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Objective The objective of this scoping review was to describe the characteristics of interventions and programs that support the health and development of infants in foster care who have prenatal substance exposure, their foster care providers, and birth families. Introduction Infants in foster care may have experienced prenatal substance exposure, neglect, and maltreatment, as well as disruptions in their relationships with primary caregivers. Despite multiple vulnerabilities, they also have great capacity for overcoming early adversities. Enhanced foster care has been identified as a key influence on the positive development of infants in the child welfare system. Inclusion criteria This scoping review considered publications that described interventions and programs designed to support foster care providers who care for infants less than 12 months of age with prenatal substance exposure. This review included both research studies and gray literature. This scoping review focused on sources that described caregiving interventions and elements of programs that took place within the context of family or home-based foster care. Methods A three-step search strategy was used to identify publications in the English language from January 2000 to December 2019. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Titles and abstracts were initially screened to assess if publications met the inclusion criteria, followed by full-text review. Publications that met the inclusion criteria were assessed by two independent reviewers using a data extraction tool developed for this review. Findings were thematically analyzed on the basis of similarity in focus and descriptively presented with tables and figures to support the findings. Results Eighty-one publications were included, including 48 research papers and 33 gray literature sources. Thematic analysis of the focus of each publication resulted in identification of four core themes: i) mental health promotion for infants in care; ii) child welfare program elements; iii) identification of infants and families at risk of requiring foster care; and iv) outcomes for infants in care and their families. The interventions and programs identified during this scoping review were primarily focused on supporting social-emotional development. With the significant focus on infant mental health, supporting birth parents to stay attached to their infants was a key focus of the majority of publications. The concept of being able to proactively identify risk factors that were associated with infants requiring foster care emerged in relation to how family preservation could be supported. Strategies identified as contributing to the development of successful interventions and programs included: having foster care providers participate as collaborators in designing services; designing services that are adaptable to a range of contexts; involving community partners outside child welfare; and having developmentally appropriate programs. Conclusions Infants represent a significant proportion of children in foster care. A developmental perspective is needed for child welfare service planning to address their unique needs. Intervention during the early years holds significant potential for promoting positive developmental pathways and family preservation.

REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE The objective of this scoping review is to identify and describe caregiving interventions and program elements that support the health and development of infants with prenatal alcohol and/or drug exposure in foster care.

Background While maternal or infant transfer is generally the safest course of action when health complications arise, the process of shifting from one hospital to another is stressful for mothers and their infants. There is limited understanding of how institutional processes coordinate patient transfer in ways that increase tensions for women and their families who are trying to navigate the institutional systems during health crises. Methods This institutional ethnographic study explored womens’ experience of transfer. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of six childbearing women. The analysis highlights tensions and contradictions between patient care and institutional demands and shows how ordinary institutional decision-making practices impacted participants in unexpected ways. Results Women experienced uncertainty and stress when trying to convince health-care providers they needed care. Before, during, and after transfer, participants navigated home responsibilities, childcare, and getting care closer to home in difficult circumstances. Conclusion The effort and skill women need to care for their infants and families as they are transferred is extraordinary. This study offers insight into the resources and support childbearing women need to accomplish the work of caring for their families in the face of perinatal crisis and multiple transfers.

Community-based, integrated, primary care maternity programs for pregnant women affected by problematic substance use are emerging as effective models for engaging women affected by multiple health and social issues. Although addictions services have historically been evaluated by individual achievement of abstinence, new definitions of program success are required as addiction comes to be viewed as a chronic illness. We conducted a mixed-methods study to follow the formative development stages of a community-based program, identifying key evaluation indicators and processes related to this program, program team members, and women and families served. As this program model develops, it is critical that providers, community partners, and health system leaders collaborate to frame definitions of success in ways helpful for guiding program development.

