What's new in midwifery - 22nd August 2024

Some things that might be useful.   Librarian help or a subscription may be needed to access some items.

Vaccinations and treatments during pregnancy

Covid-19 infection and vaccination during first trimester and risk of congenital anomalies: Nordic registry based study.

Perinatal Outcomes Associated With Metformin Use During Pregnancy in Women With Pregestational Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Pregnancy Outcomes of Nifedipine Compared With Labetalol for Oral Treatment of Mild Chronic Hypertension, PubMed record.

UK Health Security Agency, Guidance on the investigation, diagnosis and management of viral illness (plus syphilis), or exposure to viral rash illness, in pregnancy  (PDF file)

UK Health Security Agency, Respiratory syncytial virus: maternal vaccination, 

Vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy, Cochrane review, 

Position statements and papers, and Good practice papers

Royal College of Midwives Position Statement, Advanced practice in midwifery, PDF

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Good Practice Paper no. 19, Prevention and treatment of work-related post-traumatic stress symptoms in the maternity and gynaecology workforce.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Position Statement, Poverty, deprivation and women's health, PDF 

Research

Comparing cervical cerclage, pessary and vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm birth in women with a short cervix (SuPPoRT): A multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Panniculus retractor use for visualization of fetal anatomy: a randomized controlled trial, PubMed record. 

Vaginal progesterone for pregnancy prolongation after arrested preterm labor: a randomized clinical trial. 

Postpartum primary care engagement using default scheduling and tailored messaging, a randomized clinical trial.

Statistics

Breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks, quarterly data for 2023-2024, Office for Health Improvements and Disparities.

What's new in midwifery - research - 11th July 2024

Some things it might be useful to know about.  Subscriptions or a librarian will be needed for access to some.

Anti seizure medications

Research into the risk of autism after prenatal topiramate, valproate, or lamotrigine exposure.  These are three anti seizure medications.   All three are in the BNF (assuming valproate = sodium valproate) and all three have safety warnings about use in pregnancy.  The BNF entry for topiramate reports the MHRA are conducting a review and there is a news item on the MHRA website reporting this.

For interest, there is also an updated practice guideline from three American organisations, published in Neurology.

Metformin

Research into the use of metformin in early pregnancy.

Induction for hypertension of pregnancy

Oral misoprostol, compared with oral misoprostol and oxytocin, in women induced for hypertension of pregnancy. 

Episiotomy

Lateral episiotomy compared with no episiotomy.

Pain relief after episiotomy.

Magnesium sulfate (sulphate) as a fetal neuroprotective agent

There is an updated Cochrane review on magnesium sulfate as a fetal neuroprotective agent given to individuals at risk of preterm birth, with an open access article about it, and the actual review itself available in the Cochrane Library.

RSV vaccination in pregnancy

Another updated Cochrane review, on respiratory syncytial virus vaccination in pregnancy for improving infant outcomes.

Water births

The Guardian reports a recent research study into the safety of water births.   It does not link to the research, but I think it's this open access study from the splendidly named POOL study.   

Lactation

Does relaxation therapy improve lactation?   

RCOG Green Top Guidelines

No. 31, on the care of the small for gestational age or growth restricted fetus. 

Labour and delivery nurses

A concept analysis of psychological trauma in labour and delivery nurses.

What's new in midwifery - 11th July 2024

Some recent (or fairly recent) reports and statistics that might be useful:

Smoking status at time of delivery, NHS Digital, statistics for quarter 4 of 2023/24

British Association for Perinatal Medicine, draft Framework for Practice: Routine pulse oximetry testing for newborn babies  (PDF file)

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - Our Impact, July 2022 - December 2023

Nursing and Midwifery Council Independent Culture Review, Nazir Afzal and Rise Associates, July 2024 (PDF file)

Royal College of Midwives, How to fix and improve maternity safety, May 2024 (PDF file).

Nuffield Trust project report on Maternity & neonatal independent senior advocates (a rapid mixed methods evaluation)

Acknowledgements: King's Fund Library alerts, Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service Latest Health News.

What's new in midwifery - Listen to mums

This is the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma, which was published yesterday.  There was an enquiry set up in January 2024 to look at the reasons for birth trauma, and to develop policy recommendations.

The report itself, on the website of Theo Clarke MP, one of the APPG chairs.  This is a PDF file.

The Guardian's summary of the themes.

The Guardian's report about the launch of the report.

What's new in midwifery - 15th April 2024

Selected new (or newish) items of interest.  I am trying with this one to use DOIs as the link, please consult your library service, if you have access to one, if you have trouble accessing full text.

