Elective induction of labour and caesarean section in low-moderate risk nulliparous women: a retrospective cohort study

Objective: To evaluate whether elective induction of labour (eIOL) influences the rate of caesarean birth in uncomplicated pregnant women at term, compared to expectant management. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Births in Victoria between 2010 and 2018. Population: Term, singleton, vertex births from low-moderate risk pregnancies (n=396,164). Methods: Preliminary analyses compared eIOL at 37 weeks with expectant management both beyond that gestational age (preliminary analysis I) and at that gestational age and beyond (preliminary analysis II). Similar comparisons were made for eIOL at 38, 39, 40 and 41 weeks’ gestation and expectant management. The primary analysis repeated these comparisons, limiting the population to nulliparous women whose recorded indication for induction did not include one of a specified list of conditions. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression were used. Adjusted odds ratios and 99% confidence intervals were reported. P<0.01 denoted statistical significance. Main Outcome Measures: Unplanned caesarean birth, perinatal mortality Results: The proportion of nulliparous, low-moderate risk women who underwent IOL ≥37 weeks’ gestation in Victoria increased from 24.6% in 2010 to 30.0% in 2018 (p-value <0.001). eIOL in nulliparous women was associated with an increased odds of caesarean birth when performed at 38 (aOR 1.23((1.13-1.32)), 39 (aOR 1.31((1.23-1.40)), 40 (aOR 1.42((1.35-1.50)), and 41 weeks’ gestation (aOR 1.43((1.35-1.51)). Perinatal mortality was rare in both groups and non-significantly lower in the induced group at most gestations. Conclusions: eIOL was associated with an increased odds of caesarean birth from 38 weeks’ gestation and a decrease in the odds of perinatal mortality.

Challenges Facing during Pregnancy and Measures to Overcome

Pregnancy is a time of transformation for both the mother and the baby, with significant physical and emotional changes. There are many discomforts that occur during pregnancy. Morning sickness, headache and backache, bladder and bowel changes, changes in hair and skin colour, indigestion and heartburn, leg cramps and swelling, vaginal thrush and discharge are the few common complications facing during pregnancy. As a result, the aim of this study was to describe the difficulties in obtaining health information and the measures to overcome the discomfort during pregnancy. Research articles for this review were searched by using the keywords “pregnancy”, health issues”, “measures to overcome”, “challenges”. There were studies that looked at the health problems that women face during pregnancy were included in this review article. Pregnancy issues such as gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia, caesarean birth, and postpartum weight retention are all more likely in overweight and obese women. More research into the link between nutritional advancements and the rising prevalence of GDM in the developing world is needed. Iron supplementation has been linked to glucose dysregulation and hypertension in mid-pregnancy; its effectiveness and potential risks should be carefully considered. As a result, legislators and health planners should remove barriers, promote self-care, and improve the quality of life for pregnant women, ultimately improving their health.

Collaborative maternity and newborn dashboard (CoMaND) for the COVID-19 pandemic: a protocol for timely, adaptive monitoring of perinatal outcomes in Melbourne, Australia

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a range of unprecedented disruptions to maternity care with documented impacts on perinatal outcomes such as stillbirth and preterm birth. Metropolitan Melbourne has endured one of the longest and most stringent lockdowns in globally. This paper presents the protocol for a multicentre study to monitor perinatal outcomes in Melbourne, Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsMulticentre observational study analysing monthly deidentified maternal and newborn outcomes from births >20 weeks at all 12 public maternity services in Melbourne. Data will be merged centrally to analyse outcomes and create run charts according to established methods for detecting non-random ‘signals’ in healthcare. Perinatal outcomes will include weekly rates of total births, stillbirths, preterm births, neonatal intensive care admissions, low Apgar scores and fetal growth restriction. Maternal outcomes will include weekly rates of: induced labour, caesarean section, births before arrival to hospital, postpartum haemorrhage, length of stay, general anaesthesia for caesarean birth, influenza and COVID-19 vaccination status, and gestation at first antenatal visit. A prepandemic median for all outcomes will be calculated for the period of January 2018 to March 2020. A significant shift is defined as ≥6 consecutive weeks, all above or below the prepandemic median. Additional statistical analyses such as regression, time series and survival analyses will be performed for an in-depth examination of maternal and perinatal outcomes of interests.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval for the collaborative maternity and newborn dashboard project has been obtained from the Austin Health (HREC/64722/Austin-2020) and Mercy Health (ref. 2020-031).Trial registration numberACTRN12620000878976; Pre-results.

