was stolen from someone else.


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In Reply to: Re: stroke posted by susiea on June 10, 2000 at 00:23:40:
: : : My husband had a stroke 3 months ago which affected his left side - arm and leg. He is still in rehab, cannot walk alone or sit alone on the edge of a bed. has to have someone transfer him. Right now he seems to cry a lot and ofcourse wants to come home. What I would like to know is what is your experience with the reaction of a stroke victim to visitors around the holidays. I have been told that too much commotion may confuse him and cause him to "shut down", thus slowing his recovery. Do you agree with this? Our daughter wants to visit with her family and I don't know how to respond.
: : Hi Jan, Family support is Very important for the stroke pt. Your daughter should be encouraged to visit. A lot of people at one time can be overwhelming, so 1 or 2 people at a time for short periods would be ideal.
: : What your husband is experiencing with the crying is lability. Sometimes the stroke pt is unable to control the emotions or expresses inappropriate ones. Remember, the brain is healing and it may take some time for it to get straightened out. It can be very frustrating to know that you know how to do things and suddenly be unable to do them. Just as babies cry when they are frustrated, so may a stroke pt. I cried to when I found out that I wasn't going home but to a rehab center. Just try to be as supportive as possible. Depression is common after a stroke, so you should watch for signs of it if his emotional behavior worsens. By the way, I am a 25 year stroke survivor.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born April 16, 1947, in New York City, New York) is a successful former high school, collegiate, and professional NBA basketball player.
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- "It was my first time away from home, my first experience in an all-black situation, and I found myself being punished for everything I'd ever been taught was right. I got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk. I had to learn a new language simply to deal with the threats. I had good manners, and was a good little boy and paid for it with my hide."
- Giant Steps, 1983.


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Medalist i3070 Webex Tutorial Series
These sessions are designed to facilitate successful i3070 implementations. Add this page to your favorites or remember this url: www.keysight.com/find/i3070events
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Content From December 15, 2008 Online Boundary Scan Users Group Meeting
Why Boundary Scan is Coming of Age - Louis Y. Ungar, President A.T.E. Solutions, Inc and President - .pdf file
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1149.6: How do you turn it on and what happens then? - Ken Parker, Agilent Technologies - .pdf file
BSDL Validation: A Case Study - Michael Johnson, ASSET InterTech - .pdf file


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NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG has issued some tips on dealing with the heat.
July 24th, 2018 by Paul Golder eye 364,251
Hospice celebrates its 34th birthday
Saint Francis Hospice celebrated with a beautiful service at St John the Evangelist Church in Havering-atte-Bower.
July 24th, 2018 by Paul Golder eye 363,936
The Orient Hour podcast is now on iTunes/Android!
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July 24th, 2018 by Chris Hood eye 367,527
Oddswatch: Billericay Town now clear favourites for National League South
The Blues are now quoted at 3/1 to win the league, down from 10/1 four weeks ago.
July 23rd, 2018 by Paul Golder eye 364,566
House of Fun with Tom Odell, Andrea Harvey, Richie Perera and Sona Thakerar
We chat on the phone with the chart-topping singer/songwriter.
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Match report: Maidstone United 1 Billericay Town 3
Billericay Town passed their biggest test of pre-season to date with resounding success
July 21st, 2018 by Leigh @beakster99 eye 364,218
Match report: Aveley 0 Billericay Town 3
Billericay Town's pre-season preparations got back on track last night at Parkside.
July 17th, 2018 by Leigh @beakster99 eye 364,077
Hospice celebrates 10 years of walking under the stars
Saint Francis Hospice's annual Star Walk fundraiser celebrates a milestone.
July 17th, 2018 by Paul Golder eye 363,819


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Executive Care provides in-home Companionship Services to individuals that need basic socialization and supervision and to ensure safety and well-being.
Your loved-one may not be ready to have someone other than your family members providing full in-home care just yet. Companionship Services is a nice way to introduce them to in-home care services in an easy and non-intrusive way.
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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Maybe it's the long hours and low pay. Or the constant sniping about how you do the job and the gossip about how you live your life.
Whatever the reason, no one had filed to run for mayor in at least three Utah cities Bear River, Corinne and Fairfield by the June 7 deadline. And some municipalities have fewer council candidates than open seats, including Corinne, where one person filed for the two spots on the ballot.
The drawbacks of local politics could be discouraging would-be candidates, according to Tim Chambless, a professor at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.
"I'm not sure it's hell, but it's not heaven," Chambless said of a public servant's life.
Elected officials can end up working 80 hours between their public job and private job, he said. And in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, a mayor or council member no longer has a private life.
On top of that, elected officials will be subjected to criticism, Chambless said, no matter what they do or how minor their inevitable mistakes are.
David Spatafore, a lobbyist and consultant who formerly worked for the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said the difficulty of balancing family, faith and work with civic duties can make an elected position unappealing.
"The hours are horrible," he said. "Government has become a lot more complicated and a lot more time-consuming."
No-candidate races historically happen in the smaller communities among Utah's 245 cities and towns, according to Spatafore. Goshen had two council seats up for election in 2007 and no candidates.
David Church, an attorney for the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said that if no one files to run, community activists usually try to recruit someone by at least 60 days before the general election, which is the deadline for would-be officeholders to submit their names as write-in candidates.
The deadline for write-in candidates falls on Sept. 6 this year. Write-in votes count only for candidates registered as such.
If no write-in candidate registers, a vacancy is declared by council members once the current officeholder's term ends at noon on the first Monday in January. The council then puts out a notice, solicits applications and picks by majority vote someone to fill the spot.
Attracting candidates for public office in big and medium-sized cities seems to be no problem. This year, nine hopefuls are vying for the mayor's job in West Jordan, where the annual salary is increasing to $89,500 and incumbent Melissa Johnson isn't running.
And, in West Valley City, seven residents are running for the top elected spot. Incumbent Mike Winder, citing the difficulty of supporting a family on a $35,000 annual salary, also decided against another term overseeing Utah's second most-populous city.
Corinne Mayor Richard Nimori, whose four-year term ends in January, said a dearth of would-be politicians in any community could mean that residents are satisfied with city operations and not interested in changing how things are done. On the other extreme, he said, a government controversy or conflict between elected officials also could make potential candidates decide not to run.
Nimori has been contacting residents who expressed interest in public office in the past; so far he hasn't found anyone who wants to be a write-in candidate.
However, he said, "I haven't given up yet."
Goshen ended up with three write-in candidates for its two council spots in 2007. And Church is sure that every city in Utah, no matter its size, will have a mayor and full council soon after this year's general election.
"There's never been an office that wasn't filled," he said.
Dan Harrie contributed to this article.


