Racial disparities in infant mortality: what has birth weight got to do with it and how large is it?

Background

Trained birth attendants at delivery are important for preventing both maternal and newborn deaths. West Java is one of the provinces on Java Island, Indonesia, where many women still deliver at home and without the assistance of trained birth attendants. This study aims to explore the perspectives of community members and health workers about the use of delivery care services in six villages of West Java Province.

Methods

A qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews was conducted in six villages of three districts in West Java Province from March to July 2009. Twenty FGDs and 165 in-depth interviews were conducted involving a total of 295 participants representing mothers, fathers, health care providers, traditional birth attendants and community leaders. The FGD and in-depth interview guidelines included reasons for using a trained or a traditional birth attendant and reasons for having a home or an institutional delivery.

Results

The use of traditional birth attendants and home delivery were preferable for some community members despite the availability of the village midwife in the village. Physical distance and financial limitations were two major constraints that prevented community members from accessing and using trained attendants and institutional deliveries. A number of respondents reported that trained delivery attendants or an institutional delivery were only aimed at women who experienced obstetric complications. The limited availability of health care providers was reported by residents in remote areas. In these settings the village midwife, who was sometimes the only health care provider, frequently travelled out of the village. The community perceived the role of both village midwives and traditional birth attendants as essential for providing maternal and health care services.

Conclusions

A comprehensive strategy to increase the availability, accessibility, and affordability of delivery care services should be considered in these West Java areas. Health education strategies are required to increase community awareness about the importance of health services along with the existing financing mechanisms for the poor communities. Public health strategies involving traditional birth attendants will be beneficial particularly in remote areas where their services are highly utilized.     

International Classification of Diseases-9th revision coding for preeclampsia: how accurate is it?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the International Classification of Diseases-9th revision codes for preeclampsia and eclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: The University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago discharge database was used to identify 135 women from 1999 through 2001 whose disease was coded as having preeclampsia or eclampsia. With American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology criteria as the gold standard, the diagnosis that was determined through chart review was compared with the International Classification of Diseases-9th revision code that was present in the discharge database. Patients were classified as true cases if the International Classification of Diseases-9th revision code matched the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists diagnosis; the positive predictive value of the code was then calculated. RESULTS: The overall positive predictive value for the complete sample was only 54%, but the positive predictive value for severe preeclampsia was 84.8%, which was high compared with mild preeclampsia (45.3%) and eclampsia (41.7%). Diagnostic (clinician) error was the most common reason for miscoding error. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that International Classification of Diseases-9th revision codes for preeclampsia/eclampsia vary greatly in their accuracy of diagnosis. Therefore, a review of medical records is required when data are being gathered on the incidence of preeclampsia and eclampsia.     

Analysis of neonatal mortality:is standardizing for relative birth weight biased?

Background  

Infant mortality has traditionally been analyzed as a function of birth weight and birth weight-specific mortality. Often, however, when comparing two populations, the population with higher overall mortality has lower mortality at low birth weights and a reversed pattern at higher birth weights. Methods standardizing birth weight, such as the "relative birth weight", have been proposed to eliminate these crossover effects, but such methods do not account for the separate contributions to birth weight of gestational age and fetal "growth."     

Emergency contraception: how effective is it?

This paper explores the efficacy of emergency contraception methods, particularly the Yuzpe regimen and the IUD. The most commonly used Yuzpe regimen of combined oral contraceptive pills prevents 75% of expected pregnancies. The insertion of a copper IUD within 5 days of unprotected sexual intercourse prevents 99% of pregnancies. However, neither of these two methods is fully satisfactory for emergency contraception. In addition to the failure of the Yuzpe regimen to prevent approximately 25% of pregnancies, it can also cause some unpleasant side effects. On the other hand, the copper IUD, while certainly effective as a method of emergency contraception, has a certain number of limitations and disadvantages. First, it is usually not advised for women who do not have children, despite the fact that this population group comprises a larger proportion of those who seek emergency contraception. Second, the IUD is an inappropriate method for women at risk of developing sexually transmitted diseases unless an added barrier method is used. Third, its usage is generally not recommended for women with unclear pregnancy status, as it causes serious complications in women with established pregnancies.     

Blood loss at delivery: how accurate is your estimation?

This paper will examine the literature on blood loss at delivery and report the findings of a small pilot study where midwives and doctors were asked to estimate blood loss at simulated stations. The results were analysed using simple frequency distribution. This simple study demonstrated that midwives and other health professionals underestimate blood loss at delivery by 30-50%. The implication for midwives is that there is a need to double their estimated blood loss at delivery when it is over 500 ml.     

Operative vaginal delivery: a cause of birth injury or is it?

Operative vaginal delivery has been maligned since the days of W.J. Little with the word "forceps" becoming nearly synonymous with "Birth Injury" and "Cerebral Palsy." However in his presentation to the Obstetrical Society of London in 1861, Little's emphasis was on difficult labors being the culprit in subsequent disabilities in the offspring. Instrumented deliveries in that era were the end result of a long, obstructed labor performed for maternal benefit and to avoid a destructive procedure to the fetus thus allowing a chance at life. If there had been a normal progress in labor, operative assistance for delivery would not have been needed. Thus, was it the instrument or the obstructed labor that led to fetal injury? In this article, we will review what injuries to the fetus and the mother can be directly attributable to the instrument. We will explore the processes of labor, conduct of labor management, and concurrent fetal factors that can modulate the occurrence of birth trauma. Evidence regarding inexperience and improper use as contributing to injury will also be explored.     

The diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia on curettage: how reliable is it?

Objective  To evaluate the consistency of preoperative and postoperative histological findings in cases of endometrial hyperplasia. Materials and methods  Fifty-five patients with endometrial hyperplasia detected by surgical curettage were treated by hysterectomy. The histopathological diagnoses found on curettage specimens were compared and correlated with those found on hysterectomy. Endometrial hyperplasia was classified according to the classification scheme of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists. Results  Fifty-five patients were diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia on curettage specimens performed for evaluation of various bleeding abnormalities. The average age of the patients was 51.8 years (range 35–74). Thirty patients (55%) were postmenopausal. The interval between curettage and hysterectomy was 1–33 weeks. Of the patients, 26 (47%) had simple hyperplasia, 24 (44%) complex hyperplasia and 5 patients (9%) had complex atypical hyperplasia. Histopathological evaluation of hysterectomy specimens of these patients showed a total number of 35 cases (64%) with endometrial hyperplasia, 1 case of endometrial carcinoma and 19 cases with other pathological findings. The consistency rate between curettage and hysterectomy specimens was 45% (25/55 cases). Following hysterectomy, we found that none of the 26 simple hyperplasia cases and only one of the 24 complex hyperplasia cases coexisted with endometrial carcinoma. On the other hand, three of the five cases of complex atypical carcinoma coexisted with endometrial carcinoma. Conclusions  Curettage endometrial pathology tends to be more consistent with final hysterectomy pathology in simple hyperplasia. However, in cases of complex hyperplasia with atypia, curettage seems to under diagnose the real pathology.     

Severe preeclampsia and the very low birth weight infant: is induction of labor harmful?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of labor induction with the effects of cesarean delivery without labor on neonatal outcome in pregnancies complicated by severe preeclampsia and delivery of very low birth weight infants. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 278 singleton, live-born infants who weighed 750-1500 g and were delivered because of severe preeclampsia between 1988 and 1997. Outcomes of infants delivered by cesarean without labor were compared with those of infants exposed to labor induction. Statistical analysis was performed using Student t test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi2 analysis, and Fisher exact test, where appropriate. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for outcomes of interest. RESULTS: One hundred forty-five (52%) of the 278 women with severe preeclampsia who delivered infants weighing between 750 and 1500 g had labor induced and 133 (48%) delivered by cesarean without labor. Vaginal delivery was accomplished by 50 (34%) women in the induced group. Apgar scores of 3 or less at 5 minutes were more likely in the induced-labor group (6 versus 2%, P = .04), but other neonatal outcomes, including respiratory distress syndrome, grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage, sepsis, seizures, and neonatal death, were similar in the two groups. Adjustment for birth weight and gestational age did not affect those results. Analysis of data from the induced-labor group did not reveal an effect by route of delivery on neonatal outcome. CONCLUSION: Induction of labor in cases of severe preeclampsia is not harmful to very low birth weight infants.     

Duration of labor induction in nulliparous women at term: how long is long enough?

We evaluated the relationship between duration of labor induction and successful vaginal delivery (VD) in nulliparous women at term. Nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies > or = 37 weeks who underwent labor induction at a single institution were studied. Exclusion criteria were nonvertex presentation, stillbirth, fetal chromosomal/structural abnormalities, spontaneous labor, and spontaneous rupture of membranes. VD rates and maternal/neonatal outcomes were evaluated and compared with respect to the duration from induction to delivery. Over the 1-year study period, 340 women met all criteria. Seventy-five percent achieved VD (n = 255), 40.6% of whom had rate of cervical dilation in active labor < 1.0 cm/hour. Women requiring cesarean delivery were more likely to have fetal acidemia, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, chorioamnionitis, and endometritis. There was no association with prolonged induction to delivery intervals and adverse maternal/neonatal outcomes. In our population, only 5.7% of nulliparous women undergoing labor induction at term remain undelivered at 48 hours. Of women achieving VD, > 40% had rate of cervical dilation in active labor < 1.0 cm/hour.     

Ductus venosus Doppler velocimetry in the prediction of acidemia at birth: which is the best parameter?

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prediction of acidemia at birth using ductus venosus Doppler velocimetry and to determine the best parameter and cut-off values for this prediction in pregnancies complicated with placental insufficiency. METHODS: Prospective cross-sectional study. Forty-seven patients with placental insufficiency managed in two Brazilian hospitals were submitted to ductus venosus Doppler velocimetry in the last 24 h before delivery. All pregnancies were singleton, at least 26 weeks of age and without structural or chromosomal anomalies. A ROC curve was calculated for each ductus venosus parameter (independent variable) and acidemia (dependent variable). A cut-off value was established. The McNemar test was used to compare the various parameters. RESULTS: The ductus venosus S, D and A peak velocities were not good predictors of acidemia at birth. Pulsatility Index for Veins (PIV) was a good predictor of acidemia (ROC curve area 0.79, p = 0.003), as well as S/A and (S - A)/S ratios (ROC curve area 0.818, p = 0.001). The cut-off values were PIV = 0.76, S/A = 2.67 and (S - A)/S = 0.63. CONCLUSIONS: In this high-risk population, angle-independent ductus venosus Doppler indexes were good predictors of birth acidemia. The S/A and (S - A)/S ratios and the ductus venosus PIV were statistically equivalent in this prediction.