New moms are being asked to participate in a research study.
Sudbury Regional Hospital is one of 10 hospitals participating
in the Ontario Mother and Infant Study (TOMIS) III. It is
looking at how the type of birth - vaginal or caesarean
delivery - impacts on the health of the mother and baby, as
well as the use of health-care services.
"We want to see what the outcomes will be with the different
types of birth. I don't have the answers, but I can tell you
that having a caesarean section involves surgery for the mom,
so her recovery takes longer than it would with a vaginal
birth," says Diane Belanger-Gardner, administrative director of
SRH's family child program.
"As soon as you have an incision, no matter what, it takes
longer to recover. There's more risks as well. But sometimes
you have no choice."
Mothers will fill out a short form in the hospital and then
take part in phone questionnaires when their babies are six
weeks old, six months old and a year old.
They will be asked questions about their post-partum
experience, their health and that of their babies, and all the
health services they have used since they gave birth.
Questions are "pretty straightforward - it's just a yes or
no answer and short explanations so that it's not too
time-consuming for families. When you're calling them after
they've had a baby, it's a really busy time and a huge change
in their lives," says Belanger-Gardner.
Sudbury Regional Hospital also participated in the first two
TOMIS studies, which are led by Wendy Sword, assistant dean for
McMaster University's School of Nursing. The previous studies
only looked at the health of women who had given birth
vaginally.
After participating in the first TOMIS study, the hospital
got a lot of feedback from the mothers about what kind of
information they would have found helpful. Staff produced a
handbook for new parents with handy instructions about
childbirth, post-natal and infant care, as well as contact
information.
-Heidi Ulrichsen
