Researchers Celebrate 100% Success in Children's Hospital Grant Competition

College of Nursing’s Dr. Angela Bowen along with Dr. Holly Graham (College of Nursing), Dr. Veronica McKinney (Northern Medical Services), Glenda Abbott (Saskatoon Mother’s Centre), Rhonda Marriott (Murdoch University, Australia), Shirley Woods (Prince Albert Grand Council), Sharon Clarke (Saskatoon Health Region) and Darcie Sparks (College of Nursing Master of Nursing student) are working on a project to look at Indigenous women’s perspectives for culturally secure birth practices.

“We are creating an Indigenous Women’s Birth Network that will give women the opportunity to share their stories about their baby’s births and participate in a talking circle to increase our team’s understanding of a culturally secure birth,” said Bowen. “We will take the information learned in the network, analyze the findings and develop a learning resource to increase the cultural understanding for care providers involved in maternity care with Indigenous women. Our ultimate goal is to improve the birth experiences and health outcomes of Indigenous families.”

The team brings together people from key organizations interested in the health of Indigenous women. “We anticipate our findings will inform care providers and policy makers about traditional birth practices and ceremonies, which will promote healing, and, therefore, the cultural security of childbearing Indigenous women and their families,” said Bowen. “More importantly, this project will also meet the intents of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.”

Despite the well-known benefits of breastfeeding, a large majority of babies in Saskatchewan are not exclusively breastfed for the first six months. Women experience all kinds of challenges when it comes to breastfeeding and often are not able to breastfeed the recommended six months. Often mothers begin to pump or hand express milk as an alternative to breastfeeding, but there is not a lot of research showing how pumping or hand expressing increases or decreases the length of time a mother provides her baby with breastmilk.

Dr. Marie Dietrich Leurer and her team of Dr. Janet McCabe, Jodie Bigalky and April Mackey from the College of Nursing, Myrna Weisbrod, Shannon Skinner and Morag Granger from the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, Wanda Atcheson (Prince Albert Parkland Health Region), Dr. Breanna Davis (College of Medicine) and Jaclyn Ross (Client Representative) are working on a project to help provide guidance regarding breastmilk expression to health care providers who deliver breastfeeding education and support to new mothers.

Dietrich Leurer had this to say about the project. “We are going to interview mothers in the Prince Albert Parkland and Regina Qu'Appelle Health Regions to learn their thoughts about pumping and hand expression. We want to know if pumping or hand expression impacted the length of time they breastfed, how often they pumped or hand expressed, what their experience was with healthcare providers – were they helpful or did they not have a lot of knowledge to pass along – and if they (the mothers) have recommendations for the health care system and new moms. We are hoping that if there is more information available for health care providers to pass along to new moms who end up pumping, the new moms will feel comfortable doing so and ultimately increase the length of time they breastfeed before switching to an alternative, such as formula.”

Hospital stays can be very overwhelming for both children and their families. Surroundings are unfamiliar, there are a lot of people providing care and there is great deal of information to try and remember. The best way for patients and their caregivers to feel engaged in the care process, help them make decisions and overall, feel more satisfied with the hospital experience is for the patient and their caregiver to have access to the most information possible about their health and care plan.

Electronic patient portals are a new and innovate way to provide this essential information directly to patients or caregivers. Imagine having all your child’s health information at your fingertips. Dr. Tracie Risling, as well as Dr. Krista Baerg (College of Medicine) and Lori Chartier and Dr. Susan Tupper from the Saskatoon Health Region are working on a project to create a patient portal for pediatric patients.

“I am excited to have this opportunity to explore the use of patient portals in providing information to families and patients at the new Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan,” said Risling. “This technology is showing tremendous promise in facilitating increased family engagement in care, including shared decision making, as well as contributing to an improved sense of empowerment in acute hospital environments. As a pediatric nurse and a mother of children that have required in-patient care, I am deeply committed to the collaborative advancement of innovations to support and enhance patient-and family-centred care.”

The portal that Risling and her team are working on can be accessed on either a tablet or mobile device. By putting so much information into the parent or caregivers hands, the families will truly have an opportunity to work in collaboration with the care team, taking any guesswork out of the care process.

"The Children's Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan recognizes that maternal and pediatric research, equipment and training is essential in creating better care and treatment for our mothers and children," says Brynn Boback-Lane, President and CEO of the Children's Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan. "We are so pleased to be working with members of the College of Nursing to provide funding for meaningful, made-in-Saskatchewan improvements to care. Our goal is to continue to grow maternal and pediatric research in Saskatchewan so that when the doors open on our new maternal and children's hospital, our research community will be well positioned to conduct cutting-edge projects with national and international impact."

Dr. Louise Racine, Professor and Research Lead in the College of Nursing, is proud of the recent grant success. “The results of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan grant competition indicate the strong leadership of the College of Nursing in the area of maternal and pediatric research in Saskatchewan. These three projects will enhance nursing and health care provided to Saskatchewan families. I would also like to acknowledge the splendid work of our two research facilitators, Robin Thurmeier and Ozlem Sari, in supporting our College of Nursing researchers.”

Congratulations Angela Bowen, Holly Graham, Darcie Sparks, Marie Dietrich Leurer, Janet McCabe, Jodie Bigalky, April Mackey and Tracie Risling!