Risk of preterm birth in relation to history of preterm birth: a population-based registry study of 213 335 women in Norway

Objective To assess the association between preterm first birth and preterm second birth according to gestational age and to determine the role of placental disorder in recurrent preterm birth. Design Population-based registry study. Setting Medical Birth Registry of Norway and Statistics Norway. Population Women (n = 213 335) who gave birth to their first and second singleton child during 1999–2014 (total n = 426 670 births). Methods Multivariate logistic regression analyses, adjusted for placental disorders, maternal, obstetric and socio-economic factors. Main outcome measures Extremely preterm (<28+0 weeks), very preterm (28+0–33+6 weeks) and late preterm (34+0–36+6 weeks) second birth. Results Preterm birth (<37 weeks) rates were 5.6% for first births and 3.7% for second births. Extremely preterm second births (0.2%) occurred most frequently among women with an extremely preterm first birth (aOR 12.90, 95% CI 7.47–22.29). Very preterm second births (0.7%) occurred most frequently after an extremely preterm birth (aOR 12.98, 95% CI 9.59–17.58). Late preterm second births (2.8%) occurred most frequently after a previous very preterm birth (aOR 6.86, 95% CI 6.11–7.70). Placental disorders contributed 30–40% of recurrent extremely and very preterm births and 10–20% of recurrent late preterm birth. Conclusion A previous preterm first birth was a major risk factor for a preterm second birth. The contribution of placental disorders was more pronounced for recurrent extremely and very preterm birth than for recurrent late preterm birth. Among women with any category of preterm first birth, more than one in six also had a preterm second birth (17.4%)

Episiotomy practice in six Palestinian hospitals: a population-based cohort study among singleton vaginal births

Objective To explore the rates, characteristics and indications for episiotomy among women delivering vaginally for the first time, as well as parous women. Study design A prospective, population-based birth cohort study. Setting Obstetric departments in six Palestinian government hospitals. Participants All women with singleton vaginal births (n=29 165) from 1 March 2015 until 1 March 2016. Methods All women were divided into two groups: first vaginal birth group (n=9108), including primiparous women and women with their first vaginal birth after one caesarean section, and the parous group (n=20 057). Each group was analysed separately. Data were presented as numbers and percentages or range. Differences in rates were assessed by the p values of χ2 test, or Fisher’s exact test if there are cell counts less than 5. Main outcome measures Episiotomy rates and indications among women of singleton births. Results The overall episiotomy rate was 28.7%: 78.8% for women with first vaginal birth (range 56.6%–86.0%) and 5.9% for parous women (range 1.0%–9.5%). The most common indications for episiotomy were ‘primiparity’ in the first vaginal birth group (69.9%) and ‘protecting the perineum’ in the parous group (59.5%). The least common indications were prolonged second stage (1.5%) and fetal distress (6.9%), respectively. Conclusion In Palestine, the majority of women who delivered vaginally for the first time had an episiotomy. Education of birth attendants, clinical audits, educational interventions and adherence to the updated guidelines may help to decrease the routine overuse of episiotomy

Enhancing recognition of obstetric anal sphincter injuries in six maternity units in Palestine: An interventional quality improvement study

Objective To explore the impact of a training intervention on obstetric anal sphincter injuries’ (OASIS) detection rate. Design Prospective quality improvement interventional study. Setting Six secondary and tertiary maternity units in Palestine. Population Women having singleton vaginal births ≥23 weeks’ gestation or babies weighing ≥500 g (n=22 922). Caesarean births (n=5431), multiple gestations (n=443) and vaginal births of unregistered perineum status (n=800) were excluded. Interventions Training programme for enhancing OASIS detection was conducted between 31 January and 31 December 2015. International experts delivered 2-day standardisation workshop teaching OASIS diagnosis and repair to each maternity unit. They also provided additional training to three research fellows employed in three of the maternity units. This was followed by 13-week period of data collection (phase 1). Research fellows then delivered training intervention over 15-week interval (phase 2), including theoretical teaching and ‘onsite’ training in perineal trauma assessment within the six maternity units. Finally, 13-week postintervention observation (phase 3) followed. Primary outcome measure OASIS rates were used as surrogate for OASIS recognition. OASIS rates were compared between different phases and between the two maternity unit groups (research fellow and non-research fellow based) using Pearson’s χ² test. Results A total 22 922 women were included. Among primiparous women, OASIS rate was higher in phase 2 (2.8%, p<0.001) and phase 3 (3.1%, p<0.001) than phase 1 (0.5%). However, no significant differences were detected in the rates of severe OASIS (third-degree 3c and fourth-degree tears) between phase 1 and 2 (0.5% vs 0.3%), because this would have required at least 103 women with severe OASIS to be included in each phase. Among parous women, OASIS rate was significantly higher in phase 2 (0.6%, p=0.002) but not in phase 3 (0.4%, p=0.071) compared with phase 1 (0.2%). Research fellows’ maternity units showed higher OASIS rates among primiparous women in phase 2 (3.6% vs 1.4%, p=0.001) and phase 3 (4.3% vs 0.8%, p<0.001) than non-research fellows’ maternity units. Conclusions This work is basically an epidemiological study which has identified the prevalence of perineal lacerations and their severity on a large sample of women representative of an entire geographical ethnic region. The quality improvement intervention improved OASIS detection mainly in the research fellows’ maternity units. Regular mandatory national programmes in obstetric perineal trauma assessment and management by local champions are essential to mitigate the risk of missing significant degrees of trauma