The research literature indicates that problematic substance use as a form of health behaviour is poorly understood, being sometimes viewed as deviance, at other times as a disease, and most often as a combination of these states. The use of substances by women who are pregnant or new parents is often conceptualised within an individualised framework. Yet drinking alcohol and using other drugs during pregnancy and early parenthood cuts across social divisions and is shaped by socio-structural contexts including health care. There is a growing body of literature that critically examines public health interventions that are aimed at implementing harm reduction and health promotion techniques in service delivery to help pregnant and early parenting women who are identified as problem substance users. We examine qualitative data from representatives of a recent harm reduction intervention, focusing, in particular, on providers' individual conceptualisations of the problematic behaviour. Our results show that most study participants regard any substance use during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period as fundamentally unacceptable. This framing of problematic substance use is accomplished via gendered responsibilisation of women as foetal incubators and primary caregivers of infants. We discuss our results in light of the current literature and suggest policy implications.

Objective To review current knowledge about emergency contraception (EC), including available options, their modes of action, efficacy, safety, and the effective provision of EC within a practice setting. Options The combined estradiol-levonorgestrel (Yuzpe regimen) and the levonorgestrel-only regimen, as well as post-coital use of copper intrauterine devices, are reviewed. Outcomes Efficacy in terms of reduction in risk of pregnancy, safety, and side effects of methods for EC and the effect of the means of access to EC on its appropriate use and the use of consistent contraception. Evidence Studies published in English between January 1998 and March 2010 were retrieved though searches of Medline and the Cochrane Database, using appropriate key words (emergency contraception, post-coital contraception, emergency contraceptive pills, post-coital copper IUD). Clinical guidelines and position papers developed by health or family planning organizations were also reviewed. Values The studies reviewed were classified according to criteria described by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, and the recommendations for practice were ranked according to this classification (Table 1). Benefits, Harms, and Costs These guidelines are intended to help reduce unintended pregnancies by increasing awareness and appropriate use of EC. Sponsor The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.

To review current knowledge about emergency contraception (EC), including available options, their modes of action, efficacy, safety, and the effective provision of EC within a practice setting.The combined estradiol-levonorgestrel (Yuzpe regimen) and the levonorgestrel-only regimen, as well as post-coital use of copper intrauterine devices, are reviewed.Efficacy in terms of reduction in risk of pregnancy, safety, and side effects of methods for EC and the effect of the means of access to EC on its appropriate use and the use of consistent contraception.Studies published in English between January 1998 and March 2010 were retrieved though searches of Medline and the Cochrane Database, using appropriate key words (emergency contraception, post-coital contraception, emergency contraceptive pills, post-coital copper IUD). Clinical guidelines and position papers developed by health or family planning organizations were also reviewed.The studies reviewed were classified according to criteria described by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, and the recommendations for practice were ranked according to this classification (Table 1).These guidelines are intended to help reduce unintended pregnancies by increasing awareness and appropriate use of EC.The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Summary Statements 1. Hormonal emergency contraception may be effective if used up to 5 days after unprotected intercourse. (II-2) 2. The earlier hormonal emergency contraception is used, the more effective it is. (II-2) 3. A copper IUD can be effective emergency contraception if used within 7 days after intercourse. (II-2) 4. Levonorgestrel emergency contraception regimens are more effective and cause fewer side effects than the Yuzpe regimen. (I) 5. Levonorgestrel emergency contraception single dose (1.5 mg) and the 2-dose levonorgestrel regimen (0.75 mg 12 hours apart) have similar efficacy with no difference in side effects. (I) 6. Of the hormonal emergency contraception regimens available in Canada, levonorgestrel-only is the drug of choice. (I) 7. A pregnancy that results from failure of emergency contraception need not be terminated (I) Recommendations 1. Emergency contraception should be used as soon as possible after unprotected sexual intercourse. (II-2A) 2. Emergency contraception should be offered to women if unprotected intercourse has occurred within the time it is known to be effective (5 days for hormonal methods and up to 7 days for a copper IUD). (II-2B) 3. Women should be evaluated for pregnancy if menses have not begun within 21 days following emergency contraception treatment. (III-A) 4. During physician visits for periodic health examinations or reproductive health concerns, any woman in the reproductive age group who has not been sterilized may be counselled about emergency contraception in advance with detailed information about how and when to use it. (III-C).

