Perinatal Care (perinatal + care)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences


Selected Abstracts


Idealized design of perinatal care

JOURNAL OF HEALTHCARE RISK MANAGEMENT, Issue S1 2006
Faith McLellan PhD
Idealized Design of Perinatal Care is an innovation project based on the principles of reliability science and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI's) model for applying these principles to improve care.1 The project builds upon similar processes developed for other clinical arenas in three previous IHI Idealized Design projects. The Idealized Design model focuses on comprehensive redesign to enable a care system to perform substantially better in the future than the best it can do at present. The goal of Idealized Design of Perinatal Care is to achieve a new level of safer, more effective care and to minimize some of the risks identified in medical malpractice cases. The model described in this white paper, Idealized Design of Perinatal Care, represents the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's best current assessment of the components of the safest and most reliable system of perinatal care. The four key components of the model are: 1) the development of reliable clinical processes to manage labor and delivery; 2) the use of principles that improve safety (i.e., preventing, detecting, and mitigating errors); 3) the establishment of prepared and activated care teams that communicate effectively with each other and with mothers and families; and 4) a focus on mother and family as the locus of control during labor and delivery. Reviews of perinatal care have consistently pointed to failures of communication among the care team and documentation of care as common factors in adverse events that occur in labor and delivery. They are also prime factors leading to malpractice claims.2 Two perinatal care "bundles", a group of evidence-based interventions related to a disease or care process that, when executed together, result in better outcomes than when implemented individually , are being tested in this Idealized Design project: the Elective Induction Bundle and the Augmentation Bundle. Experience from the use of bundles in other clinical areas, such as care of the ventilated patient, has shown that reliably applying these evidence-based interventions can dramatically improve outcomes.3 The assumption of this innovation work is that the use of bundles in the delivery of perinatal care will have a similar effect. The authors acknowledge that other organizations have also been working on improving perinatal care through the use of simulation training and teamwork and communication training. IHI's model includes elements of these methods. The Idealized Design of Perinatal Care project has two phases. Sixteen perinatal units from hospitals around the US participated in Phase I, from February to August 2005. The goals of Phase I were identifying changes that would make the most impact on improving perinatal care, selecting elements for each of the bundles, learning how to apply IHI's reliability model to improve processes, and improving the culture within a perinatal unit. This white paper provides detail about the Idealized Design process and examines some of the initial work completed by teams. Phase II, which began in September 2005, expands on this work. This phase focuses particularly on managing second stage labor, including common interpretation of fetal heart monitoring, developing a reliable tool to identify harm, and ensuring that patient preferences are known and honored. [source]


Pre- and Perinatal Care of Hispanic Families: Implications for Nurses

NURSING FOR WOMENS HEALTH, Issue 2 2007
Susan B. Darby RNC
First page of article [source]


Assessing Effective Care in Normal Labor: The Bologna Score

BIRTH, Issue 2 2001
Beverley Chalmers DSc(Med)
The intention of the "Bologna score" is to quantify, both in an individual labor and in a wider population, the extent to which labors have been managed as if they are normal as opposed to complicated. In this way it may be possible to assess both attitudes and practices within a maternity service toward the effective care of normal labor. A scoring system for normal labor was proposed at the World Health Organization (Regional Office for Europe) Task Force Meeting on Monitoring and Evaluation of Perinatal Care, held in Bologna in January 2000. This paper describes conceptual development of the scale. Recommendations for future evaluation of the Bologna score's validity and potential include field testing globally, comparison with the Apgar score, and evaluation of the relative weight contributed by each of the five measures comprising the Bologna score. [source]


Accessibility, continuity and appropriateness: key elements in assessing integration of perinatal services

