Guideline Development
Contents:
The guidelines were developed from 2001-2005 through:
- search & appraisal of the best available evidence (contracted to expert groups including The Centre for Clinical Effectiveness, Monash Institute of Health Services Research, Monash University and The Research and Education Division, Department of Perinatal Medicine, the Royal Women's Hospital)
- consultation with staff and women;
- consensus reached among the joint steering group; and external review.
The Anti Cancer Council of Victoria (ACCV) collaborated on guidelines for smoking cessation interventions. Multidisciplinary reference groups from each centre reviewed the guidelines as they were drafted.
This collaboration was a "first" for the centres concerned and resulted in basic first step guidelines for pregnancy, and in numerous other joint projects. The collaboration ensured higher commitment and progress than individual centres could achieve, and greatly improved communication, understanding and networking between the centres and DHS. The partners learned a great deal about the requirements and tensions in netting the evidence and turning research into workable and acceptable practice guidelines.
Levels of Evidence
The evidence for intervention questions presented in these guidelines was systematically assessed and classified according to the NHMRC's A Guide to the Development, Implementation and Evaluation of Clinical Practice Guidelines (1998) Evidence for other
questions was generally given the equivalent of Level IV status by consensus of the steering group and clinical epidemiologist.
Level I Evidence is obtained from systematic review of all relevant randomised controlled trials
Level II Evidence is obtained from at least one properly designed randomised controlled trial
Level III-1 Evidence is obtained from well-designed pseudo-randomised controlled trials (with alternate allocation or some other method)
Level III-2 Evidence is obtained from comparative studies with concurrent controls and allocation not randomised (cohort studies), case control studies or interrupted time series with a control group
Level III-3 Evidence is obtained from comparative studies with historical controls, two or more single arm studies or interrupted time series without a parallel control group
Level IV Evidence is obtained from case series, opinions of respected authorities, descriptive studies, reports of expert committees and case studies
Guideline Development Team
The following details are of the original team in the guideline development project, and their names appear here as acknowledgement to the work they have done:
Project Team
Coordinator: Joanna Campbell
Steering Group
Christopher Targett
Clinical Director, Maternity Services, Mercy Hospital for Women
Euan Wallace
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Southern Health/Monash University
Jan Pannifex
Program Director, Women's Health Program, Southern Health Service
Julie Collette
Clinical Director, Maternity Services, Mercy Hospital for Women
Lisa Dunlop
Director (Acting), Maternity Services Division, Royal Women's Hospital, Women's and Children's Health Service
Lou Butterfield
Director, Maternity Services Division, Royal Women's Hospital, Women's and Children's Health Service
Mary Draper
Manager, Quality and Care Continuity Branch, Effectiveness Unit, Department of Human Services
Wendy Dawson
Senior Project Officer, Quality and Care Continuity Branch, Effectiveness Unit, Department of Human Services
Gil Dwyer
Senior Project Officer (to October 2000), Quality and Care Continuity Branch, Department of Human Services
Kim Hider
Senior Project Officer (to October 1999), Quality and Care Continuity Branch, Department of Human Services
Ro Hogan
Director (to October 2000), Maternity Services Division, Royal Women's Hospital, Women's and Children's Health Service
Search and Appraisal Teams
Centre for Clinical Effectiveness
Jeremy Anderson
Director, Centre for Clinical EffectivenessPaul Fennessey
Head, Health Technology Unit
Elmer Villeneuva
Deputy Head, Health Technology Unit
Vivenne Bernath
Information Officer
Elizabeth Burrows
Information OfficerRenea Johnson
Information Officer
Kim Hender
Information Officer
Alex Rauilli
Research Assistant
Royal Women's Hospital, Division of Research and Education
Hilary Russell
Deputy DirectorJames King
Clinical Epidemiologist
Lyn Rigg
Project Officer
Dr Veronica Miller
Clinical Research FellowAngela Taft
Project Officer
(seconded from the Centre for Studies on Mother's and Children's Health)
Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria
Lisa Trotter
Research and Evaluation Manager Meg Montague
Project Consultant
Special Thanks
Many people provided expert advice and assistance to the project. These include:
Caroline Crowther
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Women's and Children's Hospital, AdelaideJane Gunn
Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, Melbourne University, Melbourne
Jane Halliday
Director, Perinatal Data Collection Unit, Department of Human Services
Jenny Hunt
Centre for Studies on Mother's and Children's Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne
Judith Lumley
Director, Centre for Studies of Mothers and Children's Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne
Hilda Bastian
Cochrane Consumer Collaboration
James King
Clinical Epidemiologist and Associate Professor, Department of Perinatal Medicine, Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne
Jane Yelland
Centre for Studies on Mother's and Children's Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne
