Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Creating an Optimality Index – Netherlands: a validation study

Authors: Suzanne M. Thompson, Marianne J. Nieuwenhuijze, Luc Budé, Raymond de Vries, Lisa Kane Low

Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

At present, the maternity care system in the Netherlands is being reorganized into an integrated model of care, shifting the focus of midwives to include increasing numbers of births in hospital settings and clients with medium risk profiles. In light of these changes, it is useful for midwives to have a tool which may help them in reflecting upon care practices that promote physiological childbirth practices. The Optimality Index-US is an evidence based tool, designed to measure optimal perinatal care processes and outcomes. It has been validated for use in the United States (OI-US), United Kingdom (OI-UK) and Turkey (OI-TR). The objective of this study was to adapt the OI-US for the Dutch maternity care setting (OI-NL).

Methods

Translation and back translation were applied to create the OI-NL. A panel of maternity care experts (n = 10) provided input for face validation items in the OI-NL. Assessment of inter-rater reliability and ease of use was also conducted. Following this, the OI-NL was used prospectively to collect data on 266 women who commenced intrapartum care under the responsibility of a midwife. Twice groups were compared, based on parity and on care-setting at birth. Mean scores between these groups, corrected for perinatal background factors were assessed for discriminant validity.

Results

Face validity was established for OI-NL on the basis of expert input. Discriminant validity was confirmed by conducting multiple regressions analyses for parity (β = 6.21, P = 0.00) and for care-setting (β = 12.1, p = 0.00). Inter-rater reliability was 98%, with one item (Apgar score) sensitive to scoring differences.

