THE COMPARISON OF SLOVENIAN AND EUROPEAN PERINATAL DATA OR AS MORE BACK WE LOOK FURTHER INTO THE FUTURE WE WILL SEE

Background: Slovenian perinatal results are compared with European results: sometimes they are in the higher, sometimes in the lower range. Analysing trends and comparisons with other countries helps in planning changes in organisation and function so we are prepared for future challenges. Introduction of new technologies demands appropriate answers to challenges, including ethical ones. Methods: We compared perinatal results in Slovenia from 1987 to 1996, the PERISTAT project results from the year 2000 and the EURO-PERISTAT project with 2004 perinatal results including the Slovenian. Results: Some of the more prominent Slovenian perinatal results are shown. Cesarean section rate is the lowest among 26 countries in Europe. Deliveries after artificial reproductive techniques are second most frequent. Teenage pregnancies are very rare. Seemingly high maternal mortality mirrors also strict recording and cross checking with other data bases. Relatively high stillbirth rate may reflect the fact that all induced labours for fetal malformations are recorded. Conclusions: In Slovenia we do have tools for quality collection of perinatal results which should be used and audited. To have comparable results inside Slovenia, definitions should be written at http://www.obgyn-si.org/. When changing delivery record markers of prenatal care should be added – they could be easily obtained from maternity booklets (electronic or paper). In maternity booklet there is a place to write about grand dad prostate cancer; let us replace it with risk factors for preterm delivery (medical history and cervical length), 12 weeks screening for preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (ultrasonic and biochemi- cal markers), gestational diabetes and obesity (body mass index, waist – hips ratio) and hypothyroidism; let us leave some free space for the future screening tests. Known and proven efficient management (e.g. progesterone for recurrent preterm delivery prevention) should be used