[The practice guideline 'Pregnancy and puerperium' (first revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners; a response from the perspective of gynaecology].
The major benefit of the revised version of the Dutch College of General Practitioners' practice guideline about pregnancy and puerperium is the formal starting point of professional equality of midwives and general practitioners as care providers in antenatal and postpartum care. This thorough evidence-based practice guideline is behind the most recent developments in this field. Scientific evidence on vertical HIV transmission favours screening all pregnant women and not just the selective procedure proposed in this guideline. The restrictive attitude towards routine ultrasound screening during pregnancy hardly seems in line with scientific evidence and the public demand. On the other hand the guideline is very progressive as far as the care of women with thyroid disorders is concerned even though evidence on this subject is meagre. Most importantly the transition of antenatal care from the current almost conveyor belt-like procedure to an efficient but individually-adapted care process was not addressed.
Heringa
M P
MP
Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, divisie Perinatologie en Gynaecologie, Postbus 85.090, 3508 AB Utrecht. m.p.heringa@azu.nl
D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008403:Mass Screening; D008880:Midwifery / Q000592:standards; D009426:Netherlands; D011181:Postnatal Care; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care