Using survival analysis to determine association between maternal pelvis height and antenatal fetal head descent in Ugandan mothers

Introduction: Fetal head descent is used to demonstrate the maternal pelvis capacity to accommodate the fetal head. This is especially important in low resource settings that have high rates of childbirth  related maternal deaths and morbidity. This study looked at maternal height and an additional measure, maternal pelvis height, from automotive engineering. The objective of the study was to determine the associations between maternal: height and pelvis height with the rate of fetal head descent in expectant Ugandan mothers.Methods: This was a cross sectional study on 1265 singleton mothers attending antenatal clinics at five hospitals in various parts of Uganda. In addition to the routine antenatal examination, each mother had their pelvis height recorded following informed consent. Survival analysis was done using STATA 12.  Results: It was found that 27% of mothers had fetal head descent with an incident rate of 0.028 per week  after the 25th week of pregnancy. Significant associations were observed between the rate of fetal  head descent with: maternal height (Adj Haz ratio 0.93 P<0.01) and maternal pelvis height (Adj Haz ratio 1.15 P<0.01). Conclusion: The significant associations observed between maternal: height and pelvis height with rate of fetal head descent, demonstrate a need for further study of maternal pelvis height as an additional  decision support tool for screening mothers in low resource settings.Key words: Pelvis height, antenatal diagnosis, childbirth

Influence of maternal pelvis height and other anthropometric measurements on the duration of normal childbirth in Ugandan mothers

In low resource settings, maternal anthropometry may complicate time based  monitoring of childbirth. We set out to determine the effect of maternal  anthropometry and foetal birth weight on the duration of childbirth. Birth related secondary data from 987 mothers with pregnancies of ≥ 37 weeks, singleton baby and a normal childbirth were obtained. This data was analysed for regression coefficients and Interclass correlations coefficients (ICCs). The mean duration of childbirth was 7.63hours. Each centimetre increase in maternal pelvis height led to a 0.56hours increase for the first stage (P<0.01), 0.05hours reduction for second stage (P<0.01), and 0.46hours increase in total duration of childbirth (p<0.01). For each centimeter increase in maternal height there was a 0.04hours reduction in the first stage (P=0.01) and a 0.005hours increase in second stage (P=0.03). The ICCs with respect to geographical site were 0.40 for stage 1, 0.27 for stage 2 and 0.21 for stage 3. Additional modeling with tribe of mother did not change the ICCs. Maternal pelvis height and maternal height were found to have a significant effect on the duration of the different stages of normal childbirth. Additional study is needed into the public health value of the above measurements in relation to childbirth in these settings.Key words: Humans; anthropometry; childbirth; pelvis height

Using survival analysis to determine association between maternal pelvis height and antenatal fetal head descent in Ugandan mothers

Abstract Introduction: Fetal head descent is used to demonstrate the maternal pelvis capacity to accommodate the fetal head. This is especially importan

Relationship between maternal pelvis height and other anthropometric measurements in a multisite cohort of Ugandan mothers

Introduction: In sub Saharan Africa, childbirth remains a challenge that creates the need for additional screening tools. Maternal pelvis height, which is currently in use by automotive engineers has previously been shown to have significant associations with various childbirth related outcomes and events. This study set out to determine the associations between maternal: Age, height, weight and number of pregnancies with maternal pelvis height in Ugandan mothers. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of maternal birth records from nine Ugandan hospitals, of mothers with singleton pregnancies. Data was analyzed using multilevel regression with respect to maternal pelvis height and additional analysis for tribe and site of childbirth intraclass correlations (ICCs). Results: The mean maternal pelvis height was 7.30cm for the 2068 records. Maternal pelvis height was associated with: a 0.01cm reduction per centimeter of maternal height (P=0.02), 0.01cm increase per kg of maternal weight (P<0.01), 0.04cm increase for each additional pregnancy (P=0.03) and 0.03cm increase with respect to tribe of mother (P=0.27), for a constant of 7.97cm (P<0.01). The ICC for tribe was 0.20 (SE=0.08) and 0.37 (SE=0.11) for site. Conclusion: Maternal pelvis height was associated with maternal height, maternal weight and number of pregnancies. The site of childbirth had a moderate effect on the above associations with maternal pelvis height. More study on the public health screening value of these measurements in these settings is required.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2