List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
While as many as 95 percent of obstetricians report having prescribed bed rest, experts say there’s very little evidence that this does any good. This can come at a great physical, mental and financial cost to women. We found women often don’t know (and many don’t care) that there’s no evidence bed rest does any good and may even cause harm.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Peer reviewed medical journals Pubmed.org The Cochrane Review Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Explain types of human sources used.
I talked to dozens of women who had been on bed rest in the past or were currently on it. I spoke with women who run bed rest support groups, doctors (Bed rest and Beyond, Mamas on Bed rest), family members affected by the pregnant women’s bed rest, the top maternal health researchers, and medical groups. I visited several women on bed rest.
Results:
After the story ran, I was invited to speak at an evidence-based nursing conference (for continuing education credits) at Purdue University Calumet. The response to the story was fascinating and echoed what one researcher told me: The biggest advocates for bed rest are the women themselves. Some women who I’d interviewed — the ones who felt like bed rest was a complete waste of time and an unnecessary hardship — thanked me. But understandably, many women did not want to read that this huge sacrifice they made was a waste of time. They didn’t care about a lack of evidence– and this is a common problem with stories looking at the gap between evidence and practice — they were willing to endure bed rest because they thought it would reduce their risks. Yet bed rest poses its own risks. The article stressed the need for more research. It didn’t tell people to ignore their doctor’s order; it suggested starting a discussion about the known benefits of the practice. And ultimately, hopefully, it raised some awareness about the low quality of evidence used in this common practice.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections or clarifications were needed. Margaret Simon, who was in the lede of the story, immediately posted an entry on her blog after it ran and said that while bed rest was life changing, it made her a better mother and made her appreciate the role in her family even more. She now speaks to moms on bed rest to encourage them and she started a Web site to help moms get through bed rest. I contacted her after I saw her response and posted a follow up on my own blog. We’re still in touch.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
This story taught me that a difficult part of evidence-based reporting is that people don’t necessarily want to hear there’s ‘no evidence.’ Margaret Simon, for example, who lost her job, went on public aid and had other hardships due to bed rest, wrote on her blog (after my story ran), “Bed rest may be the hardest thing moms will ever do but the pay off is undeniable. Healthy babies and the confidence I knowing you sacrificed everything for your child’s life is the pay off. That’s all the evidence I need.” Evidence-based reporting is a critical service, yet one that people often don’t want or care about, especially before they’ve had any problems. Margaret might have had the exact same outcome– a healthy baby — had she not been put on bed rest. My advice to other journalists is to keep pushing to find stories that illustrate the gap between evidence and practice with regard to maternal health. A study published last year in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology found that two-thirds of OB-GYN clinical guidelines have no basis in science. It’s a rich area to mine.