In the news, Guardian analysis of NHS figures shows black women in England are more likely to have serious birth complications, 

Some systematic reviews and research

Effectiveness of care bundles in preventing postpartum haemorrhage, a systematic review,  

Socio-economic disadvantage and utilisation of labour epidural analgesia, a study carried out in Scotland, 

A systematic review of maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with water birth,

Use of a peanut ball, positioning and pelvic mobility in parturient women shortens labour and improves maternal satisfaction with childbirth: a randomised trial,   

Deferred cord clamping to improve neonatal blood values: A systematic review and meta-analysis, 

Society of Radiographers guidance

Competencies for ultrasound practice in private baby scan clinics 

NHS staff policy

NHS England National pregnancy and baby loss people framework, policy that applies to NHS staff themselves who experience pregnancy or baby loss.

What's new in midwifery - 19th February 2024

Not sure where the time went, but here are some things that might be useful to know.    

Respectful maternity care

Respectful maternity care, a systematic review .  This is a systematic review of definitions and valid measurements of "respectful maternity care".  There is a published correction detailing errors in some of the published tables.  There is also an AHRQ (the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) Comparative Effectiveness Review on the topic. 

Recommendations and research

WHO recommendations on the assessment of postpartum blood loss and use of a treatment bundle for postpartum haemorrhage.

The effect of subsequent pregnancy and childbirth on stress urinary incontinence recurrence following midurethral sling procedure: a meta-analysis. 

Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Postpartum Depression in Women With Prenatal Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Clinical Practice Guideline no. 8: first and second stage labor management.

Other things

Tales from Call the Midwife podcast series, including stories from people who have experienced or remember events described or portrayed in the series.   

Observer article on perinatal mental health, including information about organisations.

Acknowledgements: Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service Latest Health News blog; McMaster Evidence Alerts, Heather Dawson (LSE)'s Social sciences updates.

What's new in midwifery - 4th January 2024 (Happy New Year!)

Some things that might be useful to know about

Perinatal bereavement

SANDS Listening Project, learning from the experiences of Black and Asian bereaved parents (PDF)

Infant feeding

Breastfeeding and once-daily small-volume formula supplementation to prevent infant growth impairment,  (open access research article)

Perinatal mental health

Perinatal mental health conditions, SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network) Guideline 169
 

Delivery

Perinatal morbidity among women with a previous caesarean delivery (PRISMA trial): a cluster-randomised trial, link to PubMed record (subscription needed to read the article)

Vaginal compared with oral misoprostol induction at term: a cluster randomized controlled trial, link to PubMed record (subscription needed to read the article) 

Statistics

NHS Digital Maternity services monthly statistics, final for September 2023, provisional for October 2023, and experimental statistics.

Acknowledgements: McMaster Evidence Alerts, Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service Latest Health News.

What's new in midwifery - 19th December 2023

First of all, season's greetings and best wishes for a peaceful and happy 2024.

Some new things you might find useful.

Royal Colleges

Royal College of Nursing resource for nursing and midwifery practice about female genital mutilation (PDF).  There is also this supplement about sexual health care (also PDF)

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Good Practice Paper no. 17, Maternity triage (PDF)

New publications from MBRRACE

Perinatal confidential enquiry, A comparison of the care of Black and White women who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, published December 2023 (PDF)

Perinatal confidential enquiry, A comparison of the care of Asian and White women  who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, published December 2023 (PDF)

House of Lords Library

Maternal mortality rates in the Black community, published 12th December 2023

Research

Active pelvic movements on a Swiss ball reduced labour duration, pain, fatigue and anxiety in parturient women: a randomised trial.   Link to record in PubMed - follow full text link to access the article, which is open access.

My usual thanks to colleagues at the Library and Knowledge Service at Rotherham Hospital for their Latest Health News, which alerted me to a lot of the above, and McMaster's Evidence Alerts.

What's new in midwifery - 8th December 2023

Guidance and education resources

Royal College of Nursing, Genital examination in women: a resource for skills development and assessment (PDF)

NHS England, Maternity and neonatal voices partnership guidance,  part of the Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services 

Research

Labour and childbirth

Barriers and facilitators of implementing the practice programme for upright positions in the second stage of labour: A mixed‐method study   Research undertaken in Chinese healthcare settings.    Subscription or library access may be needed to see the full text.

Impact of discontinuing oxytocin in active labour on neonatal morbidity: an open-label, multicentre, randomised trial    Report of the STOPOXY trial carried out in France.  PubMed record.  Subscription or library access needed for access to full text.

Insights of healthcare professionals regarding waterbirths and water immersion during labour: A mixed studies review.  Subscription or library access needed for access to full text.

Intravenous calcium to decrease blood loss during intrapartum cesarean delivery: a randomized controlled trial, PubMed record.  Subscription or Library access needed for access to the full text.

