Prenatal screening for congenital anomalies: exploring midwives’ perceptions of counseling clients with religious backgrounds

BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, prenatal screening follows an opting in system and comprises two non-invasive tests: the combined test to screen for trisomy 21 at 12 weeks of gestation and the fetal anomaly scan to detect structural anomalies at 20 weeks. Midwives counsel about prenatal screening tests for congenital anomalies and they are increasingly having to counsel women from religious backgrounds beyond their experience. This study assessed midwives’ perceptions and practices regarding taking client’s religious backgrounds into account during counseling. As Islam is the commonest non-western religion, we were particularly interested in midwives’ knowledge of whether pregnancy termination is allowed in Islam. METHODS: This exploratory study is part of the DELIVER study, which evaluated primary care midwifery in the Netherlands between September 2009 and January 2011. A questionnaire was sent to all 108 midwives of the twenty practices participating in the study. RESULTS: Of 98 respondents (response rate 92%), 68 (69%) said they took account of the client’s religion. The two main reasons for not doing so were that religion was considered irrelevant in the decision-making process and that it should be up to clients to initiate such discussions. Midwives’ own religious backgrounds were independent of whether they paid attention to the clients’ religious backgrounds. Eighty midwives (82%) said they did not counsel Muslim women differently from other women. Although midwives with relatively many Muslim clients had more knowledge of Islamic attitudes to terminating pregnancy in general than midwives with relatively fewer Muslim clients, the specific knowledge of termination regarding trisomy 21 and other congenital anomalies was limited in both groups. CONCLUSION: While many midwives took client’s religion into account, few knew much about Islamic beliefs on prenatal screening for congenital anomalies. Midwives identified a need for additional education. To meet the needs of the changing client population, counselors need more knowledge of religious opinions about the termination of pregnancy and the skills to approach religious issues with clients

Evaluation of primary care midwifery in the Netherlands: design and rationale of a dynamic cohort study (DELIVER)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the Netherlands, midwives are autonomous medical practitioners and 78% of pregnant women start their maternity care with a primary care midwife. Scientific research to support evidence-based practice in primary care midwifery in the Netherlands has been sparse. This paper describes the research design and methodology of the multicenter multidisciplinary prospective DELIVER study which is the first large-scale study evaluating the quality and provision of primary midwifery care.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Between September 2009 and April 2011, data were collected from clients and their partners, midwives and other healthcare professionals across the Netherlands. Clients from twenty midwifery practices received up to three questionnaires to assess the expectations and experiences of clients (e.g. quality of care, prenatal screening, emotions, health, and lifestyle). These client data were linked to data from the Netherlands Perinatal Register and electronic client records kept by midwives. Midwives and practice assistants from the twenty participating practices recorded work-related activities in a diary for one week, to assess workload. Besides, the midwives were asked to complete a questionnaire, to gain insight into collaboration of midwives with other care providers, their tasks and attitude towards their job, and the quality of the care they provide. Another questionnaire was sent to all Dutch midwifery practices which reveals information regarding the organisation of midwifery practices, provision of preconception care, collaboration with other care providers, and provision of care to ethnic minorities. Data at client, midwife and practice level can be linked. Additionally, partners of pregnant women and other care providers were asked about their expectations and experiences regarding the care delivered by midwives and in six practices client consults were videotaped to objectively assess daily practice.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>In total, 7685 clients completed at least one questionnaire, 136 midwives and assistants completed a diary with work-related activities (response 100%), 99 midwives completed a questionnaire (92%), and 319 practices across the country completed a questionnaire (61%), 30 partners of clients participated in focus groups, 21 other care providers were interviewed and 305 consults at six midwifery practices were videotaped.</p> <p>The multicenter DELIVER study provides an extensive database with national representative data on the quality of primary care midwifery in the Netherlands. This study will support evidence-based practice in primary care midwifery in the Netherlands and contribute to a better understanding of the maternity care system.</p

Surveillance and epidemiology of surgical site infections after cardiothoracic surgery in The Netherlands, 2002-2007