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Template:Cub Scout Citizenship/req
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
Mobile Menus: Cub Scouts - Scouts BSA - Venturing - Sea Scouts
Belt Loop Requirements
Complete these three requirements:
- Develop a list of jobs you can do around the home. Chart your progress for one week.
- Make a poster showing things that you can do to be a good citizen.
- Participate in a family, den, or school service project.
Academics Pin Requirements
Earn the Citizenship belt loop, and complete five of the following requirements:
- Interview someone who has become a naturalized citizen. Give a report of your interview to your den or family.
- Write a letter to your newspaper about an issue that concerns you.
- Create a collage about America.
- Conduct a home safety or energy audit and inspect your home. Talk with your parent or adult partner about correcting any problems you find. Included in the Cub Scout Citizenship/req Worksheet
- Visit your local site of government. Interview someone who is involved with the governmental process.
- Visit a court room and talk with someone who works there.
- Go to the polls with your parents when they vote. Talk to them about their choices.
- Take part in a parade with your den or pack.
- List ways you can recycle various materials and conserve and protect the environment.
- Attend a community event or visit a landmark in your community.
Please report any issues with this page.


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Katy Perry's 'ROAR' Lip-Synced by Children's Hospital Patients
Here's how we know that Katy Perry is going to love this newest video version of 'ROAR' -- because it's impossible not to!
The patients and staff at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock -- CHaD for short -- lip-sync to Katy's inspiring hit in a viral video that has amassed more than a half million views since it was uploaded Monday (Oct. 21).
Katy's song about triumphing over the odds almost seems as if it were written for the New Hampshire hospital's initiative to showcase its efforts. The clip shows the kids acting out the song as best they can, surrounded by cheerful staff members. The results are nothing short of heartwarming, and the world has responded in kind.
"The CHaD kids have heard your 'ROAR,' and the buzz has rubbed off on them," the hospital writes on its Facebook page. "The excited smiles in the hospital have been contagious and BEAUTIFUL to see. This video brought a sense of power to these children who are faced with illness, but aren't giving up."
Those so moved are invited to donate to CHaD here.


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- FA Cup: What They Said
Redknapp slams cup flops as Luton go wild
Every round of the FA Cup is on ESPN this season. Click here to find out how you can subscribe
In the Premier League era, no non-league side had ever beaten top-flight opposition in the FA Cup. On Saturday Luton changed all that against Norwich, and manager Paul Buckle was understandably elated. Buckle said: "The boys are under pressure every week. We are good enough to play in the Football League, we just need to get out of the Conference. Getting back in the league is the main priority for us but, for me as a manger, this win today is right up there.
"You need great belief and we had that today. We trained really hard for this game and it paid off. If there's one thing about today that I want the players to take away, its belief. Belief that they can achieve something special."
Luton chairman Nick Owen missed the game because he was on holiday, but called in to the BBC to express his delight: "You can usually book your holiday around the latter stages of the FA Cup when you are a Luton fan.
"I'm going absolutely bonkers here. I had my three sons at the game and they were keeping me up-to-date. I couldn't believe it when the goal went it. It is one of the great days in the club's history."
After suffering an unwelcome giant-killing, Norwich boss Chris Hughton was disappointed in the display shown by his players. He said: "It's hurting. And it will hurt for a while. But we've got to pick the players up because we have got a big Premier League on Wednesday against Tottenham.
"It was a really poor goal for us to concede, but we have got to give them credit. They worked hard and had some luck at times, but when you put all those factors together then anything can happen."
QPR were the other big losers on Saturday, going 4-0 down at home to MK Dons before ultimately 'only' losing 4-2. Afterwards, manager Harry Redknapp eviscerated his underperforming players: "If you look at the team, what is it? An England goalkeeper [Rob Green], a right-back from Man United [Fabio], a left-back in Armand Traore.
"You've got Anton Ferdinand and Tal Ben Haim, then Esteban Granero from Real Madrid. You've got Ale Faurlin, Park Ji-sung from Man United, Jamie Mackie, Jay Bothroyd and DJ Campbell.
"Surely they are entitled to beat a team from two divisions down? It tells me, like I've said all along, that I need to improve the squad. That is why I have gone all over Europe these last three weeks trying to improve the squad because we are short.
"We are bottom of the league because that is where we are. We have picked up in the last 10 games or so, picking up 11 points, and we're getting blood out of stone at the moment.
"I know we need to improve and that is what we will continue to try and do this week, but it is not easy."
MK Dons boss Karl Robinson, meanwhile, believed his players had shown that they warranted careers at a higher level: "I thought the players were fantastic and I thought they deserved the result. We played with no fear. To get into the fourth round was a bit of history for us. To get into round five is special.
"The players thought they could come here and express themselves, and I thought they did that. We thought we'd come here and get a result.
"There's a lot of players at the football club who deserve to play a lot higher. I said, 'Go and put yourself on a pedestal today that allows your career to take off'."
Considering events elsewhere, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was simply relieved his side got the win against League Two's Macclesfield. The Spaniard noted: "Macclesfield are the ones who deserve huge credit.
"We knew coming here that this football team has fantastic confidence and they are having a good run in all competitions so we knew scoring the first goal would be important but we couldn't get that second goal. I was very impressed with Macclesfield."
The unlikely figure of Jonny Heitinga was the difference as Everton survived a stern examination from Bolton. David Moyes said:"It was great to get through, that's the job, but there has been many years when we've not got through in similar games. I thought it was going to a replay and Bolton had done enough to earn it. In the second half we had most of the play without being creative and we needed to find another way of scoring the goal.
"Marouane Fellaini had been playing a bit deeper so I thought he needed to be pushed forward. He didn't score but he was involved."
Bolton boss Dougie Freedman tried to take the positives: "Many times in similar conditions we could have called that off but everyone has worked so hard to get the game on and it seems like the game has kicked us in the teeth.
"I'm disappointed in the result, but not the performance. In the first 20 minutes we had a setback but we got on with it and played probably the best football we have done since I've been here."


