Knowledge translation and evidence-based perinatal/neonatal health care

Knowledge translation is the process of bridging the gap between the overwhelming amount of research data/information/evidence and its critical appraisal, synthesis, dissemination, and application as knowledge by influential role models. Knowledge translation includes ongoing surveillance of the results of the implementation of new knowledge. By conducting research that is driven by relevant, well-defined questions and by using the most powerful study designs available, researchers generate valid new information that can later be translated into knowledge and applied in the clinical setting. Systematic reviews of the literature serve as good examples of knowledge management, when defined as "making proper use of the sum of what is known." Such reviews may identify that an intervention is effective without any harmful side effects, that it is noneffective, or that further research is warranted. Consumers of perinatal/neonatal health care or their ombudsmen should be encouraged to take part in setting the agenda and defining important outcomes for such research.