Amber A. Vos

Bridging Between Professionals in Perinatal Care: Towards Shared Care in The Netherlands

Relatively high perinatal mortality rates in the Netherlands have required a critical assessment of the national obstetric system. Policy evaluations emphasized the need for organizational improvement, in particular closer collaboration between community midwives and obstetric caregivers in hospitals. The leveled care system that is currently in place, in which professionals in midwifery and obstetrics work autonomously, does not fully meet the needs of pregnant women, especially women with an accumulation of non-medical risk factors. This article provides an overview of the advantages of greater interdisciplinary collaboration and the current policy developments in obstetric care in the Netherlands. In line with these developments we present a model for shared care embedded in local ‘obstetric collaborations’. These collaborations are formed by obstetric caregivers of a single hospital and all surrounding community midwives. Through a broad literature search, practical elements from shared care approaches in other fields of medicine that would suit the Dutch obstetric system were selected. These elements, focusing on continuity of care, patient centeredness and interprofessional teamwork form a comprehensive model for a shared care approach. By means of this overview paper and the presented model, we add direction to the current policy debate on the development of obstetrics in the Netherlands. This model will be used as a starting point for the pilot-implementation of a shared care approach in the ‘obstetric collaborations’, using feedback from the field to further improve it.

Design and outline of the Healthy Pregnancy 4 All study

BackgroundPromotion of healthy pregnancies has gained high priority in the Netherlands because of the relatively unfavourable perinatal health outcomes. In response a nationwide study Healthy Pregnancy 4 All was initiated. This study combines public health and epidemiologic research to evaluate the effectiveness of two obstetric interventions before and during pregnancy: (1) programmatic preconception care (PCC) and (2) systematic antenatal risk assessment (including both medical and non-medical risk factors) followed by patient-tailored multidisciplinary care pathways. In this paper we present an overview of the study setting and outlines. We describe the selection of geographical areas and introduce the design and outline of the preconception care and the antenatal risk assessment studies.Methods/designA thorough analysis was performed to identify geographical areas in which adverse perinatal outcomes were high. These areas were regarded as eligible for either or both sub-studies as we hypothesised studies to have maximal effect there. This selection of municipalities was based on multiple criteria relevant to either the preconception care intervention or the antenatal risk assessment intervention, or to both. The preconception care intervention was designed as a prospective community-based cohort study. The antenatal risk assessment intervention was designed as a cluster randomised controlled trial – where municipalities are randomly allocated to intervention and control.DiscussionOptimal linkage is sought between curative and preventive care, public health, government, and social welfare organisations. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which these elements are combined.

Effectiveness of general preconception care accompanied by a recruitment approach: protocol of a community-based cohort study (the Healthy Pregnancy 4 All study)

Introduction Promotion of healthy pregnancies has gained high priority in the Netherlands because of the relative unfavourable perinatal outcomes. In response, a nationwide study Healthy Pregnancy 4 All (HP4ALL) has been initiated. One of the substudies within HP4ALL focuses on preconception care (PCC). PCC is an opportunity to detect and eliminate risk factors before conception to optimise health before organogenesis and placentation. The main objectives of the PCC substudy are (1) to assess the effectiveness of a recruitment strategy for the PCC health services and (2) to assess the effectiveness of individual PCC consultations. Methods/analysis Prospective cohort study in neighbourhoods of 14 municipalities with perinatal mortality and morbidity rates exceeding the nations average. The theoretical framework of the PCC substudy is based on Andersens model of healthcare utilisation (a model that evaluates the utilisation of healthcare services from a sociological perspective). Women aged 18 up to and including 41 years are targeted for utilisation of the PCC health service by a four armed recruitment strategy. The PCC health service consists of an individual PCC consultation consisting of (1) initial risk assessment and risk management and (2) a follow-up consultation to assess adherence to the management plan. The primary outcomes regarding the effectiveness of consultations is behavioural change regarding folic acid supplementation, smoking cessation, cessation of alcohol consumption and illicit substance use. The primary outcome regarding the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy is the number of women successfully recruited and the outreach in terms of which population is reached in comparison to the approached population. Data collection consists of registration in the database of women that enrol for a visit to the individual PCC consultations (women successfully recruited), and preconsultation and postconsultation measurements among the included study population (by questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and biomarkers). Sample size calculation resulted in a sample size of n=839 women. Ethics and dissemination Approval for this study has been obtained from the Medical Ethical Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center of Rotterdam (MEC 2012-425). Results will be published and presented at international conferences.

Analysis of policy towards improvement of perinatal mortality in the Netherlands (2004–2011)

Relatively high perinatal mortality and morbidity rates(2) in the Netherlands resulted in a process which induced policy changes regarding the Dutch perinatal healthcare system. Aims of this policy analysis are (1) to identify actors, context and process factors that promoted or impeded agenda setting and formulation of policy regarding perinatal health care reform and (2) to present an overview of the renewed perinatal health policy. The policy triangle framework for policy analysis by Walt and Gilson was applied(3). Contents of policy, actors, context factors and process factors were identified by triangulation of data from three sources: a document analysis, stakeholder analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Analysis enabled us to chronologically reconstruct the policy process in response to the perinatal mortality rates. The quantification of the perinatal mortality problem, the openness of the debate and the nature of the topic were important process factors. Main theme of policy was that change was required in the entire spectrum of perinatal healthcare. This ranged from care in the preconception phase through to the puerperium. Furthermore emphasis was placed on the importance of preventive measures and socio-environmental determinants of health. This required involvement of the preventive setting, including municipalities. The Dutch tiered perinatal healthcare system and divergent views amongst curative perinatal health care providers were important context factors. This study provides lessons which are applicable to health care professionals and policy makers in perinatal care or other multidisciplinary fields.