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Latest News
Turkey admits downed plane had strayed into Syrian airspace
Turkey and Syria on Saturday pulled back from a possible confrontation over Syria's downing of a Turkish fighter jet that had strayed across their common border into Syrian air space Friday. As their respective navies searched for the two missing Turkish crew, both sides said Friday's clash had been accidental.
A spokesman for the Syrian foreign ministry said the military unit that shot down the Turkish F4 Phantom interceptor had not realized the aircraft was Turkish and added: "There was no enmity against Turkey." Spokesman Jihad Makdisi made the comment to the Turkish state news channel TRT, AP reported.
Earlier Saturday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the Turkish incursion into Syrian air space was not deliberate. "It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over borders," he said. "These are not ill-intentioned things, but happen beyond control due to the jets' speed."
It wasn't clear how or whether Turkey would retaliate. Gul said it was "not possible to cover over a thing like this," and added: "whatever is necessary will be done." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's had said Friday night that after completing an investigation, Turkey would "decisively take the next steps."
The F4, which a top Turkish official said was on a reconnaissance mission, had departed Erhac base in Malatya province to the northwest of the Syrian border Friday morning. Shortly before noon, Turkish authorities lost contact with the aircraft as it was flying over Hatay, a Turkish border province.
The Syrian government said an "unidentified object" had approached Syrian territorial waters from the west at "a very low altitude and at high speed." Syrian anti-aircraft artillery fired at the jet when it was one kilometer (0.6 mile) off the Syrian coast, and it crashed 8 kilometers, about 4.8 miles, off the coast.
Gul's statement put the onus on Syria to explain why its army chose to shoot first, rather than try to establish radio contact, fire warning shots or even send up aircraft when the F4 crossed into Syrian territory. Neither he nor Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc provided details of the aircraft's reconnaissance mission.
The F4 can carry 18,000 pounds of bombs and missiles and was used widely by the United States during the Vietnam war, but the U.S. phased the plane out in the mid 1990s. It is still a mainstay of several other nation's air forces, however.
Relations between the two countries were close as recently as two years ago, but have been deeply strained by the 16-month old Arab Spring uprising and crackdown by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
With thousands of civilians reported dead and at least 30,000 refugees inside Turkey, Erdogan has demanded Assad's ouster and has welcomed the political and military wings of the resistance on Turkish soil. Syrian fighters move back and forth across the border, and cash, provided by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is also flowing into the coffers of the resistance.
But an escalation into a Turkish-Syrian military conflict could drag in the big powers backing the two sides, the United States for Turkey and Russia and Iran for Syria, and there is no sign any of the major powers wants that to happen.
As a NATO member, Turkey could invoke Article V of the European defense pact and ask its allies to come to its defense, but a NATO military spokesman said Saturday that Turkey had not approached the alliance for assistance.
Even if the shoot-down is written off as an accident, the tensions along the border are high, and there are any number of possibilities for a clash that would ignite a broader conflict.
Early in April, after Syrian troops fired shots into Turkish territory, wounding two Syrian refugees, Turkey warned that it was prepared to take "all measures" against Syria if there was a recurrence.


text: The finished dumplings, properly fried to a light crisp. The half-moon shape was meant to resemble ancient Chinese currency. Eating the dumplings was believed to bring fortune and prosperity. Daniel M.N. Turner/NPR hide caption toggle caption Daniel M.N. Turner/NPR The Salt How To Make A Chinese New Year-Worthy Potsticker February 15, 2013 Chinese New Year began last weekend, but traditionally, festivities last another week, so there's still time if you want to celebrate by making dumplings. We bring you a visual how-to.


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The answers to climate change are here... These are the most frequently asked questions about climate change determined by you - Greenpeace supporters. Our busy climate campaigners have sat down for a video one-to-one to give you the answers.
Want more details? More climate science? Here are a few sources you can check out:
Us!: Greenpeace International
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
'Wake Up, Freak out - then get a Grip' (An animation about climate tipping points by Leo Murray)
The consequences will be global. You can get more details on worldwide impacts on Greenpeace International's climate pages.
Learning more about the impacts in your specific area of the world can be as simple as searching for your country's name and 'climate change impacts' or 'global warming impacts'.
Other terms associated with carbon trading are 'cap and trade' and 'emissions trading' - this is what Wikipedia has to say.
Read our False Hope report - why carbon capture and storage won't save the planet.
Greenpeace is blogging the meltdown of the Nuclear Industry on Nuclear Reaction. Nuclear is not a solution to climate change, the solution is an Energy [R]evolution.
Read a summary (16 pages) of the report Emily is talking about, or (if you are feeling ambitious) download the full Greenpeace Energy [R]evolution report here.
Learn more about how Greenpeace is campaigning for a Sustainable Agriculture system in this blog post.Learn more about our campaign against deforestation - Forests for Climate.
Learn how to talk to climate skeptics on Grist.Get real climate science.
What can you do for the climate? Help save it.
1. Get a copy of 'How to save the climate'.
2. Tell our world leaders they must go to the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen and make a strong deal for our climate.
3. Take political action in your own community. Write to your local government representative. The time is now.


