ACOG Postpartum Toolkit

Often referred to as “The Fourth Trimester,” the weeks after birth are a critical time for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being. This comprehensive toolkit, with an introduction by Dr. Haywood Brown, includes extensive resources on the key components of postpartum care, including support for new mothers, reproductive life planning, infant care, counseling for substance use, long-term weight management, and many more pertinent topics. It also features a sample postpartum checklist for women to complete.

Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep Tobacco Cessation

Preconception Health

This resource from the CDC defines and discusses the importance of preconception health. It features a link to 10 important steps and considerations for women planning to become pregnant. Another link for women not planning a pregnancy discusses 10 healthy habits of benefit should she become pregnant in the future, or even if she decides not to have children. A third link provides similar guidance for men with 10 recommendations for healthy living.

Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

ACOG Committee Opinion on Optimizing Postpartum Care

Because one half of all pregnancy-related maternal deaths occur postpartum, the weeks following childbirth are a critical period for a woman and her infant. In addition, health issues that arise in pregnancy can persist and presage long-term medical problems. In this Committee Opinion, ACOG lays out a new vision for postpartum care, redefining it as an ongoing process beginning within the first 3 weeks postpartum and tailored to a woman’s needs. The document includes practical advice on postpartum care as well as useful charts including a Timeline for Postpartum Care, a listing of The Components of Postpartum Care, and a table identifying Members of the Postpartum Care Team.

Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Depression Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

Moms2B

Moms2B provides weekly education and support sessions for expectant mothers to promote healthy lifestyle choices and link women with support services. Topics covered include: breastfeeding, child development, family planning, goal setting, prenatal labor and delivery, maternal-infant health, positive parenting, reproductive health, and safe sleep. Moms2B is provided free of charge, with transportation assistance, on-site childcare and a hot, healthy meal. Ohio State University and community social service organizations support Moms2B participants with ongoing access to healthcare providers, lactation counselors, social workers, parenting educators and community health workers. The Moms2B program is based on an evidence-based pilot curriculum shown to increase breastfeeding and improve infant health.

Breastfeeding Nutrition Parenting Education Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep

A Public Health Response to Opioid Use in Pregnancy

This policy statement from the AAP advocates a public health response to the opioid epidemic and substance use during pregnancy, and recommends: a focus on preventing unintended pregnancies and improving access to contraception; universal screening for alcohol and other drug use in women of childbearing age; knowledge and informed consent of maternal drug testing and reporting practices;improved access to prenatal care, including opioid replacement therapy; gender-specific substance use treatment programs;and improved funding for social services and child welfare systems.

Alcohol/Drug Services Prenatal Care and Education

Ask the Expert: Improving the health of Women, Children and Men: A Primer on Preventive Services Covered Under the Affordable Care Act

Healthy Start programs are an invaluable resource for women, children and men to increase their understanding of the preventive services covered under the Affordable Care Act. For example, did you know that comprehensive breastfeeding support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breastfeeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women is a covered benefit under Marketplace health plans at no charge to the client? This webinar will provide an overview of the preventive services that are covered for women, children and men. Given the substantial amount of content to cover the webinar has been divided up into three parts. The first webinar will be live. The two subsequent webinars will be recorded and available for listening shortly following the live webinar.

Objectives:

1. Identify the preventative health services for women (Part I), children (Part II), and men (Part III) available with no co-pay and deductible.
2. Describe access points for the service (Parts I – III)
3. Identify models of payments related to these services and how it might affect access and payment for the services (Part III)
4. Define barriers created by some states/insurers to reduce access to some services (Part III).

Webinar Materials:

Home Visiting Life Course Model Nutrition Parenting Education Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children STDs including HIV Tobacco Cessation

Family Spirit

Family Spirit is an evidence-based early childhood home-visiting program designed for and by American Indian communities. Family Spirit combines the use of paraprofessionals from the community as home visitors and a culturally focused, strengths-based curriculum as a core strategy to support young families. From pregnancy through the child’s 3rd birthday, parents gain knowledge and skills to promote healthy development and positive lifestyles for themselves and their children. Family Spirit addresses intergenerational behavioral health problems, optimizes local cultural assets, and overcomes deficits in the professional health care workforce in low resource communities. Evidence from three randomized controlled trials has documented important results including: increased parenting knowledge and involvement; decreased maternal depression; increased home safety; decreased emotional and behavioral problems of mothers; and decreased emotional and behavioral problems of children. The Family Spirit curriculum modules cover: Prenatal Care, Infant Care, Your Growing Child, Toddler Care, My Family and Me, and Healthy Living.

Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Depression Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children

Effectiveness of Family Planning Methods

This webpage provides basic information on a variety of contraceptive methods, including a link to a poster comparing typical effectiveness of contraceptive methods. The poster can be used to show women and men the range of contraception choices available to them, and which methods work best at preventing pregnancy. The webpage also provides additional resources on contraception for health care providers and consumers.

Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

Interconception Care Toolkit

The Interconception Care Toolkit modules are designed to enhance users’ knowledge of interconception health related subjects. There are links to internet resources throughout the Modules to help you learn the content. There are questions and scenarios in each Module which will help you use the information you are learning. At the end of each of the Modules, you will be able to quiz yourselves on what you have learned.

Module 1: The Birds, The Bees, The Plan
Part 1 – Helping Your Clients Plan Their Futures and Their Families
Part 2 – Grasping the Basics of Reproduction
Part 3 – Considering If and When to Become Pregnant Again
Part 4 – From Plan to Action: Finding and Using the Right Contraception

Module 2: Weighty Matters: Understanding and Addressing Postpartum Weight Retention in the Interconception Period

Module 3: Chronic Diseases

Module 4: Poor Perinatal Outcomes

Learning Objectives:

By the end of Module 1 (Parts 1-4) you should be able to:

  1. Describe and address some of the common myths about reproduction and reproductive health
  2. Educate your clients about these myths to decrease risky behaviors
  3. Explain basic sexual anatomy and physiology for males and females
  4. Describe the main differences in how three types of contraception work
  5. Use this information to help your clients understand basic reproduction and that methods used to prevent unintended pregnancies may be different than those to prevent STI transmission
  6. Discuss the risks of unintended pregnancies and short interpregnancy intervals (IPI)
  7. Help your clients consider a reproductive life plan
  8. Discuss reproductive coercion and how it impacts reproductive decision making
  9. Navigate the website bedsider.org
  10. Explain key characteristics of the main types of contraception to your clients
  11. Understand and explain failure rates to clients
  12. Help women/couples choose an appropriate contraceptive method for their reproductive plan and their personal characteristics

By the end of Module 2 you should be able to:

  1. Describe recommended and excess maternal weight gains in pregnancy
  2. Define postpartum weight retention
  3. Identify strategies for discussing and addressing postpartum weight retention with interconception women
  4. Provide evidence-based weight loss/maintenance strategies and resources to your clients

By the end of Module 3 (Parts 1-2) you should be able to:

  1. Explain the differences between chronic diseases that predate a pregnancy and pregnancy conditions that may lead to chronic diseases in the future
  2. Discuss why both are important for a woman’s life course and the health of any future pregnancies
  3. Discuss why the interconception period is an important time to address chronic diseases
  4. Support self-management strategies to interrupt the progression of preexisting and developing chronic diseases

By the end of Module 4 you should be able to:

  1. Discuss major causes of poor pregnancy outcomes and who they are most likely to affect
  2. Discuss some of the common psychological and social impacts of poor pregnancy outcomes for women, partners, and other children
  3. Recognize normal and abnormal stages of grief
  4. Provide basic interconception guidance to women who have experienced one or more of several poor pregnancy outcomes

Chronic Disease Depression EBP Implementation Healthy Weight Home Visiting Life Course Model Parenting Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning STDs including HIV

Ask the Expert: Overview of Safe Homes/Safe Babies: A Train the Trainer Curriculum on Domestic Violence and Reproductive Coercion

Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) is delighted to announce a new Curriculum for Perinatal Case Management Programs! FUTURES has worked with Healthy Start Sites nationally for nearly two decades and this curriculum reflects what staff said they needed to best support themselves as well as their families around domestic violence.

Safe Homes/Safe Babies: A Train the Trainer Curriculum on Domestic Violence and Reproductive Coercion is a daylong training developed by FUTURES to support staff working with survivors of domestic violence. We see this webinar as an opportunity to give you a taste of the curriculum, talk about our work, and help you think about technical assistance and training needs within your regions and programs moving forward.

As a results of this training, participants will be better able to:
  • Describe trauma-informed programming.
  • Name two common reactions when caring for survivors of trauma.
  • Identify two barriers to providers doing domestic violence assessment with clients.
  • Describe why universal education using universal education using a safety card is important for helping clients experiencing domestic violence.
  • Understand how safety card is an empowerment tool for clients and patients.

Webinar Materials:

Intimate Partner Violence

Back to most recently added Evidence-Based Practices »