Reconsidering Routine Repeat Group and Screens During Pregnancy-Personalizing Pregnancy Care.

The group and screen (G&S) are performed in early pregnancy to identify clinically significant antibodies (CSA) that may necessitate fetal monitoring for hemolysis/anemia or affect RhIg eligibility. Guidelines vary, including differences between RhD-positive and negative patients, but typically, the G&S is repeated at 28 weeks, and sometimes pre-delivery. We reviewed data showing a low risk (0.01%-0.43%) of detecting a new CSA in late gestation (late alloimmunization) and the risk of late alloimmunization causing severe hemolysis/anemia is even lower at <0.01%. Routinely repeating a G&S at 28 weeks and delivery may not be necessary for healthy, low-risk pregnancies.

Guideline No. 426: Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Diagnosis, Prediction, Prevention, and Management.

OBJECTIVE: This guideline was developed by maternity care providers from obstetrics and internal medicine. It reviews the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs), the prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, and the postpartum care of women with a previous HDP. TARGET POPULATION: Pregnant women. BENEFITS, HARMS, AND COSTS: Implementation of the recommendations in these guidelines may reduce the incidence of the HDPs, particularly preeclampsia, and associated adverse outcomes. EVIDENCE: A comprehensive literature review was updated to December 2020, following the same methods as for previous Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) HDP guidelines, and references were restricted to English or French. To support recommendations for therapies, we prioritized randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews (if available), and evaluated substantive clinical outcomes for mothers and babies. VALIDATION METHODS: The authors agreed on the content and recommendations through consensus and responded to peer review by the SOGC Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee. The authors rated the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, along with the option of designating a recommendation as a "good practice point." See online Appendix A (Tables A1 for definitions and A2 for interpretations of strong and conditional [weak] recommendations).The Board of the SOGC approved the final draft for publication. INTENDED USERS: All health care providers (obstetricians, family doctors, midwives, nurses, and anesthesiologists) who provide care to women before, during, or after pregnancy.

Committee Opinion No. 399: Management of Tick Bites and Lyme Disease During Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: Lyme disease is an emerging infection in Canada caused by the bacterium belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex, which is transmitted via the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Populations of blacklegged ticks continue to expand and are now established in different regions in Canada. It usually takes more than 24 hours of tick attachment to transfer B. burgdorferi to a human. The diagnosis of early localized Lyme disease is made by clinical assessment, as laboratory tests are not reliable at this stage. Most patients with early localized Lyme disease will present with a skin lesion (i.e., erythema migrans) expanding from the tick bite site and/or non-specific "influenza-like" symptoms (e.g., arthralgia, myalgia, and fever). Signs and symptoms may occur from between 3 and 30 days following the tick bite. The care of pregnant patients with a tick bite or suspected Lyme disease should be managed similarly to non-pregnant adults, including the consideration of antibiotics for prophylaxis and treatment. The primary objective of this committee opinion is to inform practitioners about Lyme disease and provide an approach to managing the care of pregnant women who may have been infected via a blacklegged tick bite. INTENDED USERS: Health care providers who care for pregnant women or women of reproductive age. TARGET POPULATION: Women of reproductive age. EVIDENCE: In November 2018, Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, and CENTRAL databases were searched for 2 main categories: (1) Lyme disease and (2) other tick-borne diseases. Because the main focus was Lyme disease, and considering the limited number of the articles, no further filters were applied for publication time or type of study. For other tick-borne diseases, the results were restricted to a publication date within the last 10 years (2008-2018). The search terms were developed using MeSH terms and keywords including Lyme Disease, Pregnancy, Pregnant Women, Pregnancy Complications, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Tularemia, Powassan Virus, Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne, Tick-Borne Diseases, Colorado Tick Fever, Q Fever, Relapsing Fever, and Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness. All articles on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases with a target population of pregnant women were included; other groups and populations were excluded. VALIDATION METHODS: The content and recommendations of this committee opinion were drafted and agreed upon by the authors. The Board of Directors of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada approved the final draft for publication.

A discursive paper on the importance of health literacy among foreign domestic workers during outbreaks of communicable diseases.

