01/07/2025

TUESDAY | JULY 1, 2025

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Dedicated homemakers J UGGLING daycare and school schedules, divvying up household chores, coordinating family schedules – for many o Can management of family life translate into professional skill set?

were parents and full-time employees. The aim was to understand how family organisation can influence work performance, and the findings are surprising. While juggling family life and professional obligations can feel like a daily struggle, those who develop coping strategies fare better than others. Scientists have dubbed this dynamic “strategic renewal”. It manifests itself in many ways in everyday family life: reorganising childcare arrangements, rearranging living spaces to optimise teleworking, creating quiet areas dedicated to concentration, setting up shared schedules, or introducing screen-free times to strengthen family bonds. By regaining control over their domestic organisation, these parents develop confidence and strategic approaches that directly benefit their professional lives and make them more creative in the face of change. “These kinds of deliberate, future-oriented adjustments enable families to respond flexibly to changing demands. (They) build confidence, reduce stress and enhance overall functioning at home and at work,” explained Dr Siqi Wang, who is a lecturer in leadership and management at Aston Business School and co-author of the study, in a statement. These findings take on particular resonance given the current trend for hybrid working. “As hybrid and flexible work

parents, managing daily life can feel like a logistical feat. Long perceived as duties that lead to stress and exhaustion, these family responsibilities could, on the contrary, actually prove to be an unexpected asset in the professional sphere. An international research team spent six weeks following 147 dual-income couples, all of whom

Organising your home is not a waste of time. models become the norm, the boundaries between home and work continue to blur. It is important that employers recognise how home dynamics influence workplace performance,” observed Yasin Rofcanin, who is a professor and chair of organisational psychology and human resource management at the University of Bath. Published in the Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology , this study suggested companies can amplify these benefits by rethinking their managerial approaches. Researchers recommended investing in programmes that include training on work-family dynamics, coaching and flexible work arrangements. Wellness

The challenges of everyday family life can be viewed as laboratories where organisational skills are forged.

The challenges of everyday family life become laboratories where the skills of tomorrow are forged. For working parents, this realisation offers a new perspective: their efforts to organise their home life are not a waste of time, but rather an investment in their professional development. – ETX Studio

programmes, counselling services and assistance with family caregiving can also play a key role. All of this has the potential to shake up traditional perceptions of work-life balance. Rather than viewing these two worlds as opposing forces, this approach revealed their potential for synergy.

Parents can develop confidence in their professional lives.

GYNAE SAYS

Vital step during pregnancy WHAT is amniocenthesis? It is a procedure that takes out a small sample of the amniotic fluid for testing. This is the fluid that earlier procedure has higher complications, such as limb deformations and a higher incidence of miscarriages. What are the risk for amniocenthesis?

surrounds the foetus in pregnancy. Amniotic fluid is a clear, pale yellow fluid that protects the foetus from injury and against infection. Amniocentesis is primarily a medical procedure used in the prenatal diagnosis of genetic conditions. It has other uses – for instance, in the assessment of infection and fetal lung maturity. How is it done? The pregnant women will be laid down and her abdomen will be cleaned by an antiseptic agent. Under the guidance of a real time ultrasound procedure, a long but fine amniocenthesis needle will be inserted through the abdomen to extract a sample of amniotic fluid. The procedure can be carried out with or without local anaesthetic as it may cause similar pain. Some amniotic fluid will be taken out for testing – usually 1cc per week of gestation will be taken out. The test is usually carried out from 15 weeks of pregnancy as an

There is a small chance that an amniocentesis could cause a miscarriage (less than 1%, or approximately one in 1,000 to one in 43,000). Injury to you or your baby, infection, bleeding at punc ture site and preterm labour are other possible problems that can happen but are extremely rare. However, your chances of having complication are higher if you are carrying twins. What tests can be done? One of the most common tests is karyotyping that takes a look at the 23 chromosomes to detect abnormalities such as trisomies – which include Down Syndrome, Edward Syndrome and Patau Syndrome. Sex chromosome abnormalites such as Turner’s Syndrome and triploidies can also be diagnosed. The microarray analysis test is used to find out if your child has a medical condition caused by a missing or extra piece of

One of the most common tests is karyotyping that takes a look at the 23 chromosomes to detect abnormalities. – ALL PICS FROM PEXELS

Amniocentesis is a medical procedure for prenatal diagnosis. is especially important in finding missing segments of a chromosome commonly known as microdeletions. A microarray can be a useful test to try and find the cause of unexplained issues with learning, physical development or behaviour. It may also be used to help find a diagnosis for people with unexplained birth defects or medical problems, such as seizures. Microarray is the first-line investigation for patients with developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy or congenital abnormalities Whole Exome Sequencing is a comprehensive genetic test that identifies the genetic cause of chromosome material. It

only 1% to 2% of all genes provide instructions, or code, for proteins, which are the building blocks of cells. This “coding” portion of the genome is called an exome. Though it is possible to sequence or map out a person’s entire genome, it is costly and requires a great deal of computer storage to house such large amounts of data. Because researchers estimate 85% of all disease-causing genetic variants can be found in the exome, whole-exome sequencing is more commonly done . This article is contributed by consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist, maternal fetal medicine Datuk Dr H. Krishna Kumar.

your child’s signs and symptoms. It identifies up to 85% of all known genetic abnormalities. It is currently the most extensive test that can be done on amniotic fluid for the unborn foetus. What is an exome? The human genome, the term for an individual’s complete set of DNA, is made up of three billion “letters” (called base pairs). These are, in turn, crammed into 23 pairs of thread-like structures called chromosomes, which are inside every cell in the body. A particular sequence of letters (or DNA) forms a gene and it provides instructions for cellular processes in the body. However, not all DNA does this. Researchers have established