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More posts
- Limited edition
- Promising nose, dissappointing on the pallet, lightly bodied & short. Exclusively a table wine.
- Italian
- Ávaxtaríkt, mild tannín, bragðgott
- The first impressions of Piccini Memoro are how port-like it is. A deep, deep ruby colour and dark cherry aroma. It seems quite viscous too – not surprising at 14% alcohol. not as sweet as a typical port.It may look 'big' in the glass, but I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and almost sophisticated it was to taste. There were no shouty tannins it was velvety, medium bodied and again fruity. I tasted dried black cherries and prunes with a little bit of spicy-smokeyness too. The fruity flavours lingered in the mouth – and pleasantly so. Truly Italian.


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A great article by Frederick Clarkson:
The Democratic Party's wins in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, and its modest successes in recent Congressional elections, have obscured a series of setbacks for the party in the states. As National Journal put it, the GOP "wiped the floor with Democrats" in the 2010 midterm elections, setting a record in the modern era by picking up 680 seats in state legislatures. The next-largest harvest of legislative seats was the Democrats' 628-seat gain in the Watergate-dominated election of 1974. The 2010 landslide gave the GOP the upper hand in the subsequent Congressional redistricting process, allowing Republicans to tilt the playing field in their favor and shape U.S. elections for years to come. In the meantime, conservatives have used friendly, GOP-dominated state legislatures to ram their agenda through legislatures—in "red" states and even some states that lean "blue"—on a range of issues: imposing harsh voter restrictions in North Carolina, for example, and passing dramatic anti-labor legislation in Michigan.
The roots of this debacle go far deeper than one or two election cycles and cannot be explained by the normal ebb and flow in electoral fortunes of the two major parties. The seeds were actually sown in the late 1980s, when strategists in the conservative movement came to an important realization.
Please read the rest of the article at www.politicalresearch.org.
Read more about the SPN in a 2013 Guardian article about: "State Policy Network rejects climate change, opposes workers' rights – and is backed by some top US tech and telecoms firms."


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International Women's Day: A Modern Heroine From South Africa (PERSPECTIVE)
By Roxy Marosa
Bron Villet lives in Cape Town, South Africa. A natural anthropologist, where ever she is, whatever she tackles in life, Bron adds a profound sense of integrity and energy - another inspiration for women from the south of the continent.
Bron has an idiosyncratic ability to engage with people across diverse fronts, often in spite of the complexity of a situation.
With a keen instinct for reaping the best in people, Bron has achieved measurable success in her career accomplishments and has impacted people's lives extensively.
As a practitioner coach, Bron spent time in Pollsmoor prison working with at-risk adolescent males – this humbling experience further served to inspire her to continue with her work to be hands on in making a difference to the future of South Africa.
"From a young girl, my life purpose has always been to make a profound difference to those I connect with in all walks of life" says Bron.
With a background in the corporate, NGO and community sectors, Bron was pivotal in successfully starting up a sports foundation in 2007 with the mission of serving disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape.
The foundation focused on inspiring primary school children to dream about their futures, by setting and achieving goals in spite of the adversities they faced in their young lives, as a result of apartheid and the fractured communities they live in.
The opportunity to design and grow the foundation to reach 25,000 children within 2 years, wholly aligned with Bron's energy and passion for empowering people to sculpt their own destiny and forge purposeful futures.
During her time spent working in these crime torn, drug infested communities, Bron's desire to stand as an ambassador for women's rights in Africa was sharpened.
With a desire to experience and gain understanding of how other cultures live, a journey across northern and southern Africa in 2010, afforded Bron the opportunity to interact with, and observe communities in both rural and urban Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana.
"It was fascinating to engage with so many different cultures. Interestingly, some observations were disturbing, but it was these disturbing experiences which served to heighten my sense of purpose in standing as an advocate for women's rights in Africa, especially considering recent uprisings in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and even more recently, Morocco. It is not uncommon in Africa for women to be subjected to the cruelest forms of violence, sexual abuse and slavery especially during war and cultural uprisings."
Having just returned from her travels in Africa, Bron is seeking out international platforms to work in African communities with a focus to reach, challenge and inspire women and children.
-- Cape Town-based Roxy Marosa is host of the Roxy Marosa Show and runs several projects assisting people affected by HIV and Aids in South Africa.


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Wow. Totally amazing weekend. Thank you to all of the Sponsors of Gov20LA. Thank you to all the amazing speakers and panelists and citizens. You made this event so special. Thank you to all the people around the United States, England, Canada, Israel, France, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and many other countries who participated in the camp through the live videostream.
One of the key themes in this past weekend's event was "Video is the New Text. " Another is that the jargon and Language used in Government 2.0 "Gov 2.0" is holding us back. A third was the focus needs to be on People. Not Technology. Not Platforms. Not Data. But real (IRL) 🙂 People. The ones who agree, and the ones who disagree.
There was a lot of energy, and many comments to me were made about how smart everyone in the room was. Another take away was that most people came up to me and told me they were meeting people in the Government 2.0 "Gov 2.0" space who they had never met before.
Brevity is key.
Alan W. Silberberg, Founder, Gov20LA and Founder, CEO of Silberberg Innovations
Some other linkouts to great posts about the camp, other content associated with it:
So With that, Luke Fretwell is one of the planning committee members of Gov20LA; a "Gov 2.0" Innovator, leader and Founder, CEO of GovFresh: He made this video:


