Job satisfaction of maternity care providers in the Netherlands: Does working in or with a birth centre influence job satisfaction?

Introduction: In the Netherlands birth centres have recently become an alternative option as places where women with uncomplicated pregnancies can give birth. This article focusses on the job satisfaction of three groups of maternity care providers (community midwives, clinical care providers and maternity care assistants) working in or with a birth centre compared to those working only in a hospital or at home.

Methods: In 2015, an existing questionnaire was adapted and distributed to maternity care providers and 4073 responses were received.

Differences in optimality index between planned place of birth in a birth centre and alternative planned places of birth, a nationwide prospective cohort study in The Netherlands: results of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

Objectives: To compare the Optimality Index of planned birth in a birth centre with planned birth in a hospital and planned home birth for low-risk term pregnant women who start labour under the responsibility of a community midwife.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Low-risk pregnant women under care of a community midwife and living in a region with one of the 21 participating Dutch birth centres or in a region with the possibility for midwife-led hospital birth.

Developing quality indicators for assessing quality of birth centre care: a mixed- methods study.

Background: Birth centres are described as settings where women with uncomplicated pregnancies can give birth in a home-like environment assisted by midwives and maternity care assistants. If complications arise or threaten, the woman is referred to a maternity unit of a hospital where an obstetrician will take over responsibility. In the last decade, a number of new birth centres have been established in the Netherlands, based on the assumption that birth centres provide better quality of care since they offer a better opportunity for more integrated care than the existing system with independent primary and secondary care providers.

Typology of birth centres in the Netherlands using the Rainbow model of integrated care: results of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

Background: The goal of integrated care is to offer a continuum of care that crosses the boundaries of public health, primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Integrated care is increasingly promoted for people with complex needs and has also recently been promoted in maternity care systems to improve the quality of care. Especially when located near an obstetric unit, birth centres are considered to be ideal settings for the realization of integrated care.

Experiences of women who planned birth in a birth centre compared to alternative planned places of birth. Results of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

Objective: to assess the experiences with maternity care of women who planned birth in a birth centre and to compare them to alternative planned places of birth, by using the responsiveness concept of the World Health Organization.

Design: this study is a cross-sectional study using the ReproQ questionnaire filled out eight to ten weeks after birth. The primary outcome was responsiveness of birth care.

Prevalence and pattern of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in the Netherlands.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in the Netherlands in 2007 and 2010.

Method: During two identical, nation-wide surveys in 2007 and 2010, questionnaires were handed out to mothers of infants aged ≤6 months who visited a Well-Baby Clinic. By means of the questionnaire mothers were, in addition to questions on infant feeding practices and background variables, asked about their alcohol consumption before, during and after pregnancy.

Change in primary midwife-led care in the Netherlands in 2000–2008: A descriptive study of caesarean sections and other interventions among 807,437 low-risk births.

Objective: to study whether an increase in intrapartum referrals in primary midwife-led care births in the Netherlands is accompanied by an increase in caesarean sections.

Design: nationwide descriptive study.

Setting: The Netherlands Perinatal Registry.

The Dutch Birth Centre Study: study design of a programmatic evaluation of the effect of birth centre care in the Netherlands.

Background: Birth centres are regarded as settings where women with uncomplicated pregnancies can give birth, assisted by a midwife and a maternity care assistant. In case of (threatening) complications referral to a maternity unit of a hospital is necessary. In the last decade up to 20 different birth centres have been instituted in the Netherlands.

Variation in intrapartum referral rates in primary midwifery care in the Netherlands: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: in midwife-led care models of maternity care, midwives are responsible for intrapartum referrals to the obstetrician or obstetric unit, in order to give their clients access to secondary obstetric care. This study explores the influence of risk perception, policy on routine labour management, and other midwife related factors on intrapartum referral decisions of Dutch midwives.

Design: a questionnaire was used, in which a referral decision was asked in 14 early labour scenarios (Discrete Choice Experiment or DCE).

The effect of early catch-up growth on health and well-being in young adults.

Aim: To study the effect of catch-up growth in the 1st year on cognition, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), problem behavior and growth in young adults.

Methods: We included individuals without severe complications and born small for gestational age (SGA; n = 228 for weight, n = 203 for length) or with a low head circumference (HC, n = 178) or a low weight adjusted for length (n = 64) in the Collaborative Project on Preterm and SGA Infants. Neonatal growth was standardized (standard deviation scores for gestational age, SDSGA) according to GA-specific reference charts.

[Decline in foetal and neonatal mortality in the Netherlands: comparison with other Euro-Peristat countries between 2004 and 2010].

Objective: To compare the change in foetal and neonatal mortality in the Netherlands between 2004 and 2010 with the change in other European countries.