AIM: Using an integrated model of health literacy, we discuss the importance of health literacy among foreign domestic workers in the provision of informal caregiving during outbreaks of communicable diseases. COVID-19 pandemic is used as an example. BACKGROUND: Adequate health literacy in the population is known to be important for the prevention of communicable diseases. Foreign domestic workers, a group of marginalised caregivers in private households, are generally presumed to have limited health literacy because of numerous socio-cultural disadvantages. To date, there is limited evidence that these informal healthcare providers receive support from community-based nurses. DESIGN: A discursive paper. CONCLUSION: Foreign domestic workers, with varying levels of health literacy, may be viewed either as a resource to break the chain of infection or as a potential reservoir of communicable diseases in the community. Meanwhile, restrictions imposed in response to diseases transmissions (e.g. stay-at-home measures for COVID-19) may directly exacerbate the social support received by these foreign domestic works and their ability to access health-related information. There are also concerns about their ability to appraise and evaluate information related to communicable diseases at a time when fake news and misinformation are being disseminated through social media. Language and cultural barriers are important issues that need to be addressed to ensure that foreign domestic workers are in a position to follow public health recommendations. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses hold an important position in empowering foreign domestic workers with adequate health literacy, by engaging groups of foreign domestic workers in the community and their consulates in planning educational programmes and effectively disseminating information. At a time of global pandemic, an assessment of the health literacy levels of foreign domestic workers in places like Hong Kong is urgently required.

Cannabis use during pregnancy and postpartum.

OBJECTIVE: To help obstetric care providers, including family physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, and obstetricians, educate patients on the risks of cannabis use in pregnancy and postpartum and its relationship to nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: The Ovid MEDLINE database was searched using the MeSH terms pregnancy, cannabis, lactation, and cannabinoid hyperemesis in various combinations. The relevant articles were reviewed and further sources were found within the references of these articles. MAIN MESSAGE: In utero exposure to cannabis has been associated with long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes that persist into young adulthood. Cannabis should not be used to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and its chronic use might lead to the development of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. CONCLUSION: There is no known safe level of cannabis use during pregnancy or lactation. Pregnant women should be counseled regarding the risks of in utero exposure and encouraged to abstain from use in pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

We Should Proceed With Caution When It Comes to Antenatal Corticosteroids After 34 Weeks.

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recently released a statement supporting the use of antenatal corticosteroids for women at high risk of late preterm birth. This followed a trend of increasing use of antenatal corticosteroids after 34 weeks' gestation, based on evidence for decreased respiratory morbidity. The absolute benefits, however, are relatively small. We should balance this against the possible long-term harms of corticosteroids after 34 weeks before expanding the indications for their antenatal use.

The effects of Tai-Chi in conjunction with thera-band resistance exercise on functional fitness and muscle strength among community-based older people.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Tai-Chi in conjunction with thera-band resistance exercise on functional fitness and muscle strength in community-based older people. BACKGROUND: Tai-Chi is known to improve functional fitness in older people. Tai-Chi is usually performed with free hands without resistance training and usually focuses on training lower limbs. To date, no study has examined the use of Tai-Chi in conjunction with thera-band resistance exercise in this population. DESIGN: Cluster randomised trial design. METHODS: Older people at six senior day care centres in Taiwan were assigned to thera-band resistance exercise or control group using a cluster randomisation. The thera-band resistance exercise group (n = 48) received sixty minute thera-band resistance exercise twice weekly for a period of 16 weeks. The control group (n = 47) underwent routine activities in the day care centre, receiving no Tai-Chi or resistance exercise. RESULTS: After receiving the thera-band resistance exercise, intervention participants displayed a significant increase in muscle strength of upper and lower extremities. Significant improvements were recorded on most measures of the Senior Fitness Test, with the exception of the chair-stand and back-scratch test. CONCLUSION: Thera-band resistance exercise has the potential to improve functional fitness and muscle strength in community-based older people. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Thera-band resistance exercise potentially offers a safe and appropriate form of physical activity that nursing staff can easily incorporate into the daily routine of older people in day care centres, potentially improving functional performance and muscle strength.

Measuring quality in maternal-newborn care: developing a clinical dashboard.

Pregnancy, birth, and the early newborn period are times of high use of health care services. As well as opportunities for providing quality care, there are potential missed opportunities for health promotion, safety issues, and increased costs for the individual and the system when quality is not well defined or measured. There has been a need to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure quality care within the provincial maternal-newborn system. We also wanted to provide automated audit and feedback about these KPIs to support quality improvement initiatives in a large Canadian province with approximately 140 000 births per year. We therefore worked to develop a maternal-newborn dashboard to increase awareness about selected KPIs and to inform and support hospitals and care providers about areas for quality improvement. We mapped maternal-newborn data elements to a quality domain framework, sought feedback via survey for the relevance and feasibility of change, and examined current data and the literature to assist in setting provincial benchmarks. Six clinical performance indicators of maternal-newborn quality care were identified and evidence-informed benchmarks were set. A maternal-newborn dashboard with "drill down" capacity for detailed analysis to enhance audit and feedback is now available for implementation. While audit and feedback does not guarantee individuals or institutions will make practice changes and move towards quality improvement, it is an important first step. Practice change and quality improvement will not occur without an awareness of the issues.

