Dataset Information

Implementing immediate postpartum contraception: a comparative case study at 11 hospitals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is an evidence-based practice, but hospitals face significant barriers to its adoption. Our objective was to examine how organizational context (e.g., size, employee attitudes toward the clinical practice) and implementation strategies (i.e., the actions taken to routinize a clinical practice) drive successful implementation of immediate postpartum LARC services, with a goal of informing the design of future implementation interventions.

Methods

We conducted a comparative case study of the implementation of inpatient postpartum contraceptive care at 11 US maternity hospitals. In 2017-2018, we conducted site visits that included semi-structured key informant interviews informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Qualitative measures of implementation success included stakeholder satisfaction, routinization, and sustainability of immediate postpartum LARC services. Qualitative content analysis and cross-case synthesis explored relationships among organizational context, implementation strategies, and implementation success.

Results

We completed semi-structured interviews with 78 clinicians, nurses, residents, pharmacy and revenue cycle staff, and hospital administrators. Successful implementation required three essential conditions: effective implementation champions, an enabling financial environment, and hospital administrator engagement. Six other contextual conditions were influential: trust and effective communication, alignment with stakeholders' professional values, perception of meeting patients' needs, robust learning climate, compatibility with workflow, and positive attitudes and adequate knowledge about the clinical practice. On average, sites used 18 (range 11-22) strategies. Strategies to optimize the financial environment and train clinicians and staff were commonly used. Strategies to plan and evaluate implementation and to engage patients emerged as promising to address barriers to practice change, yet were often underused.

Conclusions

Implementation efforts in maternity settings may be more successful if they select strategies to optimize local conditions for success. Our findings elucidate key contextual conditions to target and provide a menu of promising implementation strategies for incorporating recommended contraceptive services into routine maternity practice. Additional prospective research should evaluate whether these strategies effectively optimize local conditions for successful implementation in a variety of settings.

SUBMITTER: Moniz MH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042857 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:INTRODUCTION:Immediate postpartum long-acting, reversible contraception (LARC)-providing intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants immediately following birth-is an effective strategy to prevent unintended pregnancies and improve birth spacing. We measured US certified nurse-midwives' (CNMs') and certified midwives' (CMs') knowledge, training needs, current practice, and perceived barriers to providing immediate postpartum LARC. METHODS:We invited currently practicing CNM and CM members of the American College of Nurse-Midwives to complete an online survey about their knowledge and experience with the use of LARC and analyzed eligible questionnaires using descriptive statistics. RESULTS:Of 4609 eligible midwives, 794 responded (17% response rate). Most were female (99.5%) and non-Hispanic white (92.1%), with 45.0% attending births in urban settings. Responses revealed multiple knowledge gaps related to IUD expulsion rates and appropriateness of immediate postpartum LARC in certain clinical scenarios. Only 10.1% of respondents reported feeling confident to insert an immediate postpartum IUD and 43.3% an implant. Many reported desiring additional training in immediate postpartum IUD (63.5%) and implant (22.8%) insertion; few reported access to such training (IUD, 19.9%; implant, 15.2%). Most respondents had never inserted an immediate postpartum IUD (90.7%) or implant (86.8%). The most commonly cited barriers to immediate postpartum LARC provision were that it is not standard practice (IUD, 40.9%; implant, 39.0%) or is not available (IUD, 27.8%; implant, 34.8%) at one's institution and feeling inadequately trained (IUD, 26.5%; implant, 10.7%). DISCUSSION:Nine in 10 midwife respondents have never inserted an IUD or implant immediately postpartum, but more than half indicated they would like the opportunity to provide these services. Our findings highlight opportunities to enhance the immediate postpartum LARC-related knowledge and skills of the midwife workforce. They also suggest that logistic and institutional barriers to immediate postpartum LARC access must be removed in order to make this evidence-based reproductive health service available to all women who desire it.