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WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 13, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — REALTOR® Magazine and the Good Neighbor Society have announced the recipients of the sixth annual Volunteering Works, a program that matches Realtors® who work on small-scale charitable efforts with mentors and awards them grant money.
The Volunteering Works recipients were selected based on their dedication to the community through volunteer work and the potential for their charitable work to be expanded or improved with the help of an expert mentor from a member of the Good Neighbor Society. Society members are past recipients of the annual REALTOR® Magazine Good Neighbor Award for volunteer service – the highest honor that NAR awards to Realtors® who are involved in community service.
"Realtors® show an incredible commitment to volunteering in their communities," said National Association of Realtors® President Steve Brown, broker/owner of Irongate, Inc. Realtors® in Dayton, Ohio. "The Volunteering Works program provides an opportunity for Realtors® who are starting a nonprofit effort to engage in one-on-one relationships with mentors who will help them obtain the tools that are needed for growth and success."
In addition to a year of one-on-one mentoring, the five winning Realtors® will receive a $1,000 grant.
"The $1,000 Volunteering Works grant enabled Wildflower Women's Organization to retain an executive director during a crucial growth period," said Joan Rogliano, a practitioner with Rogliano Real Estate Group, in Littleton, Colo., and a 2013 Volunteering Works recipient. Her mentor, 2003 Good Neighbor Award winner Claudia Deprez, of Illustrated Properties Real Estate in West Palm Beach, Fla., contributed advice based on years of successful experience in the nonprofit world, which led to revitalized fundraising for Rogliano's organization and a first, very generous challenge grant. "The impact of the Volunteering Works award has been boundless," said Rogliano.
"Mentors provide guidance and insights that are key to structuring a successful charity," said Victor Kee, Good Neighbor Society Advisory Council Chair and a 2008 honorable mention winner of REALTOR® Magazine's Good Neighbor Award. "An experienced mentor who can help guild you through challenges and pitfalls of starting a volunteer project is an invaluable resource."
The 2014 recipients of the Volunteering Works grant and mentoring are:
Linda K. Brown, Carol Jones, Realtors®, Springfield, Mo.
Brown co-founded The Gathering Tree in 2010 to improve the lives of the homeless. The organization provides a safe place for homeless people to rest, relax and share a meal in the evening hours, when there are few services available to them. Brown's goal is to also help people find a path off the streets by becoming a resource for mentoring, resume writing and GED classes. She will seek guidance from her mentor, Craig Conant of Key Realty Inc., Warrensburg, Mo., (Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Johnson County) and look for ways to increase visibility and develop an effective fundraising plan.
Miriam Hernandez Ramirez, Keller Williams Realty, Kannapolis, N.C.
Hernandez Ramirez is the driving force behind Capstone Recovery Center, a residential transitional home for women whose lives have been affected by substance abuse. As volunteer executive director, she interviews candidates for the house, oversees their activities, provides counseling and teaches life skills. Hernandez Ramirez will seek guidance from her mentor Carol Reza of The Real Estate Store Inc., Whittier, Calif., (Bridge of Faith) to learn additional ways to recruit more active volunteers and expand the curriculum to offer relapse prevention to nonresidents.
Laneta Goings, Welles Bowen, Maumee, Ohio
Goings helped launch Books 4 Buddies, a campaign that encourages literacy and leisure reading by providing free books to disadvantaged youth, especially boys, in the Toledo, Ohio area. The program recruits teenage boys to serve as book ambassadors and role models. Goings will look for guidance from her mentor, Bob Patterson of The Bob Patterson Group, Hamilton, Ga., (The Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy/Harris County) on developing a comprehensive business plan and collaborating with other literacy organizations.
Laurel and Melissa Maki, Century 21 North Country Agency, Houghton, Mich.
In 2012, the Maki's founded 31 Backpacks, a nonprofit that combats childhood hunger by preparing nutritious food packages for needy schoolchildren to take home to their families on the weekends. In two years, the nonprofit has grown from serving 31 students to 135 students in eight school districts. The Makis will seek guidance from their mentor, Williemae Stanberry of Stanberry Realty, Pensacola, Fla., (A Will & Way Inc.) to help them expand and offer summer service, and generate new fundraising channels.
Thomas Sigel, Allen and Hartzell, Inc., Wadsworth, Ohio
Sigel founded Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) three years ago, filling a gap left by funding cuts in the arts. Sigel enriches lives with music, arts and cultural programs – with special outreach to multicultural, disadvantaged and rural populations. This year, ORMACO held 24 concerts and events and offered free guitar lessons at local schools. Sigel will seek guidance from his mentor, Ouida Spencer of Realty Associates of Atlanta, (United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia) to learn ways to strengthen his board of directors and community outreach.
Volunteering Works is funded by The Stuart & Jill Siegel Charitable Foundation. To learn more about Volunteering Works or the Good Neighbor Awards, go to www.REALTOR.org/gna.
The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
Media Contact: Jane Dollinger / 202-383-1042