Overlooked by nurses: A scoping review on health stressors, problems and coping of migrant domestic workers.

AIM: The first scoping review is to map and synthesize the stressors, problems and coping strategies surrounding the health issues of migrant domestic workers. DESIGN: Scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage framework. METHODS: Ten electronic databases were systematically searched by keywords for literature published between January 1995 and December 2019. Data were extracted into tables and collated and summarized into themes for presentation. RESULTS: Twenty-seven reports were included in the final review. Analysis revealed that stressors to health included abuse, poor health service accessibility, ongoing financial hardship despite demanding working conditions and social isolation. Physical and mental health problems were identified for which migrant domestic workers largely depended on social networks and religion to cope with stressors and health problems. Training para-professional peer leaders of migrant domestic workers by community nurses and including them in interprofessional teams is a possible way for nurses to promote their health and well-being.

Management of obesity across women's life course: FIGO Best Practice Advice.

Obesity is a chronic, progressive, relapsing, and treatable multifactorial, neurobehavioral disease. According to the World Health Organization, obesity affects 15% of women and has long-term effects on women's health. The focus of care in patients with obesity should be on optimizing health outcomes rather than on weight loss. Appropriate and common language, considering cultural sensitivity and trauma-informed care, is needed to discuss obesity. Pregnancy is a time of significant physiological change. Pre-, ante-, and postpartum clinical encounters provide opportunities for health optimization for parents with obesity in terms of, but not limited to, fertility and breastfeeding. Pre-existing conditions may also be identified and managed. Beyond pregnancy, women with obesity are at an increased risk for gastrointestinal and liver diseases, impaired kidney function, obstructive sleep apnea, and venous thromboembolism. Gynecological and reproductive health of women living with obesity cannot be dismissed, with accommodations needed for preventive health screenings and consideration of increased risk for gynecologic malignancies. Mental wellness, specifically depression, should be screened and managed appropriately. Obesity is a complex condition and is increasing in prevalence with failure of public health interventions to achieve significant decrease. Future research efforts should focus on interprofessional care and discovering effective interventions for health optimization.

Management of tick bites and lyme disease during pregnancy.

Lyme disease results from the bite of a black-legged tick, populations of which have now become established in parts of Nova Scotia, southeastern Quebec, southern Ontario from the Thousand Islands through the geographic regions on the north shore of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, southeastern Manitoba, and British Columbia's Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island. It takes more than 24 hours of attachment to transfer the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi to the bitten animal or human. The diagnosis of Lyme disease is primarily clinical, with early Lyme disease characterized by a skin lesion (erythema migrans, a bull's-eye rash), which expands out from the site of the tick bite, and is often accompanied by influenza-like symptoms, arthralgia, myalgia, and fever. These signs and symptoms can present anywhere from three to 30 days after the tick bite. The management of pregnant women with a tick bite or suspected Lyme disease should be similar to that of non-pregnant adults, except that doxycyline, the first line antibiotic of choice, should not be used in pregnant women because of risk of permanent tooth discolouration and possible impact on bone formation in the fetus. An algorithm for the management of tick bites in pregnancy is presented. Clinical, serological, and epidemiological studies have all failed to demonstrate a causal association between infection with B. burgdorferi and any adverse pregnancy outcomes regardless of whether maternal exposure occurs before conception or during pregnancy itself.

Cost-effectiveness of transdermal nitroglycerin use for preterm labor.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of using transdermal nitroglycerin (GTN) for cases of preterm labor. METHODS: The study included 153 women with clinical preterm labor, who were randomly allocated to either a GTN or placebo arm. All randomized cases were included in the final economic analysis. Differences between the two arms in gestational age at delivery, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, length of NICU stay, and NICU cost were assessed. Costs for non-NICU cases were calculated using Ottawa Hospital data through the Ontario Case Costing Initiative (OCCI). Cost-effectiveness and sensitivity analyses using a hospital perspective were both conducted. RESULTS: In the 153 randomized cases, 55 babies were admitted to NICU (GTN = 24; placebo = 31). We found no significant differences between the two arms in gestational age at delivery, NICU admission rate (32.4% vs. 39.2%), NICU length of stay (42.7 days vs. 52.8 days), or NICU cost (CAN $34,306 vs. CAN $44,326). Overall, (based on all randomized cases) the cost-effectiveness analyses showed that the GTN arm was the dominant strategy, with both lower cost (CAN $13,397 vs. CAN $18,427) and higher NICU admission avoided rate (67.6% vs. 60.8%) compared to the placebo arm. This dominance persisted in all sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: The use of GTN patch for preterm labor could reduce NICU costs, while improving important neonatal outcomes.