Impact of animated instruction on tablets and hands-on training in applying bimanual perineal support on episiotomy rates: an intervention study

Introduction and hypothesis In Palestine, episiotomy is frequently used among primiparous women.This study assesses the effect of training birth attendants in applying bimanual perineal support during delivery by either animated instruction on tablets or hands-on training on episiotomy rates among primiparous women. Methods An interventional cohort study was performed from 15 October 2015 to 31 January 2017, including all primiparous women with singletons and noninstrumental vaginal deliveries at six Palestinian hospitals. Intervention 1 (animated instructions on tablets) was conducted in Hospitals 1, 2, 3, and 4. Intervention 2 (bedside hands-on training) was applied in Hospitals 1 and 2 only. Hospitals 5 and 6 did not receive interventions. Differences in episiotomy rates in intervention and nonintervention hospitals were assessed before and after the interventions and presented as p values using chi-square test, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Differences in the demographic and obstetric characteristics were presented as p values using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results Of 46,709 women, 12,841 were included. The overall episiotomy rate in the intervention hospitals did not change significantly after intervention 1, from 63.1 to 62.1% (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.84–1.08), but did so after intervention 2, from 61.1 to 38.1% (OR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.33–0.47). Rates after Intervention 2 changed from 65.0 to 47.3% (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.40–0.67) in Hospital 1 and from 39.4 to 25.1% (OR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.35–0.68) in Hospital 2. Conclusions Hands-on training of bimanual perineal support during delivery of primiparous women was significantly more effective in reducing episiotomy rates than animated instruction videos alone

Caesarean section in Palestine using the Robson Ten Group Classification System: A population-based birth cohort study

Objective: To analyse the current situation of caesarean section in Palestine using the Robson Ten Group Classification System (TGCS). Methods: The contributions of each group to the study population and to the overall rate of caesarean section were calculated, as well as the rate of caesarean section in each TGCS group. Differences in proportions between study hospitals were assessed by χ2 test. Results: The overall rate of caesarean section was 22.9% (4337 of 18 908), ranging from 20.6% in hospital 1 to 24.6% in hospital 3. The largest contributors to the overall caesarean section rate were multiparous women with single cephalic full-term pregnancy who had undergone at least one caesarean section (group 5, 42.6%), women with multiple pregnancies (group 8, 11.6%) and those with single cephalic preterm labour (group 10, 8.1%). Statistically significant differences in caesarean section rates between the study hospitals were observed in group 1 (nulliparous women with single cephalic full-term pregnancy and spontaneous labour), group 4 (multiparous with single cephalic full-term pregnancy with induced labour or prelabour caesarean section), group 5 (multiparous with single cephalic full-term pregnancy with previous caesarean section) and in group 7 (multiparous with breech presentation). Conclusion: Women in groups 5, 8 and 10 were the largest contributors to the overall caesarean section rate in the study hospitals. Efforts to reduce the differences in obstetrical care between hospitals need to be directed towards increasing the proportion of vaginal births after caesarean section and by reducing primary caesarean section in multiple pregnancies and preterm labour

Induction of labor among singleton pregnancies in six palestinian governmental hospitals: A population-based cohort study

Objective: To explore rates and review practices regarding induction of labor (IOL) among singleton pregnancies in Palestine. Design: A prospective population-based cohort study. Setting: Six secondary and tertiary governmental hospitals located in the two regions of Palestine: West Bank and Gaza. Participants: Singleton pregnancies who had IOL in participating units during the study period were included (n=8290). Women having multiple gestations (1004), planned cesarean births (703), those admitted with cervical dilation >6cm (11228), and pregnancies with no record of cervical dilation and/or gestational age on admission (219) were excluded. Primary outcome measure: Rates of IOL in participating units and regions. Results: There were a total of 33,402 singleton births during the study period with an IOL rate of 24.8%. Rates of IOL significantly varied between units, ranging from 12.9% to 45.6% (P-value <0.05). The majority of women with no previous uterine scar were induced at gestational ages ≤40 weeks where 43.8% were induced at 39–40 gestational weeks (29.9% multiparous; 13.9% nulliparous) and 17.7% were induced between 37 and 38 gestational weeks (11.9% multiparous; 5.8% nulliparous). Conclusion: Significant variations in IOL practices between Palestinian hospitals and regions suggest overuse of IOL among singleton pregnancies in some units with the majority of these being performed before 40 weeks’ gestation. These findings indicate a gap between implementation of best evidence and current clinical practice