Surgical site infections after cardiothoracic surgery substantially increase the risk for illness, mortality, and costs. Surveillance of surgical site infections might assist in the prevention of these infections. This study describes the Dutch surveillance methods and results of data collected between 2002 and 2007. Three cardiothoracic procedures were included: coronary artery bypass graft procedures, valve surgery, and a combination of coronary artery bypass graft procedures with concomitant valve surgery. The surgical site infections were divided into sternal and harvest-site infections. Postdischarge surveillance of surgical site infections was mandatory for sternal wounds and elective for harvest-site wounds, with a follow-up period of 42 postoperative days. Multivariate logistic regression was used for risk factor analysis of coronary artery bypass grafts, with adjustment for random variation among hospitals. Eight of the 16 Dutch cardiothoracic centers participated and collected data on 4066 procedures and 183 surgical site infections, revealing a surgical site infection rate of 2.4% for sternal wounds and 3.2% for harvest sites. Sixty-one percent of all surgical site infections were recorded after discharge. For sternal surgical site infections after coronary artery bypass graft procedures, the significant risk factors were rethoracotomy, diabetes, preoperative length of stay, and obesity; for harvest-site infections, the most relevant risk factor was a long time on extracorporeal circulation. Adjusted surgical site infection rates regarding coronary artery bypass graft procedures varied between hospitals from 0.0% to 9.7%. Large differences were found in surgical site infection rates between Dutch hospitals, which indicate room for improvement. The follow-up of patients after hospital discharge reduces underestimation of surgical site infection rate

Exploring health education with midwives, as perceived by pregnant women in primary care:A qualitative study in the Netherlands

Objective to explore the experiences, wishes and needs of pregnant women with respect to health education in primary care with midwives. Design qualitative semi-structured interview study, using thematic analysis and constant comparison. Setting and participants twenty-two pregnant women in midwife-led primary care, varying in socio-demographic characteristics, weeks of pregnancy and region of residence in the Netherlands, were interviewed between April and December 2013. Findings women considered midwives to be the designated health caregivers for providing antenatal health education, and generally appreciated the information they had received from their midwives. Some women, however, believed the amount of verbal health information was insufficient; others that there was too much written information. Many women still had questions and expressed uncertainties regarding various health issues, such as weight gain, alcohol, and physical activity. They perceived their health education to be individualised according to their midwives' assessments of the extent of their knowledge, as well as by the questions they asked themselves. A few were concerned that midwives may make incorrect assumptions about the extent of their knowledge. Women also varied in how comfortable they felt about contacting their midwives for questions between antenatal visits. Women felt that important qualities for midwives underlying health education, were making them feel at ease and building a relationship of trust with them. Key conclusions and implications for practice health education was highly appreciated by women in general, suggesting that midwives should err on the side of providing too much verbal information, as opposed to too little. A more pro-active approach with information provision may be of value not only to those with a clear desire for more information, but also to those who are unsure of what information they may be missing. As midwives are the principal health care providers throughout pregnancy,they should ideally emphasise their availability for questions between antenatal visits

Impact of postdischarge surveillance on surgical site infection rates for several surgical procedures: results from the nosocomial surveillance network in The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the number of surgical site infections (SSIs) registered after hospital discharge with respect to various surgical procedures and to identify the procedures for which postdischarge surveillance (PDS) is most important. DESIGN: Prospective SSI surveillance with voluntary PDS. Recommended methods for PDS in the Dutch national nosocomial surveillance network are addition of a special registration card to the outpatient medical record, on which the surgeon notes clinical symptoms and whether a patient developed an SSI according to the definitions; an alternative method is examination of the outpatient medical record. SETTING: Hospitals participating in the Dutch national nosocomial surveillance network between 1996 and 2004. RESULTS: We collected data on 131,798 surgical procedures performed in 64 of the 98 Dutch hospitals. PDS was performed according to one of the recommended methods for 31,134 operations (24%) and according to another active method for 32,589 operations (25%), and passive PDS was performed for 68,075 operations (52%). Relatively more SSIs were recorded after discharge for cases in which PDS was performed according to a recommended method (43%), compared with cases in which another active PDS method was used (30%) and cases in which passive PDS was used (25%). The highest rate of SSI after discharge was found for appendectomy (79% of operations), followed by knee prosthesis surgery (64%), mastectomy (61%), femoropopliteal or femorotibial bypass (53%), and abdominal hysterectomy (53%). CONCLUSIONS: For certain surgical procedures, most SSIs develop after discharge. SSI rates will be underestimated if no PDS is performed. We believe we have found a feasible and sensitive method for PDS that, if patients routinely return to the hospital for a postdischarge follow-up visit, might be suitable for use internationally