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Mortality after near-miss obstetric complications in Burkina Faso: medical, social and health-care factors
Katerini T Storeng a, Seydou Drabo b, Rasmané Ganaba c, Johanne Sundby b, Clara Calvert d & Véronique Filippi d
a. Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, PB 1116 Blindern, Oslo 0317, Norway.
b. Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
c. AFRICSanté, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
d. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England.
Correspondence to Katerini T Storeng (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com).
(Submitted: 29 July 2011 – Revised version received: 18 November 2011 – Accepted: 23 January 2012 – Published online: 13 March 2012.)
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2012;90:418-425C. doi: 10.2471/BLT.11.094011
International discussions about maternal health in low-income countries tend to focus on maternal deaths. However, there is increasing concern that these deaths are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the health effects of the poor availability and quality of maternity services.1 In addition, countries with high maternal mortality also have a large burden of pregnancy-related complications and associated disabilities. It is estimated that "for every woman who dies from a pregnancy-related cause, about 20 more – roughly 7 million women yearly – experience injury, infection, disease or disability".1 Of growing interest are "near-miss" obstetric complications – complications so severe that they would probably have killed the woman had she not received timely medical care.2
In low-income countries, near misses are often considered obstetric successes because ultimately the woman's life was saved by a focused medical intervention.2,3 However, little is known about long-term outcomes following these complications.4 Recent studies document a substantial degree of physical and psychological morbidity in their aftermath5–10 and the high cost of emergency obstetric care has serious social and economic consequences.11,12 Although women's lives are known to remain at risk for several months beyond the 42-day cut-off used in standard definitions of maternal death,13 few studies have examined survival beyond this period in women who experience severe obstetric complications.
To what extent does surviving a near-miss obstetric complication mean that a maternal death has actually been averted? Our aim was to investigate maternal mortality in the 4 years after hospital discharge following a near-miss complication in Burkina Faso. We used data from a longitudinal, mixed-methods, cohort study to describe patterns of mortality and analysed the medical, social and health-care-related causes of death after near-miss complications. Finally, we considered the implications of our study findings for strategies that promote safe motherhood.
Study setting
Burkina Faso is an impoverished country in western Africa that is ranked 177th out of 182 countries in terms of human development; 81% of the population live on less than 2 United States dollars a day.14 The country's scores on reproductive health indicators are among the worst in the world. The fertility rate is 6.2 children per woman.15 According to the most recent national census,16 the maternal mortality ratio is 307 per 100 000 live births, and the World Health Organization's estimate is 560 per 100 000 live births.17 Burkina Faso's district health system functions poorly and existing safe motherhood programmes do not address the availability of comprehensive obstetric care.18 Only 73.2% of births are assisted by a skilled birth attendant – a figure that hides significant regional and socioeconomic disparities.19 User fees for maternal health care, especially emergency care, are often unaffordable.11 In 2007, the health ministry introduced an 80% subsidy for facility-based delivery to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure,20 but its effect is still unclear.21,22
Data collection
We followed a cohort of 1014 women for 4 years after they were discharged from seven hospitals across Burkina Faso between November 2004 and March 2005. Women were recruited at hospital discharge to avoid exposure misclassification.23 Of the 1014 women in the cohort, 337 had experienced a near-miss obstetric complication: the pregnancy ended in a live birth in 199 cases, in a perinatal death in 74 and in a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or abortion in 64. For each woman who had a near miss, we recruited an average of two unmatched controls from the seven hospitals. Usually the next two women to have an uncomplicated live delivery, as confirmed by medical notes, were selected, though some hospitals recruited more controls than others. The total number of controls was 677.
Trained lay interviewers made six follow-up visits: on day three after discharge, at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months, and in the third and fourth years after the end of the pregnancy. We investigated whether any woman not found for the interview had moved away or died. Interviews explored women's health, reproductive history, socioeconomic status, experience of health care, and health-care costs. Medical information was extracted from routine hospital records at discharge and from reports of medical examinations conducted 6 and 12 months later. In parallel, anthropologists carried out a detailed follow-up of a subsample of 82 women: 64 had near misses and 18 had uncomplicated deliveries. Findings from the first year of follow-up have been reported elsewhere.8,11,12
We used the verbal autopsy method to make detailed enquiries about any woman who died. This approach determines the cause of death by asking lay respondents about the signs exhibited and the symptoms experienced by the deceased and is used when data from routine information systems are incomplete.24 Generally, respondents were the woman's husband, relatives who had participated closely in the woman's care and, when possible, health workers. A physician conducted verbal autopsies at the end of the first year, and the anthropologist conducted interviews at the end of follow-up. Additionally, an open-ended in-depth interview or social autopsy25,26 was carried out to identify any social or health-care-related factors that could have contributed to the death.
Data analysis
The proportion of women who survived at each follow-up visit was calculated for women who experienced near misses and for those who had uncomplicated deliveries. We used Fisher's exact test to determine whether the post-discharge mortality rate differed significantly between the two groups. We compared the marital status, age and parity at baseline of women who survived and who died within 4 years of follow-up in both the group of women who had uncomplicated deliveries and in the group that had near misses. We used the chi squared test to assess the association between baseline characteristics and death.
The most likely medical cause of death was assigned independently and agreed on by two clinical researchers on the basis of data from the verbal autopsy combined with additional information from medical records and reports of medical examinations (Table 1, available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/6/11-094011). Comorbid conditions that may have contributed to the death were taken into account. In addition, we analysed records of the in-depth interviews thematically to derive non-medical causes of death.27 This analysis was guided by our knowledge of the social circumstances of women in Burkina Faso and the health systems they use, gained over the course of the study.11,12 Moreover, two of the deceased women belonged to the anthropologists' subsample and had participated in several interviews before their deaths.
Table 1. Women who died within four years of the end of a pregnancy, Burkina Faso, 2004–2009
html, 15kb
Ethical approval
The study was approved by the ethics committees of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso. Study participants gave their free and informed consent.
Fig. 1 shows the number of participants included at each stage of the study. Of the 1014 women recruited, 695 attended the final interview at the end of the 4-year follow-up and 20 had died. Post-discharge mortality was significantly higher among women who had a near-miss obstetric complication than among controls who had uncomplicated deliveries (P < 0.001). Fig. 2 shows the proportion of women who survived at each follow-up visit. Six (1.9%) women in the near-miss group died within 1 year, and none died in the control group. The corresponding figures at the end of the 4-year follow-up period were 15 (5.3%) and 5 (0.9%) in the two groups, respectively.