Childbirth patterns after previous caesarean birth in sub-Saharan Africa: a retrospective analytical study in two referral hospitals in a semi-urban setting in Cameroon

Background: Rising rates of caesarean section (CS) predispose to uterine rupture (UR) during subsequent childbirths. Childbirth after previous CS has poorly been studied in rural Africa. Objective was to describe and analyse the patterns of childbirths after previous CS.Methods: A retrospective analytical study of facility-based deliveries after previous caesarean birth from January 1, 2019 to April 30, 2021 in Bafoussam, Cameroon. We included 416 files of women with previous CS for term singleton pregnancies. Statistics were computed with SPSS®.Results: Mean age and mean parity were 29.9±5.6 years and 3.2±1.4 respectively. Almost half of participants [199 (47.8%)] had had a previous vaginal birth. Antenatal care (ANC) providers were nurses/midwives and general practitioners for 232 (55.8%) and 77 (18.5%) women respectively. The route of delivery wasn’t chosen during ANC for 312 (75.0%) women and 99 (23.8%) of participants were referred during labour. Elective repeat CS was done for 92 (22.1%) women and 324 (77.9%) underwent trial of labour after CS (TOLAC) of whom 131 (40.4%) gave birth by vaginal route. Onset of labour was spontaneous in 304 (93.8%) cases. UR complicated 13 (4.0%) cases of TOLAC. Previous vaginal birth predicted successful TOLAC and referred parturients had higher risk of UR. There were 28 (8.6%) perinatal deaths and 1 (0.3%) maternal death.Conclusions: In our semi urban setting, deliveries after previous caesarean births are unplanned. The success rate of TOLAC is low with a high rate of complications. There is need to improve quality of ANC, birth care and post-natal care for women with previous CS.

Payment mechanism for institutional births in Nepal

Background Since the Millennium Development Goal era, there have been several efforts to increase institutional births using demand side financing. Since 2005, Government of Nepal has implemented Maternity Incentive Scheme (MIS) to reduce out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) for institutional birth. We aim to assess OOPE among women who had institutional births and coverage of MIS in Nepal. Method We conducted a prospective cohort study in 12 hospitals of Nepal for a period of 18 months. All women who were admitted in the hospital for delivery and consented were enrolled into the study. Research nurses conducted pre-discharge interviews with women on costs paid for medical services and non-medical services. We analysed the out of pocket expenditure by mode of delivery, duration of stay and hospitals. We also analysed the coverage of maternal incentive scheme in these hospitals. Results Among the women (n-21,697) reporting OOPE, the average expenditure per birth was 41.5 USD with 36 % attributing to transportation cost. The median OOPE was highest in Bheri hospital (60.3 USD) in comparison with other hospitals. The OOPE increased by 1.5 USD (1.2, 1.8) with each additional day stay in the hospital. There was a difference in the OOPE by mode of delivery, duration of hospital-stay and hospital of birth. The median OOPE was high among the caesarean birth with 43.3 USD in comparison with vaginal birth, 32.6 USD. The median OOPE was 44.7 USD, if the women stayed for 7 days and 33.5 USD if the women stayed for 24 h. The OOPE increased by 1.5 USD with each additional day of hospital stay after 24 h. The coverage of maternal incentive was 96.5 % among the women enrolled in the study. Conclusions Families still make out of pocket expenditure for institutional birth with a large proportion attributed to hospital care. OOPE for institutional births varied by duration of stay and mode of birth. Given the near universal coverage of incentive scheme, there is a need to review the amount of re-imbursement done to women based on duration of stay and mode of birth.