Interconception Care for Primary Care Providers: Consensus Recommendations on Preconception and Postpartum Management of Reproductive-Age Patients With Medical Comorbidities.

Severe maternal morbidity and mortality continue to increase in the United States, largely owing to chronic and newly diagnosed medical comorbidities. Interconception care, or care and management of medical conditions between pregnancies, can improve chronic disease control before, during, and after pregnancy. It is a crucial and time-sensitive intervention that can decrease maternal morbidity and mortality and improve overall health. Despite these potential benefits, interconception care has not been well implemented by the primary care community. Furthermore, there is a lack of guidelines for optimizing preconception chronic disease, risk stratifying postpartum chronic diseases, and recommending general collaborative management principles for reproductive-age patients in the period between pregnancies. As a result, many primary care providers, especially those without obstetric training, are unclear about their specific role in interconception care and may be unsure of effective methods for collaborating with obstetric care providers. In particular, internal medicine physicians, the largest group of primary care physicians, may lack sufficient clinical exposure to medical conditions in the obstetric population during their residency training and may feel uncomfortable in caring for these patients in their subsequent practice. The objective of this article is to review concepts around interconception care, focusing specifically on preconception care for patients with chronic medical conditions (eg, chronic hypertension, chronic diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, venous thromboembolism, and obesity) and postpartum care for those with medically complicated pregnancies (eg, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, excessive gestational weight gain, peripartum cardiomyopathy, and peripartum mood disorders). We also provide a pragmatic checklist for preconception and postpartum management.

Guidelines for the management of pregnant women with obesity: A systematic review.

Multiple clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been established for pregnant women with obesity. The quality and consistency of recommendations remain unknown. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review to synthesize and appraise evidence from CPGs, available worldwide, for pregnant women affected by obesity. An experienced information specialist performed a rigorous search of the literature, searching MEDLINE, Embase, grey literature, and guideline registries to locate CPGs that reported on pregnancy care relating to obesity. CPGs related to antenatal care of pregnant women with obesity (pre-pregnancy body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2 ) in low-risk (eg, care provider = family physician or midwife) or high-risk settings (eg, obstetrician or maternal fetal medicine) were included. CPGs were appraised for quality with independent data collection by two raters. Information was categorized into five domains: preconception care. care during pregnancy, diet and exercise during pregnancy, care immediately before, during, and after delivery, and postpartum care. The literature search yielded 2614 unique citations. Following screening of abstracts and full texts, 32 CPGs were included, with quality ranging between 0 and 100 on the AGREE II tool. The strongest evidence related to nutritional advice, exercise, and pregnancy risk counselling. Guidance was limited for timing of screening tests, antenatal visits and delivery, ideal postpartum care, and management of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Most guidelines in this population are not evidence based. Research is needed to bridge knowledge gaps pertaining to fetal antenatal surveillance, management of adverse outcomes and postpartum care, and enhance consistency across CPGs.

Guideline No. 426: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: diagnosis, prediction, prevention, and management

This guideline was developed by maternity care providers from obstetrics and internal medicine. It reviews the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs), the prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, and the postpartum care of women with a previous HDP. Implementation of the recommendations in these guidelines may reduce the incidence of the HDPs, particularly preeclampsia, and associated adverse outcomes. A comprehensive literature review was updated to December 2020, following the same methods as for previous Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) HDP guidelines, and references were restricted to English or French. To support recommendations for therapies, we prioritized randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews (if available), and evaluated substantive clinical outcomes for mothers and babies. The authors agreed on the content and recommendations through consensus and responded to peer review by the SOGC Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee. The authors rated the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, along with the option of designating a recommendation as a "good practice point." See online Appendix A (Tables A1 for definitions and A2 for interpretations of strong and conditional [weak] recommendations).The Board of the SOGC approved the final draft for publication. All health care providers (obstetricians, family doctors, midwives, nurses, and anesthesiologists) who provide care to women before, during, or after pregnancy.