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2003
Danielle D'Amour RN PhD
Abstract A trend toward the reduction in the length of hospital stays has been widely observed. This increasing shift is particularly evident in perinatal care. A stay of less than 48 hours after delivery has been shown to have no negative effects on the health of either the mother or the baby as long as they receive an adequate follow-up. This implies a close integration between hospital and community health services. The present article addresses the following questions: To what extent are postnatal services accessible to mothers and neonates? Are postnatal services in the community in continuity with those of the hospital? Are the services provided by the appropriate source of care? The authors conducted a telephone survey among 1158 mothers in a large urban area in the province of Quebec, Canada. The results were compared to clinical guidelines widely recognised by professionals. The results show serious discrepancies with these guidelines. The authors found a low accessibility to services: less than half of the mothers received a home visit by a nurse. In terms of continuity of care, less than 10% of the mothers received a follow-up telephone call within the recommended time frame and only 18% benefited from a home visit within the recommended period. Finally, despite guidelines to the contrary, hospitals continue to intervene after discharge. This results in a duplication of services for 44.7% of the new-borns. On the other hand, 40.7% are not seen in the recommended period after hospital discharge at all. These results raise concerns about the integration of services between agencies. Following earlier work, the present authors have grouped explanatory factors under four dimensions: the strategic dimension, particularly leadership; the structural dimension, including the size of the network; the technological dimension, with respect to information transmission system; and the cultural dimension, which concerns the collaboration process and the development of relationships based on trust. [source]


Eliciting individual preferences for health care: a case study of perinatal care

HEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 1 2010
Marjon Van Der Pol PhD
Abstract Objective, To demonstrate how a discrete choice experiment (DCE) can be used to elicit individuals' preferences for health care and how these preferences can be incorporated into a cost,benefit analysis. Methods, A DCE which elicited preferences for three perinatal services: specialist nurse appointments; home visits from a trained lay visitor; and home-help. Cost was included to obtain a monetary measure of the value that individuals place on the services. In total, 292 women who had previously participated in a randomized trial of alternative forms of pre-natal care were interviewed. Results, The most preferred service configuration consisted of three nurse appointments and two home visits before birth and 4 h of home-help per week for the first 4 weeks after birth. On average, women are willing to pay $371 for this package. A package that excluded home-help was valued at $122 whilst provision of three nurse appointments only was valued at $97. The predicted uptake of the services ranged from 37% to 93% depending on the woman's experience with the service, whether or not it was her first child and her level of education. Conclusion, The willingness to pay values were much higher than the costs for nurse appointments, suggesting this service produces a net social benefit. The willingness to pay for the package including both the nurse appointments and home visits only just exceeded the costs of the package, suggesting there is a relatively high chance that this package produces a net social loss. [source]


Idealized design of perinatal care

JOURNAL OF HEALTHCARE RISK MANAGEMENT, Issue S1 2006
Faith McLellan PhD
Idealized Design of Perinatal Care is an innovation project based on the principles of reliability science and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI's) model for applying these principles to improve care.1 The project builds upon similar processes developed for other clinical arenas in three previous IHI Idealized Design projects. The Idealized Design model focuses on comprehensive redesign to enable a care system to perform substantially better in the future than the best it can do at present. The goal of Idealized Design of Perinatal Care is to achieve a new level of safer, more effective care and to minimize some of the risks identified in medical malpractice cases. The model described in this white paper, Idealized Design of Perinatal Care, represents the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's best current assessment of the components of the safest and most reliable system of perinatal care. The four key components of the model are: 1) the development of reliable clinical processes to manage labor and delivery; 2) the use of principles that improve safety (i.e., preventing, detecting, and mitigating errors); 3) the establishment of prepared and activated care teams that communicate effectively with each other and with mothers and families; and 4) a focus on mother and family as the locus of control during labor and delivery. Reviews of perinatal care have consistently pointed to failures of communication among the care team and documentation of care as common factors in adverse events that occur in labor and delivery. They are also prime factors leading to malpractice claims.2 Two perinatal care "bundles", a group of evidence-based interventions related to a disease or care process that, when executed together, result in better outcomes than when implemented individually , are being tested in this Idealized Design project: the Elective Induction Bundle and the Augmentation Bundle. Experience from the use of bundles in other clinical areas, such as care of the ventilated patient, has shown that reliably applying these evidence-based interventions can dramatically improve outcomes.3 The assumption of this innovation work is that the use of bundles in the delivery of perinatal care will have a similar effect. The authors acknowledge that other organizations have also been working on improving perinatal care through the use of simulation training and teamwork and communication training. IHI's model includes elements of these methods. The Idealized Design of Perinatal Care project has two phases. Sixteen perinatal units from hospitals around the US participated in Phase I, from February to August 2005. The goals of Phase I were identifying changes that would make the most impact on improving perinatal care, selecting elements for each of the bundles, learning how to apply IHI's reliability model to improve processes, and improving the culture within a perinatal unit. This white paper provides detail about the Idealized Design process and examines some of the initial work completed by teams. Phase II, which began in September 2005, expands on this work. This phase focuses particularly on managing second stage labor, including common interpretation of fetal heart monitoring, developing a reliable tool to identify harm, and ensuring that patient preferences are known and honored. [source]


