Maternal characteristics of deliveries before arrival to hospital in Bisha, Saudi Arabia

This is a case control retrospective study [unpaired design] carried out at Prince Abdulla Hospital in Bisha, Saudi Arabia on all 1800 newborn deliveries between January to December 1992. During this period 43 [2.4%] babies were born before arrival to hospital. This is 5 times the figures quoted for some western countries. Most of the deliveries occurred at night. There was no age or parity difference between the women who delivered before arrival and the control group. The conditions associated with high mortality among these women include retained placenta, shock, postpartum haemorrhage and acute inversion of the uterus. In conclusion, birth before arrival at hospital remains a significant problem in Bisha region of Saudi Arabia

Management of sacrococcygeal teratoma as a cause of dystocia during labour

Sacrococcygeal teratoma is a rare cause of dystocia. In this paper, we report two cases of sacrococcygeal teratoma. In the first case, the infant was partially delivered up to the level of the umbilicus, cesarean section was performed, during which a large sacrococcygeal teratoma, partly cystic and partly solid, was aspirated; the foetus was delivered vaginally with an Apgar score of 8 and 10 at one and five minutes, respectively. The second case presented with acute polyhydramnios and was found to have a large solid sacrococcygeal teratoma at 29 weeks gestation. The patient ruptured her membranes spontaneously and went into labour. The baby was delivered by cesarean section with an Apgar score of 5 and 8 at one and five minutes respectively, however, the baby died after 48 hours due to severe prematurity