Context: The perinatal period is one during which health care services are in high demand. Like other health care sub-sectors, perinatal health care delivery has undergone significant changes in recent years, such as the integrative wave that has swept through the health care industry since the early 1990s.Purpose: The present study aims at reviewing scholarly work on integrated perinatal care to provide support for policy decisionmaking.Results: Researchers interested in integrated perinatal care have, by assessing the effectiveness of individual clinical practices and intervention programs, mainly addressed issues of continuity of care and clinical and professional integration.Conclusions: Improvements in perinatal health care delivery appear related not to structurally integrated health care delivery systems, but to organizing modalities that aim to support woman-centred care and cooperative clinical practice.

Although numerous studies examine the effectiveness of intensive behavioral intervention programs (EIBI) for young children with autism, few focus on the family aspect of the program. In particular, involvement of mothers in the program, which is strongly recommended, is the subject of only a small number of studies. The goal of this research is to identify the forms of involvement adopted by mothers whose child follows an EIBI program. Thirteen mothers of children with autism receiving EIBI services were questioned through semistructured interviews. The results demonstrate that maternal involvement can take various forms and that these forms may vary from those usually described in the literature.

Background. The participation of men in domestic work should have a positive impact on the wellbeing and mental health of women who are mothers of young children. However, cultural factors, which largely determine the expectations and desires of men and women, are likely to modify this impact. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between countries in the division of child care and housework between couples 1 year after childbirth, and to look at possible differences in the relationship between this division and the psychological health of new mothers.Methods. Similar studies were carried out in three countries: France, Italy and Canada (province of Quebec), making it possible to compare the situation of 1598 women.Results. The results revealed major differences between countries in the division of domestic work. For nearly all the child care and housework tasks studied, answers indicating an unequal division were more frequent in Italy than in France, and more frequent in France than in Quebec. Despite these differences, we found very similar pattern of associations, in the three countries, between the division of domestic work and the mental health of women. An unequal division of child care was linked with psychological distress, but this association was not found for the division of housework.Conclusion. These results raise questions concerning the mechanisms by which the division of domestic work affects the psychological health of new mothers.

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Cet article examine le stress et la détresse psychologique des parents dont les enfants présentent diverses incapacités, particulièrement de la détresse des parents d’enfants autistes. Des cinq parties, la première expose les facteurs de stress chez les parents d’enfants ayant des incapacités et la deuxième, la nature du stress chez les parents d’enfants autistes. La troisième partie traite des facteurs de stress supplémentaires et des situations particulières : problèmes d’ordre financier, rupture de la relation conjugale, monoparentalité et fragilité du réseau social. Dans la quatrième partie, il sera question de l’adaptation des services aux besoins des familles ; enfin, la cinquième partie circonscrit le rôle central de l’intervention dans la vie des familles d’enfants autistes.The aim of this paper is to explore the stress and the psychological distress faced by parents of children living with different types of disability. Its main focus is on parents of children with autism. The first part describes the stress factors faced by parents of children with disabilities and the second, the particularities of the stress faced by parents of children with autism. The third part explores other types of stress factors, such as financial problems, marital discord or beak-up, single parenthood and lack of social support. In the forth part, we examine weather the services are well suited to provide for the needs of families, and, in the fifth part, we describe the major role played by intervention in the life of families of children with autism.Este artículo examina el estrés y la angustia psicológica de los padres cuyos hijos presentan diversas discapacidades, particularmente la angustia de los padres de niños autistas. De las cinco partes, la primera expone los factores de estrés en los padres de hijos con discapacidades y la segunda, la naturaleza del estrés en los padres con hijos autistas. La tercera parte trata acerca de los factores de estrés suplementarios y las situaciones particulares: problemas de tipo económico, ruptura de la relación conyugal, monoparentalidad y fragilidad de la red social. La cuarta parte, trata de la adaptación de los servicios a las necesidades de las familias; finalmente, la quinta parte delimita el papel central de la intervención en la vida de las familias con niños autistas.Este artigo examina o estresse e a depressão psicológica dos pais cujos filhos apresentam várias limitações, principalmente a depressão dos pais de filhos autistas. Das cinco partes do artigo, a primeira expõe os fatores de estresse nos pais de filhos que apresentam limitações, e a segunda, a natureza do estresse nos pais de crianças autistas. A terceira parte trata dos fatores de estresse suplementar e de situações específicas: problemas de ordem financeira, ruptura da relação conjugal, monoparentalidade e fragilidade da rede social. Na quarta parte, o artigo trata da adaptação dos serviços às necessidades das famílias. Finalmente, a quinta parte circunscreve o papel central da intervenção na vida das famílias de...