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

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

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: Preconception Care

This webinar focuses on the basic elements of preconception care and why incorporating them into Healthy Start is essential to fulfilling the mission of decreasing infant mortality. The logistics of recruiting participants who are not pregnant into Healthy Start programs and managing their issues is discussed, along with case studies illustrating ways in which this can be done.

 

Webinar Materials:

Chronic Disease Healthy Weight Insurance Coverage Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

Components of the Well-Woman Visit

Annual well-woman visits provide an excellent opportunity for health maintenance and preventive care, including preconception and interconception counseling. Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, Medicaid and most private insurance plans cover these visits without copay. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released these guidelines on recommended components of the annual visit based on previous evidence-based guidelines, current expert opinion, and the recommendations of a multidisciplinary task force. Recommendations on screening, laboratory tests, evaluation and counseling, and immunizations are organized into the age ranges 13-18, 19-45, 46-64, and >64.

Alcohol/Drug Services Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Nutrition Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Risk Assessment STDs including HIV Tobacco Cessation

Life Course Nutrition: Maternal and Child Health Strategies in Public Health

Is your health agency interested in preventing chronic disease? There is growing evidence that nutrition and growth in early life—during pregnancy, infancy and childhood—has an impact on chronic disease in adulthood. When state and local public health departments take steps to ensure the nutritional health of mothers and children they invest in the future health of the communities they serve. This module, based on a life course framework, is designed to help public health leaders describe the role of maternal and child nutrition in population health and identify actions they can take to create equitable access to healthy foods and food environments By the end of the module you will be able to use the life course framework to design effective nutrition initiatives to improve population health.

Chronic Disease Life Course Model Nutrition Prevention

Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs

AMCHP is a national resource, partner, and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, children, and families, including those with special health care needs. AMCHP’s website includes a calendar of events, policy and advocacy resources, information on  MCH topics, and a searchable database of best practices.

Chronic Disease Community Needs Assessment Cultural Competence EBP Implementation Home Visiting Intimate Partner Violence Life Course Model Patient-centered Medical Home

Bright Futures, American Academy of Pediatrics

Bright Futures uses an evidence-driven, developmentally-based approach to address children’s health needs in the context of family and community. The website includes a range of evidence-based resources and systems-oriented tools for health care professionals, parents, and youth-serving organizations striving to improve the health and well-being of all children.

Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning

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