Fig. 1. Study participants, maternal mortality in the 4 years after pregnancy, Burkina Faso, 2004–2009
Fig. 2. Maternal survival after the end of pregnancy, by pregnancy outcome, Burkina Faso, 2004–2009
No significant difference was found in age (P = 0.47) or parity at baseline (P = 0.42) between women in the near-miss group who died and those who survived and completed follow-up. However, women who died were more likely to be single at baseline (P = 0.001; Table 2). We could draw no such comparisons in the control group because of the small number of deaths.
Table 2. Maternal mortality in the four years after pregnancy, by pregnancy outcome, age, parity and marital status, Burkina Faso, 2004–2009
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Medical causes of death
Verbal autopsy data were available for 18 of the 20 deaths (Table 1). The relatives of the remaining two women could not be located.
In the near-miss group, 9 of the 15 deaths (60%) were pregnancy-related, compared with none in the control group (Table 1). Moreover, six of these nine pregnancy-related deaths occurred within 1 year of the near-miss obstetric complication or the end of the pregnancy. The most likely medical causes of these six deaths were: organ failure following septic abortion in one woman with a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; tuberculosis related to HIV infection in one woman with puerperal sepsis; anaemia with possible sepsis or immunity problems in one woman; probable anaemia in one; infection in one; and hypertension (i.e. eclampsia) in one. The remaining three pregnancy-related deaths in the near-miss group occurred within 42 days of a subsequent pregnancy: one was due to hypertension, one to septic abortion and one to haemorrhage following caesarean section suture complications. At least three of the nine women who died from a pregnancy-related cause were HIV-positive. The causes of the remaining six deaths in the near-miss group were: HIV infection in one, hypertension in one, possible infection related to tuberculosis in one, a suspected traffic accident in one and unknown due to insufficient data in two.
Of the five deaths in the control group, one was caused by malaria and three by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); the cause of one death remained undetermined due to insufficient data. The contribution of HIV infection and tuberculosis to deaths in the two groups is notable.
By the end of follow-up, three of the seven babies born to women who had a near-miss complication and who subsequently died had also died. One of the babies died a few days before his mother, at the age of 28 days. This baby was probably born with intrauterine growth retardation. The other two died after their mothers: one from malnutrition at 5 months and one from an unknown cause at 15 months. No deaths occurred among the five babies born to women in the control group who subsequently died. These babies were older at the time of their mothers' deaths and therefore less vulnerable.
Health-care-related and social causes of deaths
Relatives of the women who died within a year of a near-miss complication believed the women had been discharged prematurely. Correspondingly,17% of these women had not fully recovered when discharged, according to medical records.8 Some left hospital because they could no longer afford to pay for care or to remain absent from their regular activities. Inadequate follow-up of unresolved health problems may have compounded the burden of premature discharge, as in the case of a 25-year-old woman who died of sepsis 7 months after an unsafe abortion (Box 1). As a whole, respondents noted that poor links between different parts of the health-care system (e.g. between a district hospital and a national hospital) delayed or prevented access to care.
Box 1. Example of a late pregnancy-related death after a near-miss complication,a Burkina Faso, 2005
The 25-year-old womanb moved from a rural village to a town to work in a bar. She became pregnant while in a relationship with a visiting bureaucrat. Her partner revealed he was married with children, pressured her to terminate the pregnancy and paid for an illegal abortion. She was hospitalized with a near-miss septic abortion after intense stomach aches resulting from the botched abortion, underwent manual vacuum aspiration for the incomplete abortion and was treated for infection before discharge. She suffered stigmatization, lost her income and job and became disillusioned. An unresolved abortion-related infection left untreated due to the cost of care resulted in another hospitalization 6 months after discharge. The woman's brothers paid for her hospitalization for more than 1 month but were unable to afford prescribed referral to a tertiary hospital in a major city 170 km away. The woman died at her brothers' home 7 months after the septic abortion. The brothers had substantial financial problems even 3 years after the woman's death: they were in debt, had lost income and their farm's yield was reduced because they had to sell some animals to cover the health-care costs.
a A near-miss complication is a severe obstetric complication that would probably kill the women without timely medical care.
b Woman 4 in Table 1
Similarly, relatives of the three women in the near-miss group who died of pregnancy-related causes after a subsequent pregnancy identified a range of health-care-related contributing factors. None of these women received specific follow-up during antenatal care despite having had a near-miss complication in a recent pregnancy. The reason may be that in Burkina Faso no midwife and certainly no specialist normally participates in antenatal care, which is often delivered in a ritualistic way without addressing chronic ailments or risk factors. An unmet need for contraception, which is costly and poorly available, contributed to one of the maternal deaths because it led to an unwanted pregnancy. According to this woman's husband, the new pregnancy exacerbated the hypertension that resulted in the near miss less than 2 years earlier (Box 2). Both relatives and health-care workers strongly believed that better care could have saved the woman, who died of haemorrhage following caesarean section suture complications. She was discharged from hospital prematurely – within 24 hours of the emergency caesarean section – and was left untreated overnight, then readmitted with heavy bleeding and an open caesarean section wound the following evening. She died the next morning.
Box 2. Example of a maternal death from a new pregnancy after a near-miss complication,a Burkina Faso, 2006–8
The 23-year-old Muslim womanb divorced after the death of her first child and was betrothed to a subsistence farmer, a relative, as his second wife. She experienced a stillbirth after a near-miss delivery involving eclampsia; the resulting health-care expenditure was "catastrophic" for the hous ehold. She had difficulty participating in household activities due to chronic ill health related to hypertension that started in pregnancy. The support of her partner and his co-wife enabled the woman to be temporarily absent from subsistence agricultural work and domestic chores. She took medication only on alternate weeks due to its cost. She wanted to delay a new pregnancy but was unable to acquire appropriate contraception because it was costly and unavailable at the local health centre. She had a new pregnancy within 1 year of the near-miss complication. The new pregnancy was difficult because of hypertension and she had a hospital delivery. She became ill in the postpartum period and died while asleep 28 days after delivery, most likely from hypertensive disease. The baby died shortly afterwards. Her husband was financially "ruined" by the health-care expenditure, which was exacerbated by new responsibilities for the widow and three children of a brother who had died.
a A near-miss complication is a severe obstetric complication that would probably kill the women without timely medical care.
b Woman 8 in Table 1
Relatives regarded the women's deaths as particularly tragic in light of the resources initially invested in saving them after the near miss and in treating subsequent associated health problems. Cost barriers disrupted referral chains for these women and impeded access to care for chronic health complaints, which may have indirectly or directly contributed to their deaths (Box 1). The cost barrier was particularly high for women with chronic health conditions. Lack of or inadequate treatment of pregnancy-related ailments, such as puerperal infection and anaemia, or of underlying infections or chronic conditions, such as hypertension, HIV infection, tuberculosis or malaria, appear to have contributed to several maternal deaths. These difficulties were exacerbated by social disadvantage, including a lack of social and material support, especially among single women.