Conclusion

OI-NL is a valid and reliable tool for use in the Dutch maternity care setting. In addition to its value for assessing evidence-based maternity care processes and outcomes, there is potential for use for learning and reflection. Against the backdrop of a changing maternity care system, and due to the specificity of its items OI-NL may be of value as a tool for detecting subtle changes indicative of escalating medicalization of childbirth in the Netherlands.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Amelink-Verburg MP, Buitendijk SE. Pregnancy and labour in the dutch maternity care system: what is normal? The role division between midwives and obstetricians. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2010;55:216–25.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Cronie D, Rijnders M, Buitendijk S. Diversity in the scope and practice of hospital-based midwives in the Netherlands. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2012;57(5):469–75.CrossRefPubMed
3.
4.
Thompson SM, Nieuwenhuijze MJ, Low LK, de Vries R. Exploring Dutch midwives’ attitudes to promoting physiological childbirth: a qualitative study. Midwifery. 2016;42:67–73.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Offerhaus PM, Geerts C, de Jonge A, Hukkelhoven C, Twisk J, Lagro-Janssen A, et al. Variation in referrals to secondary obstetrician-led care among primary midwifery care practices in the Netherlands: a nationwide cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2015;15(1):42.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
6.
Offerhaus PM, Hukkelhoven CWPM, de Jonge A, van der Pal-de Bruin KM, Scheepers PLH, Lagro-Janssen ALM. Persisting rise in referrals during labor in primary midwife-led care in the Netherlands. Birth. 2013;40(3):192–201.CrossRefPubMed
7.
8.
Seijmonsbergen-Schermers AE, Geerts CC, Prins M, van Diem MT, Klomp T, Lagro-Janssen ALM, et al. The use of episiotomy in a low-risk population in the Netherlands: a secondary analysis. Birth. 2013;40(4):247–55.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Nieuwenhuijze M, de Jonge A, Korstjens I, Lagro-Janssen T. Factors influencing the fulfillment of women’s preferences for birthing positions during second stage of labor. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol. 2012;33(1):25–31.CrossRef
10.
Priddis H, Dahlen H, Schmied V. Juggling instinct and fear: an ethnographic study of facilitators and inhibitors of physiological birth positioning in two different birth settings. Int J Childbirth. 2011;1(4):227–41.CrossRef
11.
Buckley SJ. Executive summary of hormonal physiology of childbearing: evidence and implications for women, babies, and maternity care. J Perinat Educ. 2015;24(3):145–53.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
12.
Romano AM, Lothian JA. Promoting, protecting, and supporting normal birth: a look at the evidence. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2008;37(1):94–105.CrossRefPubMed
13.
14.
Downe S. Towards salutogenic birth in the 21st century. In: Essential midwifery practice: intrapartum care; 2010. p. 289–95.CrossRef
15.
16.
Gibbons L, Belizán JM, Lauer J a, Betrán AP, Merialdi M, Althabe F. The global numbers and costs of additionally needed and unnecessary caesarean sections performed per year: overuse as a barrier to universal coverage. World Health Rep Backgr Pap 2010;1–31.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Wiegers TA, Keirse MJ, Berghs GA, van der Zee J. An approach to measuring quality of midwifery care. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996;49:319–25.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Murphy PA, Fullerton JT. Measuring outcomes of midwifery care: development of an instrument to assess optimality. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2001;46(5):274–84.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Low LK, Miller J. A clinical evaluation of evidence-based maternity care using the optimality index. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2006;35(6):786–93.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Sheridan M, Sandall J. Measuring the best outcome for the least intervention: can the Optimality Index-US be applied in the UK? Midwifery. 2010;26(6):9–15.CrossRef
25.
van Olphen Fehr J. Using the optimality index-US to teach midwifery students to recognize and implement evidence-based practices that promote optimal outcomes in perinatal health. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2013;58(5):531–7.PubMed
26.
Yucel C, Taskin L, Low LK. Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Optimality Index-US (OI-US) to assess maternity care outcomes. Midwifery. 2015;31(12):1135–42.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Hermus M, Boesveld I, van der Pal-de Bruin K, Wiegers T. Development of the Optimality Index-NL2015, an instrument to measure outcomes of maternity care. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2017;62(5):580–8.CrossRef
28.
Hermus M, Wiegers TA, Hitzert MF, Boesveld IC, van den Akker-van Marle ME, Akkermans HA, et al. The Dutch Birth Centre Study: study design of a programmatic evaluation of the effect of birth centre care in the Netherlands. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2015;15(1):148.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Sousa VD, Rojjanasrirat W. Translation, adaptation and validation of instruments or scales for use in cross-cultural health care research: a clear and user-friendly guideline. J Eval Clin Pract. 2011;17:268–74.CrossRefPubMed
30.
31.
Verloskundig vademecum. eindrapport van de Commissie Verloskunde van het College voor zorgverzekeringen. Diemen: CVZ; 2003.
32.
33.
34.
Sandall J, Soltani H, Gates S, Shennan A, Devane D. Midwife-led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;(4):1–72.
35.
McHugh ML. Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochem Med. 2012;22(3):276–82.
36.
Wagner M. Fish can’t see water: the need to humanize birth. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2001;75(Suppl 1):S25–37.CrossRef
37.
Metadata
Title
Creating an Optimality Index – Netherlands: a validation study
Authors
Suzanne M. Thompson
Marianne J. Nieuwenhuijze
Luc Budé
Raymond de Vries
Lisa Kane Low
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2393
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-018-1735-z

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Access factors linked to maternal deaths in Lundazi district, Eastern Province of Zambia: a case control study analysing maternal death reviews

Research article

Examining trends in inequality in the use of reproductive health care services in Ghana and Nigeria

Research article

Exploring associations of maternal exposure to ambient temperature with duration of gestation and birth weight: a prospective study

Research article

Prevalence of meconium stained amniotic fluid and its associated factors among women who gave birth at term in Felege Hiwot comprehensive specialized referral hospital, North West Ethiopia: a facility based cross-sectional study

Research article

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy – association with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy and 4-6 months post-partum

Research article

Program assessment of efforts to improve the quality of postpartum counselling in health centers in Morogoro region, Tanzania