Labour and Birth

Skin to Skin Care in the Operating Room

The Nova Scotia Vaccine Expert Panel has updated resources for care providers to use with pregnant and breastfeeding individuals to guide discussion about COVID-19 vaccination. This information is specific to adult immunization.

This guideline presents care and investigative options for childbearing persons (and their relatives) who experience intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD) or stillbirth. Material is grouped into standard and selective investigations classified by pregnancy timing and type of investigation: childbearing person (maternal), fetal/infant, or placental. The process for individual and family informed decision-making is outlined.

According to the Nova Scotia Atlee Perinatal Database (2020), the provincial stillbirth rate has remained virtually unchanged since 1988.

Syphilis and Screening in NS for Pregnant Persons and Newborns

The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) has recommended moving from universal newborn ocular prophylaxis, to universal prenatal screening for Neisseriae gonorrhoeae (GC) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and treatment of those with positive results in order to eradicate infection and prevent intrapartum transmission to the newborn.

RCP has created this clinical resource to guide health professionals’ use of medication to alleviate pain in the labour and birth setting. It includes a review of the dimensions of pain and how they contribute to the labour experience, and differentiating between pain and suffering. Pharmacological options described in this resource include opioids (morphine, hydromorphone, and fentanyl) as well as nitrous oxide.

The aim of this practice resources is to provide guidance for providing antibiotics for GBS prophylaxis and with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes.

The resource entitled ‘Discussing Birth Options Following Cesarean Section in Nova Scotia: Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC) or Elective Repeat Cesarean Section’  (March 2015), and the accompanying two-page summary, are available to assist health professionals in discussions with women with a history of cesarean section as they consider their options for birth.

RCP is revising the comprehensive clinical resource: Working with Pain in Labour. In the meantime, we are providing the attached table of recommended dosages for commonly used medications. For further information, including references, consult our clinical resource Working with Pain in Labour: Systemic Medications and our two-part education module Supportive Care in Labour