The Perinatal Patient Safety Nurse: A New Role to Promote Safe Care for Mothers and Babies

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 3 2006
Susan Brown Will
Medical malpractice premiums and costs of obstetric claims, settlements, and jury awards are at an all-time high. This article describes one professional liability company's initiative to promote safer perinatal care and decrease costs of claims, including the development of the perinatal patient safety nurse role. The primary responsibility of the perinatal patient safety nurse is to promote safe care for mothers and babies by keeping patient safety as a focus of all unit operations and clinical practices. JOGNN, 35, 417-423; 2006. DOI: 10.1111/J.1552-6909.2006.00057.x [source]


Impact of Collaborative Management and Early Admission in Labor on Method of Delivery

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 2 2003
Debra J. Jackson senior researcher
Objective: This study compared the effects of early admission in labor and perinatal care provider on delivery method. Higher spontaneous vaginal delivery rates for certified nurse midwives as compared with physicians have been reported in observational studies and randomized clinical trials. Certified nurse midwives, with their more expectant approach to labor management, would be expected to admit women later in labor than obstetricians. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 2,196 low-risk pregnancies, with singleton, vertex infants admitted in spontaneous labor. Independent and joint effects of perinatal care provider and cervical dilation at admission on delivery method were evaluated. Confounding was addressed using restriction and multiple regression. Results: Fewer (23.4%) women in collaborative care were admitted in early labor (< 4 cm cervical dilation) than women managed by obstetricians (95% CI =,27.6 to ,19.2). Obstetrician care had 9% to 30% fewer spontaneous vaginal deliveries. Women admitted early in labor also had 6% to 34% fewer spontaneous vaginal deliveries. Evaluation of joint effects suggested that interaction between obstetrician provider and earlier admission increased the risk of operative delivery. Conclusion: Later admission in labor (at 4 cm or greater cervical dilation) and management of perinatal care by certified nurse midwives in collaboration with obstetricians increased the rate of spontaneous vaginal delivery in low-risk women. [source]


Dilemmas encountered by health practitioners offering nuchal translucency screening: a qualitative case study

PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 3 2002
Clare Williams
Abstract Objective To explore dilemmas experienced by practitioners involved in routine prenatal nuchal translucency (NT) screening. Design Qualitative study incorporating multidisciplinary practitioner discussion groups led by a health care ethicist. Setting Inner-city teaching hospital with fetal medicine unit. Participants Thirty-two practitioners whose work relates directly or indirectly to perinatal care. Results Practitioners identified a number of dilemmas, many of which centred on the tension between pregnancy being seen as a normal or a ,risky' time. Practitioners and women were perceived to have contrasting reasons for screening, with women welcoming the opportunity to ,see' their baby on the ultrasound scan, whilst practitioners were screening for abnormalities. These differing agendas led to various dilemmas particularly in relation to information giving, performing scans incorporating NT screening and promoting individual client choice. Conclusions Plans to introduce routine NT screening need careful prospective consideration of the potential implications for both providers and users of the service. The discussion groups also identified the need for training in the complex communication skills required and an awareness of the related ethical dilemmas, plus the need for increased time and resources to enable practitioners to promote informed choice. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Ethnicity and fetal growth in Fiji

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2004
Matthews MATHAI
Abstract Background:, Indigenous Fijians and the descendants of Asian Indians constitute the two major ethnic groups in Fiji. There are differences between the two groups in perinatal outcomes. Aims:, To study fetal growth patterns in the two ethnic groups and to ascertain the influence, if any, of ethnicity on fetal growth. Methods:, A longitudinal study was carried out on women with sure dates, regular cycles, no known risk factor complicating pregnancy and having their first antenatal examination before 20 weeks. Symphysis-fundal height, biparietal diameter, abdominal circumference and femur length were measured by the same observer at recruitment and at follow-up visits until delivery. Infant measurements were recorded soon after birth. Results:, Indian babies were on average 795 g lighter, had 5.5 days shorter mean length of gestation and slower growth of biparietal diameter and abdominal circumference when compared to Fijian babies. Ethnicity of the mother was significantly associated with the difference in growth even after adjusting for other factors known to influence fetal growth. Conclusion:, Given the ethnic differences in fetal growth and maturation, it would be appropriate to use ethnicity-specific standards for perinatal care in Fiji. [source]