Rural nurses play an important role in the provision of maternity care for Canadian women. This care is an important part of how rural nurses safeguard the patients who receive care in small rural hospitals. This study utilized institutional ethnography as an approach for describing rural nursing work and for exploring how nurses' work experiences are socially organized. Rural nurses advocated for safe healthcare environments by ensuring that skilled nurses were available for every shift, day and night, at their local hospital. Rural nurses noted that this work was particularly difficult for the provision of maternity care. This article explores two threads or cues to institutional organization that were identified in our interviews and observations; namely staffing and safety standards, and the need for flexibility in staffing in small rural hospitals. Rural nurses' concerns about ensuring that skilled nurses are available in small rural hospitals do not enter into current management discourses that focus on efficiency and cost savings or find a home within current discourses of patient safety 'competencies'.

Two research studies explored rural nurses' experience with the provision of maternity care in rural British Columbia, Canada. Frontline nurses, managers, and health-care providers were interviewed and their practices observed. One of the main challenges identified by rural nurses was ensuring that a knowledgeable/skilled maternity or perinatal nurse was always available at the local hospital. Learning how to provide safe and supportive maternity care is difficult for nurses working in small rural hospitals today due to declining birth rates, increased workloads, and a decrease in opportunities for mentoring. Decisions about the allocation of time off and resources for rural nurses' continuing professional education (CPE) were structured by discourses of personal responsibility for "continuing competence." These institutional work processes increase the burden on rural nurses, negatively affecting their opportunities for CPE and their experiences of providing maternity care, with implications for both patient safety and nurse retention.

To provide evidence-based guidance for women and their health care providers on the management of missed or delayed hormonal contraceptive doses in order to prevent unintended pregnancy.Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database were searched for articles published in English, from 1974 to 2007, about hormonal contraceptive methods that are available in Canada and that may be missed or delayed. Relevant publications and position papers from appropriate reproductive health and family planning organizations were also reviewed. The quality of evidence is rated using the criteria developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.This committee opinion will help health care providers offer clear information to women who have not been adherent in using hormonal contraception with the purpose of preventing unintended pregnancy.The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. SUMMARY STATEMENTS: 1. Instructions for what women should do when they miss hormonal contraception have been complex and women do not understand them correctly. (I) 2. The highest risk of ovulation occurs when the hormone-free interval is prolonged for more than seven days, either by delaying the start of combined hormonal contraceptives or by missing active hormone doses during the first or third weeks of combined oral contraceptives. (II) Ovulation rarely occurs after seven consecutive days of combined oral contraceptive use. (II) RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Health care providers should give clear, simple instructions, both written and oral, on missed hormonal contraceptive pills as part of contraceptive counselling. (III-A) 2. Health care providers should provide women with telephone/electronic resources for reference in the event of missed or delayed hormonal contraceptives. (III-A) 3. In order to avoid an increased risk of unintended pregnancy, the hormone-free interval should not exceed seven days in combined hormonal contraceptive users. (II-A) 4. Back-up contraception should be used after one missed dose in the first week of hormones until seven consecutive days of correct hormone use are established. In the case of missed combined hormonal contraceptives in the second or third week of hormones, the hormone-free interval should be eliminated for that cycle. (III-A) 5. Emergency contraception and back-up contraception may be required in some instances of missed hormonal contraceptives, in particular when the hormone-free interval has been extended for more than seven days. (III-A) 6. Back-up contraception should be used when three or more consecutive doses/days of combined hormonal contraceptives are missed in the second and third week until seven consecutive days of correct hormone use are established. For practical reasons, the scheduled hormone-free interval should be eliminated in these cases. (II-A) 7. Emergency contraception is rarely indicated for missed combined hormonal contraceptives in the second or third week of the cycle unless there are repeated omissions or failure to institute back-up contraception after the missed doses. In cases of repeated omissions of combined hormonal contraceptives, emergency contraception may be required, and back-up contraception should be used. Health care professionals should counsel women in these situations on alternative methods of contraception that do not demand such stringent compliance. (III-A).

Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is increasingly being used for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and prevention of pregnancy associated morbidity in pregnant women with thrombophilia. We sought to determine if the administration of prophylactic doses of LMWH downregulates coagulation activation in high risk pregnant women with thrombophilia. This sub-study was planned as part of a randomized open label controlled trial (Thrombophilia in Pregnancy Prophylaxis Study [TIPPS]) in which patients at high risk of pregnancy complications with confirmed thrombophilia are randomized to receive either dalteparin (5,000 units/day until 20 weeks then 5,000 units q12h until 37 weeks or onset of labor) or no treatment. Blood samples were collected at baseline, day 7-9 (after starting study drug), week 20 (before increasing study drug), week 36 (prior to stopping study drug) and at the time of admission to the labor and delivery unit. Samples were not drawn at fixed times in relation to drug injection. These samples were analyzed for levels of thrombin-antithrombin complexes (TAT), prothrombin fragments 1 + 2 (F1.2), D-dimer and anti-Xa activity. Generalized linear mixed models were used for statistical analysis and model results were controlled for age, smoking status, type of thrombophilia and predisposing risk factors. The effect of dalteparin on TAT levels was defined as the primary outcome. Of 198 patients eligible, 114 were enrolled in TIPPS. Ninety-one were eligible for the TIPPS coagulation activation sub-study and randomized. Thirty-nine patients were analyzed in the treatment group (dalteparin) and 46 patients in the control group (no intervention). Levels of coagulation activation factors F1.2, TAT and D-dimer increased significantly throughout pregnancy in both groups (p0.0001). Dalteparin prophylaxis resulted in a significant increase in anti-Xa activity through pregnancy (p0.0001) compared to controls. Dalteparin had no significant effects on the levels of TAT, F1.2 and D-dimer throughout pregnancy in thrombophilic women. A post-hoc Monte Carlo power analysis revealed that our study had 100% and 88% power to detect reductions in TAT values on treatment of 50% and 25%, respectively. Prophylaxis with dalteparin at doses used in this study did not reduce coagulation activation in high risk thrombophilic women during pregnancy.

Objective To explore the social organization of women’s preterm labor experiences. Design Institutional ethnography investigated how the woman’s experience is socially organized and for patterns of how something is organized to recur. Participants/Setting Eight women who experienced preterm labor while living in one city in Western Canada volunteered to participate. Data Analysis Institutional ethnographic methodology guided the analysis of audiotaped transcribed interviews to understand the work these women do and the complexities of their everyday lives. Results Women spoke about their fear of going home and feeling alone with the responsibility for their work of “keeping the baby in.” Overall, preterm labor was experienced as a profound sense of personal responsibility for preventing preterm birth and was practiced as being “careful.” Conclusions The assumption that the family is privately responsible for care work in the home results in the lack of assessment of resources for managing the medical plan on discharge and the lack of resources available or offered to assist families. The work of keeping the baby in conflicts with family care work responsibilities and can cause significant hardships for some women and families. JOGNN, 35 , 700‐708; 2006. DOI: 10.1111/J.1552‐6909.2006.00097.x

With the recent introduction of preterm birth prevention programs there has been a shift in our understanding of what the presence of contractions during pregnancy means and a reconstituting of risk in ways that position increasing numbers of women at risk for preterm birth. This paper highlights the findings of a study exploring the influences of risk discourses on women's experiences of preterm labour. The primary goals of this institutional ethnographic study were to describe the effects of societal discourses, institutional structures, and nursing work processes on the everyday lives of childbearing women experiencing preterm labour. The findings suggest that risk discourses exert social control over pregnant women and result in fear, guilt, feelings of being judged or punished, and an overwhelming sense of personal responsibility for preventing preterm birth. The study also exposes ways in which biomedical constructions of risk and preterm labour affect the organization of health services, including nursing practice.

Objective: The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop new understandings of what it means to women in labor for a nurse to be present during childbirth. Design: Hermeneutic inquiry was used to explore the phenomenon of nursing presence during childbirth. The purpose of questioning in hermeneutic phenomenology is to stimulate thoughtful reflection and deeper exploration of the subject's experiences. Participants/Setting: Six women from an urban center in Canada volunteered to share their experiences of childbirth through conversations with the research team. Data Analysis: Audio-taped, transcribed interviews were analyzed along with the reflections of the research team. Results: Women attribute multiple meanings to the care provided by intrapartum nurses. However, what stood out in these women's accounts was that a nurse's presence was the way in which a nurse was "there" for them and was a very important part of their childbirth experience. Conclusions: Women's experiences of a nurse's presence cannot be understood apart from the institutional structures and work processes that shape their experiences. Further research is needed to explicate how hospital procedures, administrative structures, and medical practices enable or constrain the presence of the intrapartum nurse.