Directive clinique no 430: diagnostic et prise en charge de la rupture prématurée des membranes avant terme / Guideline No. 430: Diagnosis and Management of Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes

Fournir des directives claires et concises pour le diagnostic et la prise en charge de la rupture prématurée des membranes avant terme (RPMAT). Population cible Toute patiente manifestant une rupture prématurée des membranes avant 37 semaines d'aménorrhée. Bénéfices, risques et coûts La présente directive clinique vise à fournir les premières recommandations générales canadiennes sur la prise en charge de la rupture des membranes avant terme. Elle repose sur un examen complet et à jour des données probantes sur le diagnostic de la rupture et sur la prise en charge, le bon moment et les modes d'accouchement. Données probantes Des recherches ont été effectuées dans PubMed-Medline et Cochrane en 2021 en utilisant les termes suivants : preterm premature rupture of membranes, PPROM, chorioamnionitis, Nitrazine test, ferning, commercial tests, PAMG-1, IGFBP-1 test, ultrasonography, PPROM/antenatal corticosteroids, PPROM/Magnesium sulphate, PPROM/antibiotic treatment, PPROM/tocolysis, PPROM/preterm labour, PPROM/neonatal outcomes, PPROM/mortality, PPROM/outpatient/inpatient, PPROM/cerclage, previable PPROM.

De-escalation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor dose in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia with stable major molecular response (DESTINY): an interim analysis of a non-randomised, phase 2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy is feasible for some patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia with deep molecular responses; however, patients with stable major molecular response (MMR), but not MR4, have not been studied, nor has the effect of treatment de-escalation rather than outright cessation. We aimed to examine the effects of treatment de-escalation as a prelude to complete cessation, not only in patients with MR4 or greater, but also in those with MMR but not MR4. METHODS: We did this interim analysis of a non-randomised, phase 2 trial at 20 hospitals in the UK. We recruited patients (aged ≥18 years) with chronic myeloid leukaemia in first chronic phase who had received TKI for 3 years or more and were either in stable MR4 (BCR-ABL1:ABL1 ratio <0·01%; MR4 cohort) or in stable MMR (BCR-ABL1:ABL1 ratio consistently <0·1%) but not MR4 (MMR cohort) for 12 months or longer. Participants received half their standard TKI dose (imatinib 200 mg daily, dasatinib 50 mg daily, or nilotinib 200 mg twice daily) for 12 months. Molecular recurrence was defined as loss of MMR (BCR-ABL1:ABL1 ratio >0·1%) on two consecutive samples. The primary endpoint of this interim analysis was the proportion of patients who lost MMR on de-escalation and regained MMR on TKI resumption. Analyses were by intention to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01804985. FINDINGS: Between Dec 16, 2013 and April 10, 2015, we enrolled 174 patients into the MMR cohort (n=49) or the MR4 cohort (n=125). During the 12 months of half-dose therapy, 12 patients (7%) had molecular recurrence, all of whom regained MMR within 4 months of full-dose TKI resumption (median time to recovery 77 days). Recurrence was significantly lower in the MR4 cohort (three [2%; 90% CI 0·2-4·8] of 121 evaluable patients) than in the MMR cohort (nine [19%; 90% CI 9·5-28·0] of 48 evaluable patients; hazard ratio 0·12, 90% CI 0·04-0·37; p=0·0007), but was unrelated to previous TKI or TKI therapy duration. Adverse events (eg, lethargy, diarrhoea, rash, and nausea) improved during the first 3 months of de-escalation, though not thereafter. 16 serious adverse events were reported, including one fatality due to worsening pre-existing peripheral arterial occlusive disease in a patient who had received only imatinib. INTERPRETATION: TKI de-escalation is safe for most patients with excellent responses to TKI therapy, and is associated with improvement in symptoms. These findings show that lower TKI doses might maintain responses in these patients, implying that such patients could be unnecessarily overtreated. Studies of more ambitious de-escalation are warranted. FUNDING: Newcastle University and Bloodwise.

Fat-soluble vitamin deficiency in pregnancy: a case report and review of abetalipoproteinemia.

BACKGROUND: Abetalipoproteinemia (ABL) is a metabolic disorder resulting in poor absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. CASE: Two pregnancies in a woman with ABL are reported, contrasting outcomes with subtherapeutic and normal vitamin levels. CONCLUSION: Fat-soluble vitamin levels in pregnancy are critical for many aspects of fetal development. This report details a congenital ophthalmologic finding that may be associated with vitamin A deficiency.