Intrauterine resuscitation in the setting of a Category II or III fetal heart tracing is addressed in Practice Bulletin No. 106, “Intrapartum Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring: Nomenclature, Interpretation, and General…
Background Globally, the number of children born by cesarean delivery is constantly increasing. However, hormonal and physiological changes associated with labor and vaginal delivery are considered necessary for lung maturation….
Read More from AJOG: Are children born by cesarean delivery at higher risk for respiratory sequelae?
The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) recommends that nurse orientation is customized to meet the needs of the individual orientee based on baseline knowledge and preferred…
ABSTRACT Context Perinatal death is an increasingly important problem as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, but the mechanism of death has been unclear. Objective To evaluate the role of the placenta…
NEWS RELEASE FROM HHS: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) together with leading clinicians, researchers, and policy experts led the development of a standard clinical definition for…
Read More from HHS Announces a Standard Clinical Definition for Opioid Withdrawal in Infants
Abstract Objectives To examine the relationships among intrapartum (IP) nurses’ beliefs regarding birth (physiologic birth/medicalized birth) and their experience, education, and certification; to assess IP nurses’ beliefs about birth practices…
Click on image to enlarge….
Read More from Newborn Screening Tip of the Month January: Filling Out the Form Completely
Abstract Background Shared decision-making (SDM) may improve communication, teamwork, patient experience, respectful maternity care, and safety during childbirth. Despite these benefits, SDM is not widely implemented, and strategies for implementing…
What is new in this update? The first AAP neonatal guidance was provided on April 2, 2020, shortly after the onset of the global pandemic, when it was apparent that…
Read More from AAP: FAQs: Management of Infants Born to Mothers with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19
ABSTRACT Substance use in pregnancy is common; nearly one of five of pregnant individuals have past-month nicotine, alcohol, or illicit substance use, and more than one in 10 meet criteria…
Accounting for adverse events and outcomes related to maternity is fundamental to measuring the health of populations and the systems for delivering medical care. Traditionally, maternal mortality has been such…
ABSTRACT A central question for patients and clinicians is whether potential benefits of pharmacologic treatments for perinatal mental health disorders outweigh potential harms. Given lack of consensus on best practices,…
Read More from ACOG: Pharmacologic Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health Disorders
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether outpatient cervical ripening with a balloon catheter results in a shorter amount of time in the labor and delivery unit when compared with use in…
Read More from ACOG: Outpatient Cervical Ripening with Balloon Catheters
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of pregnancy-associated deaths due to drugs, suicide, and homicide nationwide from 2010 to 2019. METHODS: Using U.S. death certificate records from 2010 to 2019…
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To assess whether application of a standard algorithm to hospitalizations in the prenatal and postpartum (42 days) periods increases identification of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) beyond analysis of…
Read More from ACOG: Using Longitudinally Linked Data to Measure Severe Maternal Morbidity
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To assess variations in low-risk cesarean delivery rates in the United States using the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) definition of low-risk for cesarean delivery and to identify…
ABSTRACT Background The onset of the term human parturition involves myometrial gene expression changes to transform the uterus from a quiescent to a contractile phenotype. It is uncertain whether the…
ABSTRACT Background Antenatal depression affects approximately 1 of 7 pregnancies, with an increasing prevalence across gestation. Data regarding the associations between antenatal depression and adverse pregnancy outcomes yielded conflicting results….
Read More from AJOG: Trajectories of antenatal depression and adverse pregnancy outcomes
ABSTRACT Background The rate of cesarean delivery is continuously increasing with the leading indication being a previous cesarean delivery. For women with 1 previous cesarean delivery, it is generally agreed…
Read More from AJOG: Timing of cesarean delivery in women with ≥2 previous cesarean deliveries
ABSTRACT Background Determining fetal head descent, expressed as fetal head station and engagement is an essential part of monitoring progression in labor. Assessing fetal head station is based on the…
ABSTRACT Background The safest mode of delivery to use for very preterm infants is an ongoing topic of debate. There are many reasons to perform a cesarean delivery in cases…
Read More from AJOG: Neonatal morbidity and mortality by mode of delivery in very preterm neonates
ABSTRACT Background 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate is a synthetic progestogen initially approved in the 1950s to treat gynecologic and obstetrical conditions. Despite continued concerns about safety and short-term efficacy regarding the use…
New from Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) As part of their 2021 Breastfeeding Report Card, the CDC has added a new feature to their statistics. They now offer a…
Abstract Objective To use a scoping review to explore the existing literature on best practice guidelines for safe, dignified, and compassionate care in the labor and birth setting for pregnant…
Infant mortality, death in the first year of life, is a generally accepted barometer of the overall health and well-being of a population. In the United States, the infant mortality…
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–specific antibodies have been detected in human milk up to 6 weeks post–coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. We evaluated SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, neutralization…
Read More from PEDIATRICS: Human Milk SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies up to 6 Months After Vaccination
Abstract Objective: Severe maternal morbidity represents a “near miss” mortality and is an important measure of quality and safety. Racial inequity in maternal morbidity is stark and the reasons for…
The USBC has recently posted their 2021 Breastfeeding Reports for all 50 states which includes data from 2020. The reports feature important breastfeeding data, WIC program breastfeeding performance measurers, and information on…
Read More from Oklahoma Breastfeeding Report from US Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
The Expert to Expert webinar series provides a deep-dive into measure intent, logic, and other clinical/technical aspects of eCQMs to assist hospitals in their efforts to improve data use for…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is taking steps to improve maternal health and support the delivery of equitable, high-quality care for pregnancy and postpartum care by proposing…