The current state of active third stage management to prevent postpartum hemorrhage: a cross-sectional study.

To investigate the implementation of the International Confederation of Midwives/International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (ICM/FIGO) guideline on active third stage management in vaginal deliveries in daily clinical practice.

Assessment and care for non-medical risk factors in current antenatal health care

OBJECTIVE this study aims to identify current practice in risk assessment, current antenatal policy and referral possibilities for non-medical risk factors (lifestyle and social risk factors), and to explore the satisfaction among obstetric caregivers in their collaboration with non-obstetrical caregivers. DESIGN cross-sectional study SETTING Dutch antenatal care system PARTICIPANTS community midwives from 139 midwifery practices and gynaecologists, hospital-based midwives, and trainees in obstetrics from 38 hospitals. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS results were analysed with χ(2) tests and unpaired t-tests. Caregivers universally screened upon lifestyle risk factors (e.g. smoking or drug use), whereas the screening for social risk factors (e.g. social support) was highly variable. As national guidelines are absent, local protocols were reported to be used for screening on non-medical risk factors in more than 40%. Caregivers stated multidisciplinary protocols to be a prerequisite for assessment of non-medical risk factors. Only 22% of the caregivers used predefined criteria to define when patients should be discussed multidisciplinary. CONCLUSION despite their relevance, non-medical risk factors remain an underexposed topic in antenatal risk factor screening in both the community and hospital-based care setting. Implications for practice Structural antenatal risk assessment for non-medical risk factors with subsequent consultation opportunities is advocated, preferably based on a multidisciplinary guideline.

Antenatal non-medical risk assessment and care pathways to improve pregnancy outcomes: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Social deprivation negatively affects health outcomes but receives little attention in obstetric risk selection. We investigated whether a combination of (1) risk assessment focused on non-medical risk factors, lifestyle factors, and medical risk factors, with (2) subsequent institution of risk-specific care pathways, and (3) multidisciplinary consultation between care providers from the curative and the public health sector reduced adverse pregnancy outcomes among women in selected urban areas in the Netherlands. We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial in 14 urban municipalities across the Netherlands. Prior to the randomisation, municipalities were ranked and paired according to their expected proportion of pregnant women at risk for adverse outcomes at birth. The primary outcome was delivery of a preterm and/or small for gestational age (SGA) baby, analysed with multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis adjusting for clustering and individual baseline characteristics. A total of 33 community midwife practices and nine hospitals participated throughout the study. Data from 4302 participants was included in the Intention To Treat (ITT) analysis. The intervention had no demonstrable impact on the primary outcome: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.17 (95% CI 0.84–1.63). Among the secondary outcomes, the intervention improved the detection of threatening preterm delivery and fetal growth restriction during pregnancy [aOR 1.27 (95% CI 1.01–1.61)]. Implementation of additional non-medical risk assessment and preventive strategies into general practices is feasible but did not decrease the incidence of preterm and/or SGA birth in the index pregnancy in deprived urban areas.Trial registration Netherlands National Trial Register (NTR-3367).

Healthy Pregnancy 4 All

Sinds april 2011 is het Erasmus MC met subsidie van het ministerie van VWS gestart met de opzet van zorgexperimenten met betrekking tot de preconceptiezorg en vernieuwde risicoselectie tijdens de zwangerschap. Doelstellingen zijn vrouwen met verhoogde risico’s te bereiken, de experimenten maximaal in te bedden in lokale initiatieven en aansluiting te laten vinden bij de public health. De experimenten worden geëvalueerd en de resultaten kunnen benut worden voor de aanpassing, verspreiding en borging van de nieuwe interventies.AbstractHealthy Pregnancy 4 all – preconception care and risk selection during pregnancy There is a high ambition in The Netherlands to improve care before, during and after pregnancy. Since April 2011 the Erasmus MC with funding from the Ministry of Health started with health care experiments in the province of Groningen (Pekela, Menterwolde, Appingedam and Delfzijl and the city of Groningen) and in the municipalities of Amsterdam, Enschede, Tilburg, Nijmegen, Den Haag, Schiedam, Heerlen, Utrecht and Almere. It involves experiments concerning preconception care and renewed antenatal risk selection. Objectives are to reach women with increased risks, to implement the experiments in local initiatives and in conjunction with the public health, as much as possible. The experiments will be evaluated and the results in terms of factors for success and failure can be helpful in the adaptation, distribution and securing of the new interventions.

Process evaluation of the implementation of scorecard-based antenatal risk assessment, care pathways and interdisciplinary consultation: the Healthy Pregnancy 4 All study

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the implementation of a complex intervention in the antenatal healthcare field in 14 Dutch municipalities. The intervention consisted of the implementation of a systematic scorecard-based risk assessment in pregnancy, subsequent patient-tailored care pathways, and consultations of professionals from different medical and social disciplines. METHODS Saunderss seven-step method was used for the development of a programme implementation monitoring plan, with specific attention to the setting and context of the programme. Data were triangulated from multiple sources, and prespecified criteria were applied to examine the evidence for implementation. RESULTS Six out of 11 municipalities (54%) met the implementation criteria for the entire risk assessment programme, whereas three municipalities (27%) met the criteria if the three components of implementation were analysed separately. CONCLUSIONS A process evaluation of implementation of a complex intervention is possible. The results can be used to improve understanding of the associations between specific programme elements and programme outcomes on effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, the results are important for formative purposes to assess how future implementation of antenatal risk assessment can be improved in comparable contexts.