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This page provides access to "Current Resources for Evidence-Based Practice," a quarterly column from Childbirth Connection. Since 2003, the column has been published simultaneously in

Each column includes three elements:
  • a brief commentary or tutorial on an aspect of evidence-based practice
  • an inventory of recent systematic reviews and overviews of best research
  • a summary of results and implications of several "featured reviews."

The subject matter reflects the scope of the two journals: maternal, newborn and women's health.



2010 Current Evidence Columns

JOGNN July/August (PDF)    JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Updated family planning guidelines from the World Health Organization
Featured reviews: oral fluid and food intake during labor; a summary of the AHRQ evidence report on breastfeeding in developed countries; efficacy of HIV/STI behavioral interventions for African American females in the United States

JOGNN March/April (PDF)    JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Making sense of the mammography debate: a methods tutorial
Featured reviews: sterile water injection for labor pain; breastfeeding promotion for infants in neonatal units; race and ovarian cancer treatment and outcomes

JOGNN January/February (PDF)    JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Cochrane Collaboration forms new Nursing Care
Featured reviews: the safety of quinolones and proton pump inhibitors in pregnancy; pacifiers and breastfeeding; levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine devices compared to endometrial ablation for heavy menstrual bleeding

 



2009 Current Evidence Columns

JOGNN September/October (PDF)    JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Systematic underfunding of research and development in maternal and perinatal health
Featured reviews: obesity as an independent risk factor for elective and emergency cesarean delivery in nulliparous women; maternal overweight and obesity and the risk of congenital anomalies; the association between obesity and rates of screening for breast and cervical cancer

JOGNN July/Aug (PDF)       JMWH July/Aug (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Critical appraisal of review article, "Evidence-based Labor and Delivery Management" by Berghella, Baxter and Chauhan
Featured reviews: risks related to external cephalic version and clinical factors predicting success; determinants and prevention of low birth weight; physical activity and osteoporotic fractures

JOGNN March/April (PDF)       JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: National Quality Forum endorses seventeen national voluntary consensus perinatal measures
Featured reviews: updated guidelines for induction of labor from the UK-based National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE); environmental tobacco smoke and fetal health; persistent human papillomavirus infection and cervical neoplasia

JOGNN January/February (PDF)       JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Milbank Report proposes framework for evidence-based maternity care and policy recommendations for improvement
Featured reviews: cesarean section is associated with an increased risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus; prevalence, type, distribution and severity of cerebral palsy in relation to gestational age; intrauterine device use and risk of endometrial cancer



2008 Current Evidence Columns


JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: New Version of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Effects of Treatments contains major revisions
Featured reviews: women's expectations and experience of pain relief in labor, neonatal antibiotic prophylaxis versus monitoring and selective treatment for neonatal Group B Streptococcal infection, ovarian cancer risk and oral contraceptives

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and its recent guidance for intrapartum care
Featured reviews: cervical stitch (cerclage) for preventing pregnancy loss, effects of swaddling, interventions to promote mammography and to enhance breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment among racial and ethnic minority women

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                 JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: the "disciplined subjectivity" of meta-analysis
Featured reviews: maternal obesity and pregnancy risk, effect of admission cardiotocography versus intermittent auscultation on maternal and newborn outcomes, management of minor cervical cytological abnormalities

JOGNN January/February (PDF)       JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: comparative effectiveness and safety research
Featured reviews: antiplatelet agents for prevention of pre-eclampsia, patients' experiences of care following perinatal loss, Cochrane systematic reviews of IUD trials



2007 Current Evidence Columns


JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: long-term effects of breastfeeding in infants and mothers
Featured reviews: strategies for reducing cesarean section rates, infant bed sharing, increased access to emergency contraceptive pills

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: effective maternity care quality improvement strategies
Featured reviews: progesterone for preventing preterm birth, routine postpartum care, treatment for urinary incontinence in women

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                 JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: best evidence about strategies for improving health care quality
Featured reviews: ultrasound for predicting macrosomia, women's views of medically elective cesarean section, interventions to treat premenstrual syndrome

JOGNN January/February (PDF)       JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Clinical Evidence condition-focused database
Featured reviews: staff-directed Valsalva pushing, hypothermia prevention in vulnerable newborns, factors predisposing to chronic pelvic pain



2006 Current Evidence Columns


JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: contraception guidance from model best evidence process
Featured reviews: fetal/child exposure to environmental pollutants and biomarkers of genetic damage, low-dose synthetic oxytocin or early epidural analgesia and cesarean section

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: evidence-based online resources for health professionals
Featured reviews: prolonged pregnancy, vitamin B6 for depression, pharmacologic prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                 JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: guidelines for care of low-risk women during labor
Featured reviews: prevalence of uterine rupture, prenatal screening for HIV, interventions for preventing postpartum depression

JOGNN January/February (PDF)       JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: understanding harms of interventions
Featured reviews: interpregnancy interval and birth outcomes, infant feeding and obesity across the life course



2005 Current Evidence Columns

JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: quality checklists for assessing and reporting research
Featured reviews: perinatal/neonatal health in developing countries, ginger for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, management of menopause-related symptoms

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: clinical guidelines
Featured reviews: hypnosis and acupuncture for labor pain, antibiotics and preterm labor, oral contraception to suppress menstruation

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: translating best cesarean evidence into practice
Featured reviews: psychosocial aspects of genetic screening in pregnant women and newborns, uterine rupture after previous cesarean, quality of breast cancer care

JOGNN January/February (PDF)       JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: translating best evidence into maternal and newborn practice
Featured reviews: interventions for postpartum depression, cesarean section, screening for ovarian cancer



2004 Current Evidence Columns

JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: adopting best evidence in practice
Featured reviews: treatments for postpartum depression, reducing risks of formula feed preparation, treatments for urinary stress incontinence in women

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: WHO Reproductive Health Library
Featured reviews: prenatal care for healthy women, complementary/alternative medicine for menopausal symptoms

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: "Netting the Evidence" web portal
Featured reviews: pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic methods of labor pain relief, interventions to promote breastfeeding, programs to prevent adolescent pregnancy

JOGNN January/Februrary (PDF)     JMWH January/February (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: resources to guide effective professional practice
Featured reviews: continuous labor support, interventions to promote breastfeeding, diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease in women



2003 Current Evidence Columns

JOGNN September/October (PDF)     JMWH September/October (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: Cochrane "Central" register of controlled trials
Featured reviews: early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and healthy newborns, treatment of postpartum depression, interventions for violence against women, vaginal birth after cesarean

JOGNN July/August (PDF)                JMWH July/August (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: finding systematic reviews on topics of interest
Featured reviews: women's views of pregnancy ultrasound, opioids for labor pain, skin patch and vaginal ring vs. oral contraceptives, screening tests for Chlamydia

JOGNN March/April (PDF)                JMWH March/April (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: levels of evidence
Featured reviews: screening for gestational diabetes, VBAC versus repeat cesarean, naloxone for narcotic-exposed newborns, effect of breastfeeding on breast cancer

JOGNN January/Februrary (PDF)      JMWH January/Februrary (PDF)
Tutorial/commentary: systematic reviews
Featured reviews: preconception care, preventing perineal trauma during childbirth, exercise for preventing and treating post-menopausal osteoporosis



For permission to provide access to all columns, Childbirth Connection thanks the editors and publishers of the two journals, as well as the sponsoring organizations: American College of Nurse-Midwives and Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.
Most recent page update: 7/19/2010


© 2010 Childbirth Connection. All rights reserved.

Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.
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