Short, medium, and long deferral of umbilical cord clamping compared with umbilical cord milking and immediate clamping at preterm birth: a systematic review and network meta-analysis with individual participant data.   PubMed record. Subscription or Library access needed for access to the full text.

Infant feeding

Complementary feeding interventions for infants and young children under age 2: scoping of promising interventions to implement at the community or state level , report commissioned by the (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

How resources combining expertise and social support help breastfeeding women address self-doubt and increase breastfeeding self-efficacy: a mixed-methods study.  Subscription or Library access needed for access to the full text.

Antenatal education and care

Diabetes group prenatal care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  PubMed record.  Subscription or Library access needed for access to the full paper.

Women's experiences of online antenatal education: An integrative literature review.  Open access.   

Other

Desmopressin to prevent and treat bleeding in pregnant women with an inherited bleeding disorder: a systematic literature review.  Open access.

Acknowledgements: Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service Latest Health News; McMaster Evidence Alerts.

What's new in midwifery - other things - 17th November 2023

Some other new (ish) items, that don't fit one of the previous posts...

RCOG Green top guideline on recurrent miscarriage

RCM report on the state of maternity services Scotland 

RCM Engaging dads pocket guide 

Three news stories:

Why is pre eclampsia still causing deaths 

Death rate of black babies rising - report about National Child Mortality Database, 

Home help for 8 days after giving birth, the Dutch kraamzorg (="maternity care") scheme. This page from Amsterdam Mamas, in English, tells you more about the scheme. 

Infant feeding: 

WHO guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6-23 months of age (PDF)

Many of these are from the Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service's Latest health news blog , with grateful acknowledgement

What's new in midwifery - research - 17th November 2023

Not so new, again, but still useful, I hope.

Can we improve discussions with pregnant women about previous trauma,  NIHR plain language summary of a research study.

Role of midwives (and other health professionals) in responding to gender based violence,  an editorial (open access); and a research study on the preparedness of nurses and midwives about domestic violence and abuse (also open access).

Peripartum cardiomyopathy - 20 year population study (also open access).

What's new in midwifery - audit - 17th November 2023

Quite some time since the last post, apologies, so some of this is not so new anymore.    

MBBRACE  State of the nation surveillance report, 

MBRRACE Lessons learned from 2019-21 (PDF)

MBRRACE Themed reports, with a second set.   

National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP) summary report on 2022 data, 

National Pregnancy in Diabetes Audit 2021 and 2022

Acknowledgements: Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service, HQIP.

What's new in midwifery - 13th September 2023 - other material

And some other types of material.

First, a House of Commons Library briefing on the quality and safety of maternity care in England (PDF).

Then a review article in the New England Journal of Medicine, on defining the neurologic consequences of preterm birth.  

And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Clinical Practice Guideline no. 6, on Viral hepatitis in pregnancy.  The link is to the record in PubMed.  

What's new in midwifery - 13th September 2023 - Research

First, some original research that it might be useful to know about:

Cervical Pessary for Prevention of Preterm Birth in Individuals With a Short Cervix: The TOPS Randomized Clinical Trial.  

Effectiveness and Costs of Molecular Screening and Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis to Prevent Preterm Birth: The AuTop Randomized Clinical Trial.    

Group vs Individual Prenatal Care and Gestational Diabetes Outcomes: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. 

Mid-trimester uterine artery Doppler for aspirin discontinuation in pregnancies at high risk for preterm pre-eclampsia: Post-hoc analysis of StopPRE trial.  

Prenatal Intravenous Magnesium at 30-34 Weeks' Gestation and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Offspring: The MAGENTA Randomized Clinical Trial.  This one was conducted in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand.

And some systematic reviews:

Cervical cerclage for prevention of preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcome in twin pregnancies with short cervical length or cervical dilatation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  

Contingency management interventions for abstinence from cigarette smoking in pregnancy and postpartum: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  

The proportions of term or late preterm births after exposure to early antenatal corticosteroids, and outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis of 1.6 million infants.  

What's new in midwifery - 2nd August 2023 - reports

Some recent reports you might find useful.   And one piece of research that escaped from the earlier blogpost.

Maternal mental health: a briefing for integrated care systems, Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

The Independent Pregnancy Loss Review: care and support when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks gestation, presented to Parliament (PDF).

Royal College of Midwives: England: State of maternity services, 2023. 

NHS Race and Health Observatory, Review of neonatal assessment and practice in Black, Asian and minority ethnic newborns: Exploring the Apgar score, the detection of cyanosis, and jaundice (PDF), covered in the Guardian.

Observer analysis of CQC reports on maternity services. 

Nursing and Midwifery Council: The best midwifery care happens in partnership.

SANDS and Tommy's Policy Unit, Saving babies' lives report 2023 (PDF).

Optimal cord management, post from Library and Knowledge Service at Rotherham Hospital, referring to NHS England and other material. 