The effect of a new maternity unit on maternal outcomes in rural Haiti: an interrupted time series study

Background In Haiti where there are high rates of maternal and neonatal mortality, efforts to reduce mortality and improve maternal newborn child health (MNCH) must be tracked and monitored to measure their success. At a rural Haitian hospital, local surveillance efforts allowed for the capture of MNCH indicators. In March 2018, a new stand-alone maternity unit was opened, with increased staff, personnel, and physical space. We aimed to determine if the new maternity unit brought about improvements in maternal and neonatal outcomes. Methods We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using data collected between July 2016 and October 2019 including 20 months before the opening of the maternity unit and 20 months after. We examined maternal-neonatal outcomes such as physiological (vaginal) births, caesarean birth, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), maternal deaths, stillbirths and undesirable outcomes (eclampsia, PPH, perineal laceration, postpartum infection, maternal death or stillbirth). Results Immediately after the opening of the new maternity, the number of physiological births decreased by 7.0% (β = − 0.070; 95% CI: − 0.110 to − 0.029; p = 0.001) and there was an increase of 6.7% in caesarean births (β = 0.067; 95% CI: 0.026 to 0.107; p = 0.002). For all undesirable outcomes, preintervention there was an increasing trend of 1.8% (β = 0.018; 95% CI: 0.013 to 0.024; p < 0.001), an immediate 14.4% decrease after the intervention (β = − 0.144; 95% CI: − 0.255 to − 0.033; p = 0.012), and a decreasing trend of 1.8% through the postintervention period (β = − 0.018; 95% CI: − 0.026 to − 0.009; p < 0.001). No other significant level or trend changes were noted. Conclusions The new maternity unit led to an upward trend in caesarean births yet an overall reduction in all undesirable maternal and neonatal outcomes. The new maternity unit at this rural Haitian hospital positively impacted and improved maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Perinatal outcomes of high dose versus low dose oxytocin regimen used for labor induction and factors associated with adverse perinatal outcome in four hospitals of Ethiopia: a multicenter comparative study

Background There is limited evidence on effect of high and low dose oxytocin used for labor induction on perinatal outcomes. We compared perinatal outcomes among pregnant mothers who received the two different oxytocin regimens and identified risk factors associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Methods Facility based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in four hospitals of Ethiopia over eight month’s period during 2017/2018 year with 216 pregnant women who received high and low dose oxytocin for labor induction. Socio-demographics, reproductive characteristics of mothers and perinatal outcomes data were collected and entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 20 for cleaning and analysis. Chi-square test and logistic regression were done to see the effect of different oxytocin regimens on perinatal outcome. The result was presented using 95 % confidence interval of crude and adjusted odds ratios. P-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Result Higher adverse perinatal outcomes (29 % vs. 13.9 %, p = 0.005) and higher non-reassuring fetal heart rate pattern (23.1 % vs. 7.4 %, p = 0.001) was observed among mothers who received high dose oxytocin compared to mothers who received low dose oxytocin. Using high oxytocin dose [AOR = 2.4, 95 % CI: 1.1, 5.5], caesarean birth [AOR = 9.3, 95 %CI: 3.8, 22.5], instrumental birth [AOR = 7.7, 95 % CI: 2.1, 27.8], and antepartum hemorrhage [AOR = 17.8, 95 %CI: 1.9, 168.7] were risk factors of adverse perinatal outcomes. Conclusions There was significance difference in the occurrence of adverse perinatal outcomes among pregnant mothers who received high and low dose of oxytocin. Using high dose oxytocin, antepartum hemorrhage, caesarean birth and instrumental birth were associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. We recommend using low dose oxytocin for better perinatal outcomes.

Caesarean Section. Guideline of the DGGG, OEGGG and SGGG (S3-Level, AWMF Registry No. 015/084, June 2020)

Purpose This is an official S3-guideline of the German Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (DGGG), the Austrian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (ÖGGG) and the Swiss Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (SGGG). The guideline contains evidence-based information and recommendations on indications, complications, methods and care associated with delivery by caesarean section for all medical specialties involved as well as for pregnant women. Methods This guideline has adapted information and recommendations issued in the NICE Caesarean Birth guideline. This guideline also considers additional issues prioritised by the Cochrane Institute and the Institute for Research in Operative Medicine (IFOM). The evaluation of evidence was based on the system developed by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN). A multi-part nominal group process moderated by the AWMF was used to compile this S3-level guideline. Recommendations Recommendations on consultations, indications and the process of performing a caesarean section as well as the care provided to the mother and neonate were drawn up.