Design: Descriptive, population-based study.

Method: Data from the Euro-Peristat project on foetal and neonatal mortality in European countries were analysed for changes between 2004 and 2010.

Persisting rise in referrals during labor in primary midwife-led care in the Netherlands.

Background: There are concerns about the Dutch maternity care system, characterized by a strict role division between primary and secondary care. The objective of this study was to describe trends in referrals and in perinatal outcomes among labors that started in primary midwife-led care.

Methods: We performed a descriptive study of all 789,795 labors that started in primary midwife-led care during 2000 to 2008 in The Netherlands.

Change in primary midwife-led care in the Netherlands in 2000-2008: a descriptive study of caesarean sections and other interventions among 789,795 low risk births.

Objective: to study whether an increase in intrapartum referrals in primary midwife-led care births in the Netherlands is accompanied by an increase in caesarean sections.

Design: nationwide descriptive study.

Setting: the Netherlands Perinatal Registry.

Changes in quality of life into adulthood after very preterm birth and/or very low birth weight in the Netherlands.

Background: It is important to know the impact of Very Preterm (VP) birth or Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW). The purpose of this study is to evaluate changes in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of adults born VP or with a VLBW, between age 19 and age 28.

Methods: The 1983 nationwide Dutch Project On Preterm and Small for gestational age infants (POPS) cohort of 1338 VP (gestational age <32 weeks) or VLBW (<1500 g) infants, was contacted to complete online questionnaires at age 28.

[Smoking during pregnancy: trends between 2001 and 2010].

Objective: To establish trends in the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy between 2001 and 2010 and to relate these to differences in educational gradient in the Netherlands.

Design: National surveys.

Method: In 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010, 28,720 questionnaires were handed out to mothers with infants aged up to 6 months at periodic check-ups at well baby clinics.

Unchanged prevalence of Down syndrome in the Netherlands: results from an 11-year nationwide birth cohort.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate trends in prevalence of Down syndrome (DS) births in the Netherlands over an 11-year period and how they have been affected by maternal age and introduction of prenatal screening.

Method: Nationwide data of an 11-year birth cohort (1997-2007) from the Netherlands Perinatal Registry were analyzed. First-trimester combined screening was introduced in 2002, free of charge only for women 36 years of age or older and only on patients' request.

Do differences in maternal age, parity and multiple births explain variations in fetal and neonatal mortality rates in Europe?--Results from the EURO-PERISTAT project.

Perinatal mortality rates differ markedly between countries in Europe. If population characteristics, such as maternal age, parity or multiple births, contribute to these differences, standardised rates may be useful for international comparisons of health status and especially quality of care. This analysis used aggregated population-based data on fetal and neonatal mortality stratified by maternal age, parity and multiple birth from 12 countries participating in the EURO-PERISTAT project to explore this question.

The effect of preconception counselling on lifestyle and other behaviour before and during pregnancy.

Background: Recent studies suggest that the basis for adverse pregnancy outcomes is often established early in pregnancy, during organogenesis. It is therefore important to take preventive action as early as possible, preferably before pregnancy. Because most adverse pregnancy outcomes occur in women who are unaware of being at risk, we conducted a randomized controlled trial, "Parents to Be.

Pre-conception counselling in primary care: prevalence of risk factors among couples contemplating pregnancy.

The outcome of pregnancy can be influenced by several risk factors. Women who are informed about these risks during pre-conception counselling (PCC) have an opportunity to take preventive measures in time. Several studies have shown that high-risk populations have a high prevalence of such risk factors.

Influence of educational level on determinants of folic acid use.

In The Netherlands, periconceptional folic acid use to prevent neural tube defects was promoted through a national 'Folic Acid Campaign'. In two regions, a local campaign supplemented the national campaign to increase the chances of reaching women with low socio-economic status (SES). A framework of outcome criteria, defined as awareness knowledge, perceived safety, attitudes and subjective norms, was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the two local campaigns.

Periconceptional folic acid use and the prevalence of neural tube defects in The Netherlands.

Objective: To study the effect of increased folic acid intake on the prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in The Netherlands.

Study Design: Using the capture-recapture method, the prevalence of NTD was estimated on the basis of five different registries on births affected by NTD.

Results: Total prevalence over the 1988-1998 period varied between 1.

Male predominance in fetal distress during labor.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the association between fetal sex and the occurrence of fetal distress during labor.

Study Design: This was a prospective cohort study that incorporated data about 423,033 singleton pregnancies from the national perinatal database for secondary obstetric care in The Netherlands. All singleton pregnancies on record that were delivered under the responsibility of obstetricians in The Netherlands between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 1994, were analyzed.