Our findings show that the limited availability and poor quality of maternal health-care services can lead not only to immediate death or longer-term disability or illness in women who experience a near miss from severe pregnancy complications, but also to an increased risk of death as long as 4 years after the event. Although targeted emergency care initially saved many women who experienced obstetric complications, those who had a near miss were significantly more likely to die within the next 4 years than those who had an uncomplicated hospital delivery. Notably, these women had a higher risk of dying from a pregnancy-related cause, whether associated with the initial near miss or with the complications of a subsequent pregnancy. Single women were at a particularly high risk, perhaps because of poor material and social support. In addition, an infant born to a woman who had a near miss and subsequently died was also at an increased risk of death. The risk was higher both after the mother's death and before, as the mother may have been too sick or poor to produce breast milk or to properly care for her infant.28 By contrast, no women with an uncomplicated delivery died from a pregnancy-related cause, and the babies of those who did die survived. Although we lack survival data on women lost to follow-up, we observed that those who had a near miss were more often lost to follow-up than those who did not. Consequently, unrecorded deaths were more likely among these women than among controls.
The verbal autopsy approach used in this study has well-known limitations, including recall bias, since data are sometimes collected months or years after a death.24,29 The validity and reliability of lay respondents' reports of medical symptoms can also be problematic; their descriptions can be vague and non-medical and can point to a diagnosis that differs from the physician's. Moreover, respondents cannot provide information on signs that are not detectable without laboratory testing or clinical autopsy. Although verbal autopsies cannot unequivocally identify the immediate cause of death or exclude competing causes, they can indicate the most likely contributing factors. In the absence of death registries, verbal autopsies provide the best means of identifying the likely medical cause of death.
Women clearly remain at risk of a pregnancy-related death for longer than the 42 days used in standard definitions of maternal death.30 Consequently, the contribution of pregnancy-related deaths to mortality among women of reproductive age is likely to be underestimated. Indeed, extending the definition to include all deaths within 3 months of delivery increases current estimates of maternal mortality in low-income settings by 10% to 15%.30–32 Incorporating late maternal deaths within 1 year of the end of pregnancy would further increase the figure.
Current assessment methods may underrepresent indirect causes of maternal death, which could be aggravated by pregnancy.33 Our study showed that comorbid conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, and diseases of poverty, such as anaemia, contributed to late pregnancy-related deaths after a near miss. Except for direct obstetric complications, HIV infection was the most important contributor to pregnancy-related deaths in our study. This finding supports recent analyses that highlight the contribution of HIV infection to high maternal mortality rates in Africa.34
Our analysis of the structural constraints that limited access to health care and reduced the quality of the care received by women in our study helped us to understand the broader circumstances leading to their deaths. The relatives of women who died highlighted various possible contributing factors: premature hospital discharge; poor postpartum follow-up; inadequately treated underlying conditions; unmet need for contraception; lack of appropriate antenatal care, and inadequate emergency obstetric care in subsequent pregnancies.35 Although firm general conclusions about the health-care system cannot be drawn without supporting data from health-care providers and other stakeholders, studies from Burkina Faso11,18 and other high-mortality countries36 support our informants' reports that poor service supply and demand act as barriers to maternal health care, both during and after pregnancy.
Policy implications
Because most maternal and neonatal deaths occur around the time of delivery,13 the maternal health strategy throughout the world has long emphasized intrapartum care. This includes skilled birth attendance for all women and emergency obstetric care to prevent maternal death from direct causes such as haemorrhage, obstructed labour, hypertension, infection and anaemia.37 However, although good intrapartum care can ensure safe delivery, it does not suffice to prevent death in the aftermath of severe complications, sometimes over the long term.
Our study findings on the indirect causes of maternal death, the weaknesses in the health-care system and the social and structural barriers to health care suggest the need for a more comprehensive, life-cycle approach to women's health. The solution may be longer and more differentiated clinical management, including family planning. Moreover, we also found that underlying chronic health problems increase the risk of maternal death. The solution may be integrated health care, with integration across the entire reproductive cycle (i.e. family planning, pregnancy and delivery care, and postpartum care) and across different vertical treatment programmes, and with integration of specialist and generalist care.
It has become evident in recent years that a well-functioning health-care system and the provision of a continuum of care are essential for achieving the United Nations Millenium Development Goals pertaining to health. For instance, international policy-makers postulate a continuum of care for maternal, neonatal and child health that involves integrating health care for these different groups across time and place.38 Such a continuum would include postpartum care as a priority and provide links between reproductive and sexual health-care services and maternal health care. In addition, ways of simultaneously addressing the social and economic determinants of health are receiving increasing attention.39
Despite these policy changes and the greater priority afforded to maternal health both internationally and nationally,40 achieving a comprehensive continuum of care remains challenging. For example, few health-care services address the specific needs of women in the year following childbirth.5 More often, safe motherhood programmes in low-income countries, including Burkina Faso, are implemented vertically and focus almost exclusively on the birth period. They rarely address the underlying factors that undermine health, such as economic and social disadvantage, chronic health problems and poor access to individual, continuous and preventive health care.
In conclusion, surviving a near-miss obstetric complication is no guarantee that a pregnancy-related death has been averted. In Burkina Faso, women who experienced a near-miss complication had a higher risk of all-cause and pregnancy-related death, even 4 years later, due to a combination of medical, social and health-care-related factors. Current safe motherhood programmes emphasize emergency intrapartum obstetric care that targets the direct causes of maternal mortality. These programmes are insufficient for tackling excess mortality over the longer term. Survival in this period requires the introduction of a comprehensive continuum of care that addresses the indirect and social causes of death.
The authors thank Mélanie Akoum, Oona Campbell, Patrick Ilboudo, Birgit Kvernflaten, Hanne Lichtwarck, Tom Marshall, Nicolas Meda, Susan Murray, Fatoumata Ouattara, Thomas Ouédraogo, Carine Ronsmans, Steven Russell, Henri Somé, seminar participants at the University of Uppsala and the Christian Michelsen Institute in Bergen and all women, their relatives, health workers and interviewers involved in the study.
Immpact, the Hewlett Foundation and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (Grant number RES-183-25-0011) funded the first stages of the study. The Research Council of Norway's ECONPOP programme (Project number 199730/H30) supported verbal autopsy data collection and analysis.
Competing interests:
None declared.
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