NHS Digital, Maternity Services Monthly Statistics (final for March 2023, provisional for April 2023).   

The piece of research that escaped is:

Experience of induction of labour: a cross-sectional postnatal survey of women at UK maternity units.

What's not so new in midwifery - 2nd August 2023

This selection got as far as a blogpost which I then forgot to publish.   So, a bit late, here it is! 

From the US Agency for Healthcare Research adn Quality (as the second key question might suggest), a systematic review and meta-analysis of postpartum care up to 1 year after pregnancy.   

A Cochrane review on hand hygiene in neonatal care. 

A randomised controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of propanolol to reduce cesarean delivery in prolonged labour.

A systematic review comparing reduced with traditional schedules for routine antenatal visits, and differences in maternal and child outcomes. 

What's new in midwifery - 2nd August 2023 - Research

Some recent research you might like to know about.  Payment, a subscription, or if you have one, a librarian, might be needed to get full text access.

Acupuncture and doxylamine-pyridoxine for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy : a randomized, controlled, 2 x 2 factorial trial. 

Real-time imaging as visual biofeedback in active second stage of labor among nulliparas: a randomized controlled trial. 

The effect of virtual reality glasses applied during the episiotomy on pain and satisfaction: a single blind randomized controlled study.

Efficacy of early intrauterine balloon tamponade for immediate postpartum hemorrhage after vaginal delivery: a randomized clinical trial.

Aspirin delays the onset of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among nulliparous pregnant women: A secondary analysis of the ASPIRIN trial.

Vaginal progesterone for preventing preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcomes in twin gestations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cesarean delivery rate in nulliparous women in the second stage of labor when using Zhang compared with Friedman labor curves: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Global health

Pregnancy outcomes in women with heart disease: the Madras Medical College Pregnancy And Cardiac (M-PAC) Registry from India.

Planned delivery or expectant management for late preterm pre-eclampsia in low-income and middle-income countries (CRADLE-4): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Perinatal mental health

The effect of digital health interventions for postpartum depression or anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Treatment and management of mental health conditions during pregnancy and postpartum: ACOG Clinical Practice Guideline No. 5.

What's new in midwifery - 16th June 2023 - disparities in maternal health

First a Lancet meta-analysis of the effect of race and ethnicity on perinatal outcomes in higher income countries.  The Lancet article is open access.  There is also this plain language summary from the NIHR.

Then, the Black Maternity Experiences Survey, about the UK (PDF, on the Latest Health News blog from Rotherham Hospital Library and Knowledge Service), by Five X More.

And Invisible: maternity experiences of Muslim women from racialised minority communities (PDF) from Muslim Women's Network UK.

What's new in midwifery - 13th June 2023 (2)

Some new research.    Most of this identified through McMaster's Evidence Alerts, so thanks to them.   I have given links to the article (subscription, payment or librarian intervention may be needed to access the full article) or in some cases, the record in PubMed.

Three relating to perinatal mental health

Internet delivered psychological interventions for reducing depressive, anxiety symptoms and fear of childbirth in pregnant women - a systematic review.

An interactive childbirth education platform to improve pregnancy-related anxiety - an RCT.

Another RCT, Effect of immediate referral vs a brief problem-solving intervention for screen-detected peripartum depression

Labour and delivery

Comparison of maternal labor-related complications and neonatal outcomes following elective induction of labor at 39 weeks of gestation vs expectant management: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The REDUCED trial: a cluster randomized trial for REDucing the utilization of CEsarean delivery for dystocia

An update of a Cochrane systematic review, Cephalic version by moxibustion for breech presentation

Postpartum haemorrhage

Randomized trial of early detection and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage

Diabetes

Interventions to enhance pre-pregnancy care for women with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review of the literature

Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosed Early in Pregnancy

Other things

A longitudinal study looking at the effect of physical activity on symptoms, physical or psychological, experienced during pregnancy 

Development, evaluation and adaptation of a critical realism informed theory of procedural pain management in preterm infants: The PAIN-Neo theory

What's new in midwifery - 13th June 2023 - policy, surveys and statistics

Some new things you might want to know about.

First, a Guardian report of a survey in which more than one in ten woman surveyed reported problems bonding with their newborn.   Undertaken by the Parent-Infant Foundation, it also reported lack of information from health professionals.

Then, the NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group, at the request of the RCN and RCM, has produced a national job profile review (PDF file - and thanks to the Latest Health News blog from the Library and Knowledge Service at Rotherham Hospital for this one).

Rotherham's Latest Health News also reports the technical guidance for NHS England's Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternal and Neonatal Care

 And NHS Digital's statistics on FGM, for January - March 2023.  (Thanks to the King's Fund Library's Health Management and Policy Alert for that one).