Vaginal breech delivery at term and neonatal morbidity and mortality - a population-based cohort study in Sweden.

INTRODUCTION: The routine to deliver almost all term breech cases by elective cesarean section (CS) has continued to be debated due to the risk of maternal and neonatal complications. The aims of the study were (1) to investigate if mode of delivery impacts on the risk of morbidity and mortality among term infants in breech presentation and (2) to compare the rates of severe neonatal complications and mortality in relation to presentation and mode of delivery. METHODS: This population-based cohort study used data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register. All women (and their newborn infants) with singleton pregnancies who gave birth at term to an infant in breech (n = 27,357) or cephalic presentation (n = 837,494) between 2001 and 2012 were included. Births with vacuum extraction and induced labors were excluded, as well as antepartum stillbirths, births with infants diagnosed with congenital malformations and multiple births. RESULTS: On one hand, the rates of neonatal complications and mortality were higher among infants born in vaginal breech compared to the vaginal cephalic group. On the other hand, after CS, the rates of all neonatal complications under study and neonatal mortality were lower among infants in breech presentation than in those in cephalic presentation. After adjustment for confounders, infants delivered in vaginal breech had 23.8 times higher odds AOR (ratio) for brachial plexus injury, 13.3 times higher odds ratio for Apgar score <7 at 5 min, 6.7 times higher odds of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), or convulsions and 7.6 higher odds ratio for perinatal mortality than those delivered by elective CS. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a probable selection of women who before-hand were considered at low risk and, therefore, could be recommended vaginal breech delivery, infants delivered in vaginal breech faced substantially increased risks of severe neonatal complications compared with infants in breech presentations delivered by elective CS. Key message Vaginal breech delivery is associated with increased risk for severe neonatal complications.

Low Apgar score, neonatal encephalopathy and epidural analgesia during labour: a Swedish registry-based study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal intrapartum fever (MF) is associated with neonatal sequelae, and women in labour who receive epidural analgesia (EA) are more likely to develop hyperthermia. The aims of this study were to investigate if EA and/or a diagnosis of MF were associated to adverse neonatal outcomes at a population level. METHODS: Population-based register study with data from the Swedish Birth Register and the Swedish National Patient Register, including all nulliparae (n=294,329) with singleton pregnancies who gave birth at term in Sweden 1999-2008. Neonatal outcomes analysed were Apgar score (AS)<7 at 5 min and ICD-10 diagnosis of neonatal encephalopathy (e.g. convulsions or neonatal cerebral ischaemia). Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: EA was used in 44% of the deliveries. Low AS or encephalopathy was found in 1.26% and 0.39% of the children in the EA group compared with 0.80% and 0.29% in the control group. In multivariate analysis, EA was associated with increased risk with low AS, AOR 1.27 (95% CI 1.16-1.39), but not with diagnosis of encephalopathy, 1.11 (0.96-1.29). A diagnosis of MF was associated with increased risk for both low AS, 2.27 (1.71-3.02), and of neonatal encephalopathy, 1.97 (1.19-3.26). CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of MF was associated with low AS and neonatal encephalopathy, whereas EA was only associated with low AS and not with neonatal encephalopathy. The found associations might be a result of confounding by indication, which is difficult to assess in a registry-based population study.

Risk factors for anal sphincter tears in vacuum-assisted delivery.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of anal sphincter tears (AST) in relation to obstetric management and technique during vacuum extraction deliveries (VE) (re: indications, the station of the fetal head at application of the cup, number of tractions, the length for the extraction, cup detachments, pain relief, episiotomy, fetal presentation, and experience of the operator) as well as maternal and infant anthropometrics. METHODS: Descriptive study. Data on six hundred vacuum extraction deliveries were consecutively collected from six different delivery units in Sweden. Each unit contributed with data on 100 deliveries. The final study population included 596 women who delivered by vacuum extraction. RESULTS: There was no correlation between the management of the vacuum extraction and risk for anal sphincter tear. Women from Africa had nearly a fourfold risk for anal sphincter tear during vacuum-assisted delivery compared with Swedish-born women (OR 3.82 CI 1.47-9.89). Compared with infants with birth weight less than 4000 g, birth weight above 4000 g was associated with increased risk of AST (OR 1.87 CI 1.06-3.28). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the obstetric management in VE-assisted deliveries did not impact the risk of AST.

Risk factors for anal sphincter tears: the importance of maternal position at birth.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of birth position in the occurrence of anal sphincter tears (AST). DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: South Hospital in Stockholm, a teaching hospital with around 5700 births per year. POPULATION: Among all 19,151 women who gave birth at the South Hospital during the study period 2002-05, 12,782 women met the inclusion criteria of noninstrumental, vaginal deliveries. METHODS: Data on birth position and other obstetric factors were analysed in relation to occurrence of AST. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Third- and fourth-degree AST. RESULTS: AST occurred in 449 women (3.5%). The trauma was more frequent in primiparous (5.8%) than in multiparous women (1.7%). The highest proportion of AST was found among women who gave birth in lithotomy position (6.9%), followed by squatting position (6.4%). Logistic regression analyses showed that lithotomy (adjusted OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.58-2.59) and squatting positions (adjusted OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.09-3.82) were associated with a significantly increased risk for AST. Other major risk factors for anal sphincter trauma were primiparity (adjusted OR 3.29, 95% CI 2.55-4.25), prolonged second stage of labour >1 hour (adjusted OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.11-2.10), infant birthweight more than 4 kg (adjusted OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.64-2.72) and large infant head circumference (adjusted OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.23-1.99). CONCLUSION: Lithotomy and squatting position at birth were associated with an increased risk for AST also after control for other risk factors.

Birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: To examine birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Nationwide study in Sweden. POPULATION: All primiparous women--discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa during 1973 to 1996--who gave birth during 1983 to 2002 (n = 1000) were compared with all non-anorexia nervosa primiparous women who gave birth during the same years (n = 827,582). METHOD: Register study with data from Medical Birth Registry and National Patient Discharge Register. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pre-eclampsia, instrumental delivery, prematurity, small for gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score and perinatal mortality. RESULTS: Main birth outcome measures in women with a history of anorexia nervosa were very similar to the main population. The only observed differences were a slightly lower mean birthweight and lower adjusted odds ratios for instrumental delivery in the anorexia nervosa group compared with the main population. Neither severity of the disease nor a shorter recovery phase after first hospitalisation was related to pregnancy complications or birth outcomes. CONCLUSION: A history of anorexia nervosa was not associated with negative birth outcomes. Thus, special obstetric monitoring of pregnant women with history of anorexia nervosa does not seem to be warranted in a country with a satisfactory maternity surveillance.