[A pregnant woman with a painful abdominal retraction]. / Een zwangere met een pijnlijke abdominale intrekking.

A 35-year old woman, gravida 2, para 1, came to our hospital with abdominal pain and a retraction of her abdomen, which appeared during her spontaneous contractions at 40 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy. She had a medical history of caesarean section for Frank breech presentation. This clinical presentation was suggestive for uterine rupture, which was confirmed during caesarean section.

SIMPLE: implementation of recommendations from international evidence-based guidelines on caesarean sections in the Netherlands. Protocol for a controlled before and after study.

BACKGROUND: Caesarean section (CS) rates are rising worldwide. In the Netherlands, the most significant rise is observed in healthy women with a singleton in vertex position between 37 and 42 weeks gestation, whereas it is doubtful whether an improved outcome for the mother or her child was obtained. It can be hypothesized that evidence-based guidelines on CS are not implemented sufficiently. Therefore, the present study has the following objectives: to develop quality indicators on the decision to perform a CS based on key recommendations from national and international guidelines; to use the quality indicators in order to gain insight into actual adherence of Dutch gynaecologists to guideline recommendations on the performance of a CS; to explore barriers and facilitators that have a direct effect on guideline application regarding CS; and to develop, execute, and evaluate a strategy in order to reduce the CS incidence for a similar neonatal outcome (based on the information gathered in the second and third objectives). METHODS: An independent expert panel of Dutch gynaecologists and midwives will develop a set of quality indicators on the decision to perform a CS. These indicators will be used to measure current care in 20 hospitals with a population of 1,000 women who delivered by CS, and a random selection of 1,000 women who delivered vaginally in the same period. Furthermore, by interviewing healthcare professionals and patients, the barriers and facilitators that may influence the decision to perform a CS will be measured. Based on the results, a tailor-made implementation strategy will be developed and tested in a controlled before-and-after study in 12 hospitals (six intervention, six control hospitals) with regard to effectiveness, experiences, and costs. DISCUSSION: This study will offer insight into the current CS care and into the hindering and facilitating factors influencing obstetrical policy on CS. Furthermore, it will allow definition of patient categories or situations in which a tailor-made implementation strategy will most likely be meaningful and cost effective, without negatively affecting the outcome for mother and child. TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01261676.

Indications and results of labour induction in nulliparous women: an interview among obstetricians, residents and clinical midwives.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate which clinical factors are important in management decisions that clinicians make in the process of labour induction, and which clinical factors they estimate as predictive of labour outcome after induction. STUDY DESIGN: A written interview was conducted among obstetricians, residents and clinical midwives in five teaching hospitals in the south of the Netherlands. Sixteen fictive vignettes were constructed of pregnant nulliparous women who were candidates for induction of labour. The vignettes differed on eight clinical variables: maternal age, BMI, gestational age, indication for induction (maternal request vs mild pre-eclampsia), dilation, position, consistency and effacement of the cervix. For each case presentation, the inclination to induce labour was calculated for the three groups, and their estimates of the probability of a spontaneous vaginal delivery or a caesarean delivery were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 80 questionnaires sent, 60 (75%) were completed. Mild pre-eclampsia and post-term pregnancy were the most important clinical factors for the decision to induce or not in all three groups. Gestational age, effacement and dilation of the cervix were considered as the most important predictors of labour outcome after induction. CONCLUSIONS: In this interview, obstetricians, residents and clinical midwives based their decision-making whether or not to induce labour predominantly on medical indications. Outcome of labour after induction was estimated to depend on gestational age and cervical status at the start of induction.

Bishop score and risk of cesarean delivery after induction of labor in nulliparous women.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the risk and risk factors for cesarean delivery associated with medical and elective induction of labor in nulliparous women. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed in nulliparous women at term with vertex singleton gestations who had labor induced at 2 obstetrical centers. Medical and elective indications and Bishop scores were recorded before labor induction. Obstetric and neonatal data were analyzed and compared with the results in women with a spontaneous onset of labor. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariable regression modeling. RESULTS: A total of 1,389 women were included in the study. The cesarean delivery rate was 12.0% in women with a spontaneous onset of labor (n = 765), 23.4% in women undergoing labor induction for medical reasons (n = 435) (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.64-3.06), and 23.8% in women whose labor was electively induced (n = 189) (unadjusted OR 2.29; 95% CI 1.53-3.41). However, after adjusting for the Bishop score at admission, no significant differences in cesarean delivery rates were found among the 3 groups. A Bishop score of 5 or less was a predominant risk factor for a cesarean delivery in all 3 groups (adjusted OR 2.32; 95% CI 1.66-3.25). Other variables with significantly increased risk for cesarean delivery included maternal age of 30 years or older, body mass index of 31 or higher, use of epidural analgesia during the first stage of labor, and birth weight of 3,500 g or higher. In both induction groups, more newborns required neonatal care, more mothers needed a blood transfusion, and the maternal hospital stay was longer. CONCLUSION: Compared with spontaneous onset of labor, medical and elective induction of labor in nulliparous women at term with a single fetus in cephalic presentation is associated with an increased risk of cesarean delivery, predominantly related to an unfavorable Bishop score at admission. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2.