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Family-Centred Maternity and Newborn Care: National Guidelines
Backgrounder: Process for development of the Guidelines.
Guidelines for Maternal and Newborn Services were first published in Canada by the Department of National Health and
Welfare in 1968. These Guidelines were subsequently revised in 1974 and
again in 1987. Changes were made in each version in keeping with the rapid
changes which had occurred in maternal and newborn care in Canada. In 1975, when
the first revision took place, family-centred maternity and newborn care was not
yet widely accepted as essential for mothers, babies and families. By 1987, that
had changed and the title of the Guidelines was changed to Family-Centred Maternity and Newborn Care: National
Guidelines.
This edition of the Family-Centred Maternity and
Newborn Care: National Guidelines was developed through a collaborative
process involving over 70 professionals and consumers across Canada, and
facilitated by Health Canada and the Canadian Institute of Child Health. The
process of developing these Guidelines included consultation with many
stakeholders involved in the care of mothers and babies in Canada and was
accomplished in three stages—a survey of users; consultation with national
professional and consumer organizations; and the actual writing and review by
experts in maternal and newborn care, and families from all regions of the
country.
In order to develop the Guidelines, a Core
Group1 of national professional and consumer organizations, who are
involved in the care of mothers and babies, was formed. They identified recent
information that was relevant to the development of the Guidelines; planned the process for writing the Guidelines; made recommendations
regarding the structure of the Guidelines; and identified who should
write the Guidelines.
Based on these recommendations, Working Groups were
established to write the Guidelines under the coordination of a Project
Director. There were 13 working groups, totaling 70 people. Each Working Group
was interdisciplinary in nature—medicine (neonatology, obstetrics/perinatology,
anaesthesia, and family medicine); nursing (community and hospital); midwifery;
families; childbirth education; administration; architecture and planning. The
members of the Working Groups were recommended by the organizations based on
their expertise and represented all regions of the country. Each of the chapters
went through several drafts during this process. The entire document was
reviewed, revised and finalized through a peer review process.
The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist
hospitals and other health care agencies in planning, implementing and
evaluating maternal and newborn programs and services. They are designed for
policy makers, health care providers (e.g. physicians, nurses, midwives),
parents, program planners and administrators. Because of the diversity of
Canada's regions and communities, the Guidelines are intended to be
sufficiently flexible to encompass the various approaches, policies and
protocols of Canadian institutions, agencies, communities and regions. These Guidelines have been endorsed by the Canadian Institute of Child Health,
the Canadian Coalition for
Regionalized Perinatal Care, the Society of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, the Canadian Public Health
Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Nurses
Association, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses -
Canada, and the International Childbirth Education Association.
Core Group Members
Aboriginal Nurses Association
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal
Nurses Canada
Canada Anaesthetist Society
Canadian Coalition for the Prevention of
Developmental Disabilities
Canadian Coalition for Regionalized Perinatal
Care
Canadian Confederation of Midwives
Canadian Council on Health Services
Accreditation
Canadian Healthcare Association
Canadian Institute of Child Health
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Nurses Association
Canadian Paediatric Society
Canadian Public Health Association
College of Family Physicians of Canada
Health Canada
International Childbirth Education
Association
Native Physicians Association of
Canada
Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of
Canada
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