Prenatal nurse educators are well prepared to meet the learning needs of many expectant mothers. But how prepared are they to meet the learning needs of mothers with disabilities? To answer this question, eight mothers with various chronic illnesses located in north-eastern Ontario, Canada were asked to describe their maternity experiences. Given the small convenience sample and exploratory nature of the study, a qualitative content analysis was done. The mothers' reports described interaction with a variety of health professionals. This analysis focuses on findings specific to nurses who provide prenatal education. In general, mothers reported they had received insufficient, inappropriate information, especially about their pregnancy and chronic illnesses. The mothers thought that nurses doubted the ability of women with disabilities to be decision-makers or responsible and 'proper' mothers. Suggestions by disabled mothers for quality care in prenatal education are described. A more emancipatory approach to preparing nurses for practice as prenatal educators is recommended. Such an approach can reduce the barriers associated with power differences between women with disabilities as 'learners' and their nurse 'teachers'.

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Background: There is limited data on the long-term outcomes in patients who have undergone a reoperation following a failing stentless aortic valve. Methods: Between 2006-2016, a retrospective analysis was performed on 24 patients that underwent open aortic valve replacement surgery for a failed stentless aortic valve prosthesis at Health Sciences North, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The primary outcome was low mortality from cardiac related deaths after 5 years. Results: All patients underwent an insertion of a Medtronic Freestyle bioprosthesis implanted in the modified subcoronary technique for their initial operation. The interval from the first operation to the stentless redo surgery ranged from 6-13 years. Aortic valve reoperation was performed for structural valve deterioration in 96% (n= 23) of the cases. Reoperations involved a removal of the stented valve leaflets and stented valve-in-valve implantation in 20% (n= 5) of the cases, with the remaining cases requiring complete removal of the stentless prosthesis and aortic valve replacement. In those where a complete removal of the stentless valve was possible (n=19), there was no disruption of the native aortic root, and a 0% conversion to a Bentall procedure. There was no intraoperative mortality. The 30-day and 10-year operative mortality was 4% and 16%, respectively. Conclusions: Redo surgery for failing stentless valves can be done with relatively low-risk and with acceptable long-term outcomes without resorting to root replacement techniques.