The project work will be provided by working groups; their representatives will take part in meetings, workshops and conferences and short-term scientific missions at national and international level.

The researchers are divided into 5 working groups that will process the necessary data according to their focus; also graduates and postgraduates will take part.

 

First working group: the researchers will engage in ensuring the ethical framework in the systems of provision of prenatal and early postnatal care, dealing specifically with issues related to indications for prenatal diagnostics in the first trimeter of FTPD (amniocentesis, termination of pregnancy, etc.), as well as indications for episiotomies and Caesarian sections in general, including foetuses around the 25th week of pregnancy. The working group will include workers from the area of ethics, genetics, obstetrics, neonatology and midwives. Prenatal psychology professor. Also students, particularly postgraduate students will take active part.

 

The second working group will engage in the description and analysis of clinical, psychological and socio-cultural results of different approaches to FTPD. Further, salutogenic approaches to physiological deliveries will be assessed, particularly the relation between provocation of premature uterine contractions for physiological deliveries, i.e. deliveries without episiotomies, without analgesic control. Further, medical and salutogenic principles for deliveries with episiotomies and indications for Caesarian sections will be compared. The team members will include physicians, obstetricians and neonatologists, psychologists, midwives and students of pregraduate and postgraduate study.

 

The third working group will deal with the issues and the level of care for pregnant immigrant mothers in the Czech Republic in the areas of prenatal, natal and postnatal care, with focus on their traditional cultural, religious customs from their countries of origin.

The working group members will take part in regular meetings of the European COST steering committee as well as in the meetings of national researchers.

 

The fourth working group will process and assess the results of own research. The research team members will consider the results they can use in integration of the medical and salutogenic principles. The results will be consulted in the central COST steering bodies. Further, external examination processes will take place. The research team members will hold lectures for service users and academic workers, publish, etc. The sources of the information will be national sources, but knowledge from central working groups from all over Europe will be used.

 

The fifth working group will deal with building of systems of www. sites, innovative transfer of knowledge and technologies. They will provide for connection to European networks dealing with the respective issues.

All working groups will include experts from the areas of medicine, ethics, bioethics, psychology, statistics and IT workers. The groups will make use of experience and knowledge of a broad range of coworkers and cooperating institutions. The results will bep rocessed statistically and graphically.

The working group members will take part in regular meetings of the European COST steering committee as well as in the meetings of national researchers.

 

Research sets:

The first set will be subject to secondary analysis of data of medical documentation. A database with assessment of selected medical and salutogenic principles will be created.
The data collection will be acquired from 250 records of physiological pregnancies and deliveries. The research will be implemented retrospectively in one part and prospectively in other part.

 

The first set will be subject to secondary analysis of data of medical documentation. A database with assessment of selected medical and salutogenic principles will be created.
Data collection from 200 deliveries with medical indications for episiotomies. The research will be implemented retrospectively in one part and prospectively in other part.

 

The first set will be subject to secondary analysis of data of medical documentation. A database with assessment of selected medical and salutogenic principles will be created. Data collection from 150 deliveries with medical indications for Caesarian sections. The research will be implemented retrospectively in one part and prospectively in other part.

 

The fourth set will be subject to interviews related to deliveries of children under 1000 grams.

 

The fifth set will be subject to secondary analysis of 150 case studies in which termination of pregnancy was performed.

 

The sixth set - 150 immigrant mothers - will be subject to qualitative or narrative research. A research team member will act as interviewer.

 

The secondary analysis of the medical documentation will be assessed according to selected medical and salutogenic influences.

 

The assessed salutogenic influences will include: lifestyle, housing level, place of delivery, partner relationship, age of parents, parity, father's activity in pregnancy and during birth, alcohol and tobacco or drug abuse, fear from delivery, experience from delivery, stresses in ages under 18, optimism, ability to relax, satisfaction in job, assertiveness, fear from future, etc.

 

The emphasized medical principles will include: indications for provocation of premature uterine contractions, indications for episiotomy, for Caesarian sections, baby's weight, mother's anamnesis, etc.

Informed consent will be available in indicated cases.