What's new in midwifery - 26th September 2018

Welcome to the University of Leicester’s first cohort of midwifery students, who started this week!

Some recent things you (and they) might need to know about.

In the news

Global health: teen pregnancy in Uganda

Baby Neve appears at the UN General Assembly

Why do women still die giving birth? 

Research reported in the news

Midwives call for pregnancy weight targets after studyhighlights health risks
News report of a study in Diabetologia - , The impact of maternal gestational weight gain on cardiometabolic risk factors in children

Too much gluten while pregnant linked to increased diabetesrisk for babyNews report of a study in the BMJ, Association between maternal gluten intake and type 1 diabetes in offspring: national prospective cohort study in Denmark, 

Public Health England: Immunisation schedule

These immunisation schedules have been updated:

·       Complete routine immunisation scheduleRoutine childhood immunisation schedule, 

NHS England Atlas of Shared Learning

The following case studies have been added to the Atlas of Shared LearningSeeking maternity feedback to improve care – Pennine Acute Hospitals

History

The Forgotten Frontier: Nursing Done in Wild Places

Piece from the (US) National Library of Medicine, about the Frontier Nursing Service and the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery, set up to work in underserved communities in the USA, in 1925.      The Graduate School survives today as a university.

What's new in midwifery - 19th September 2018

Some recent things you might need to know about.

Professional Records Standards Body
Standard for maternity care records to support the introduction of digital maternity records in England.

Research

NIHR Signals
Inducing labour at or after 41 weeks reduces risks to infants
Appraisal of Cochrane Review looking at induction of labour for women at or beyond term

NHS England case studies
Hertfordshire perinatal mental healthcommunity services

NICE consultations

• Neonatal infection (early onset): antibiotics for prevention and treatment: Draft scope consultation.  Closing date for comments: 12 October 2018.
  
  
• Intrapartum care for women with existing medical conditions or obstetric complications and their babies: Draft guidance consultation. Closing date for comments: 23 October 2018.
  

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ National Guideline Alliance

Report examining twin pregnancy costs.  Outlines costs to the NHS, and discusses implications of increase in multiple pregnancy rate

Royal College of Midwives

State of Maternity Services Report 2018 – England

In the news

The state has no right to stop me learning the sex of my unborn child

Don’t tell women to shut up about childbirth. Sharing stories saves lives

Rise in childbirth terror disorder 'fuelled by social media'

‘Yes he’s alive but I’m not OK’: the bloody truth about childbirth

Full Fact investigation of claims made by the Labour Party that last year half of maternity units in England had been forced to close temporarily

What's new in midwifery - 12th September 2018

Some recent things you might need to know about.

Statistics

Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery, England - Quarter 1, 2018-19

Research

New England Journal of Medicine
Perspective: Protecting mothers and babies – a delicate balancing act.
Pregnant women are often not included in clinical trials and this affects the amount of data available about prescribing some medications in pregnancy.

BMJ
Intramuscular versus intravenous oxytocin to prevent postpartum haemorrhage at vaginal delivery: randomised controlled trial


News

Men get postnatal depression, too

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (USA)Complications during birth climb in U.S. hospitals

From STAT Morning Rounds:

“There’s been a sharp increase in the proportion of women who experience serious complications while giving birth in U.S. hospitals. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that the number of women experiencing severe issues during birth — including acute renal failure, shock, and sepsis — rose 45 percent from 2006 to 2015. That year, there were 147 cases of severe maternal complications per 10,000 births. Complications were particularly common among women who were uninsured or covered by Medicaid, those over age 40, and those who lived in large urban areas.”

The report is at https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb243-Severe-Maternal-Morbidity-Delivery-Trends-Disparities.jsp

Sources: Embed Health Consortium Health Bulletin, King’s Fund Library Health Management and Policy Alert, STAT Morning Rounds, BMJ

What's new in midwifery - 5th September 2018

Some recent things you might need to know about.

There was no post last week as I was on my holidays, so here is two weeks’ worth.

Valproate and pregnancy

Letter in the BMJ about circumstances in which a woman of childbearing age may be unable to stop taking valproate.

Maternal request caesarean

Birthrights report from August 2018, according to King’s Fund Library “This report, the result of a nationwide Freedom of Information Act request, shows that the majority of NHS trusts in the UK make the process of requesting a caesarean lengthy, difficult or inconsistent adding anxiety and distress to women at a vulnerable time.”

NICE

Surveillance reports (these report decisions to update, or not, existing guidance).

Pregnancy and complex social factors: a model for service provision for pregnant women with complex social factors (CG110, 2010) – this will not be updated.  Details of the decision are here. 

Medtech innovation briefing

MIB155 - Neon EEG electrode for EEG monitoring in newborns

In the news (all from the Guardian)

NHS maternity units were forced to close 287 times last year

Inquiry into deaths at NHS maternity unit widened (Shrewsbury and Telford)

Express yourself! Celebrity mums lead breast pump boom

Statistics

Maternity services statistics for England, May 2018 (NHS)

Quarterly conceptions to women aged under 18 in England andWales: April – June 2017 (Office for National Statistics)

Sources
BMJ alerts, King’s Fund Library Health Management and Policy Alert, Embed Health Consortium Health Bulletin ... and reading the Guardian on the train!