Perinatal services and outcomes in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 10 2010
Nguyen T Nga
Abstract Aim:, We report baseline results of a community-based randomized trial for improved neonatal survival in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam (NeoKIP; ISRCTN44599712). The NeoKIP trial seeks to evaluate a method of knowledge implementation called facilitation through group meetings at local health centres with health staff and community key persons. Facilitation is a participatory enabling approach that, if successful, is well suited for scaling up within health systems. The aim of this baseline report is to describe perinatal services provided and neonatal outcomes. Methods:, Survey of all health facility registers of service utilization, maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths during 2005 in the province. Systematic group interviews of village health workers from all communes. A Geographic Information System database was also established. Results:, Three quarters of pregnant women had ,3 visits to antenatal care. Two hundred and five health facilities, including 18 hospitals, provided delivery care, ranging from 1 to 3258 deliveries/year. Totally there were 17 519 births and 284 neonatal deaths in the province. Neonatal mortality rate was 16/1000 live births, ranging from 10 to 44/1000 in the different districts, with highest rates in the mountainous parts of the province. Only 8% had home deliveries without skilled attendance, but those deliveries resulted in one-fifth of the neonatal deaths. Conclusion:, A relatively good coverage of perinatal care was found in a Vietnamese province, but neonatal mortality varied markedly with geography and level of care. A remaining small proportion of home deliveries generated a substantial part of mortality. [source]


Incidence of and risk factors for neonatal morbidity after active perinatal care: extremely preterm infants study in Sweden (EXPRESS)

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 7 2010
The EXPRESS Group
Abstract Aims:, The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of neonatal morbidity in extremely preterm infants and to identify associated risk factors. Methods:, Population based study of infants born before 27 gestational weeks and admitted for neonatal intensive care in Sweden during 2004,2007. Results:, Of 638 admitted infants, 141 died. Among these, life support was withdrawn in 55 infants because of anticipation of poor long-term outcome. Of 497 surviving infants, 10% developed severe intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), 5.7% cystic periventricular leucomalacia (cPVL), 41% septicaemia and 5.8% necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC); 61% had patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and 34% developed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) stage ,3. Eighty-five per cent needed mechanical ventilation and 25% developed severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Forty-seven per cent survived to one year of age without any severe IVH, cPVL, severe ROP, severe BPD or NEC. Tocolysis increased and prolonged mechanical ventilation decreased the chances of survival without these morbidities. Maternal smoking and higher gestational duration were associated with lower risk of severe ROP, whereas PDA and poor growth increased this risk. Conclusion:, Half of the infants surviving extremely preterm birth suffered from severe neonatal morbidities. Studies on how to reduce these morbidities and on the long-term health of survivors are warranted. [source]


Geographic variations in outcome of very low birth weight infants in Italy

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 1 2007
Carlo Corchia
Abstract Aim: A number of social and health aspects in Italy show remarkable geographic dishomogeneity. We investigated if this phenomenon involves the outcome of very low birth-weight infants (VLBWI). Methods: This is a multi-centre nation-based survey among all Italian NICUs. The number of VLBWI admitted to each NICU in 2001 by birth-weight classes of 250 g, their inborn/outborn status and survival at discharge were registered through ad hoc questionnaires. The data were analysed for the whole country and for three geographic areas (North, Centre and South). Results: A total of 4679 VLBWI in 125 units were surveyed (0.88% of live births in Italy in 2001). The median number of infants admitted was 34 per NICU (interquartile range 16,52), without significant differences among the three geographic areas. The inborn rate was 80.7% (86.5% in the North, 83.7% in the Centre and 74.6% in the South). The mortality rate was 19.6% (15.6% in the North, 19.3% in the Centre and 23.4% in the South). Adjusted relative risk of death between Southern and Northern regions was 1.48 (95% CI 1.30,1.68), and that between outborn and inborn infants was 1.20 (95% CI 1.04,1.37). Conclusions: The differences in mortality among geographic areas suggest a state of socio-sanitary deprivation in the Southern regions, as well as different models of organisation and quality of perinatal care. [source]