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Summary: The immature brain is highly susceptible to the consequences of very preterm birth with a high rate of long-term neurodisabilities in survivors and high use of specific outpatient services to limit the functional effects of the disabilities. To assess the economic burden for the social and health care system, it is necessary to inventory the community supports and need for special education or rehabilitation used by preterm children. Such studies are few and were done only in extremely low-birthweight or extremely preterm newborns in the United States. Objective: To study the rates of specific outpatient services and special education at 5 years of age and between 5 and 8 years of age in a geographically-defined population of children born very preterm. Design, Setting and Patients: 2901 liveborn children before 33 weeks’gestation (WG) and one control group of 666 liveborn children at 39-40WG were included in nine regions of France in 1997 corresponding to more than one third of all births. At five years, these children had a medical examination and were evaluated by a psychologist at local centres organised for the study in every region. Cognitive function was assessed by the mental processing composite scale (PMC) of the Kauffmann Assessement Battery for Children test, which is considered to be equivalent to intelligence quotient and behavioral difficulties using the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire completed by the parents. Data for dependence or compensatory aids, i.e. occupational therapy or physical therapy, speech therapy, psychologist or psychiatrist visits, orthoptic therapy, wearing glasses, wearing hearing aid, specific equipment to walk (walker, wheelchair…), orthopaedic treatment or anti-epileptic treatment were collected from parents. At eight years, a postal questionnaire was sent to the parents to collect data on specific outpatient services and special treatments at home and school. Stata software was used (version 9.0). Main outcome measures. Parent Questionnaire for identifying children with chronic conditions and specific health care needs at 5 and 8 years and categorization of developmental neurodisabilities based on examination of children and psychometric evaluation at 5 years. Results: At 5 years data were obtained for respectively 1817 and 396 children born before 33WG or at 39-40WG, which represent 80% of the very preterm children and 71% of the at term children. At 8 years we obtained data for 63% of the very preterm children and 59% of the at term children. At 5 years, care in a rehabilitation center and/or specific outpatient services were required for 41% of children born between 24 and 28WG, 32% of children born between 24 and 32WG and 15% of those born at 39-40WG. Between 5 and 8 years, these figures were respectively 61%, 50% and 36%. In the very preterm group, rates of specific outpatient services were higher than 80% if the child had a motor and/or a neurosensory deficit. In case of cognitive deficiencies (PMC < 85), rates of specific outpatient services were low at 37% at 5 years and increases at 63% between 5 and 8 years. Conclusion: Compared to the children born at term, the very preterm children have considerable educational needs, which are inversely related to gestational age at birth and to age of the children at the time of reporting. Despite economic burden, efforts to improve access to services are necessary, in particular in case of cognitive impairment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: With improving neonatal survival for very premature babies, the challenge for neonatalogists is to ameliorate outcome of surviving babies. Several pharmacological molecules have been shown to have protective effects in different types of in vitro or in vivo animal models of acquired cerebral brain damages. However translational research and conduction of therapeutic trials in human remain difficult due to failure to recognize start of deleterious cascade leading to cerebral damage and additional toxic effect of potential protective molecules. This review concentrates on best evidence emerging in recent years on prevention on brain damage by early drug administration. It has been shown in two randomised trials that prenatal low-dose of magnesium sulphate does not increase paediatric mortality in very-preterm infants and has non significant neuroprotective effects on occurrence of motor dysfunction (with a 0.62 odds ratio in the French trial Premag and 0.71 relative risk in the Australian trial ACTOMgSO4), justifying that magnesium sulphate should be discussed as a stand-alone treatment or as part of a combination treatment, at least in the context of clinical trials. Antenatal corticosteroid therapy increases the survival of very-preterm infants, including the most immature. Moreover in an observational recent study of the Epipage cohort, it has been observed a significant decrease in white matter injury in the 28-32 weeks’ gestation group but no effect on long term outcome and behaviour. Conversely in the most immature of the 24-27 weeks’ gestation group, no effect has been detected either in white matter injury incidence or in long term outcome rates. Caffeine has a protective effect since a decrease in cerebral palsy has been noted in the caffeine group in a randomised trial studying caffeine versus placebo. For what concern other widely used potential protective molecules during the perinatal period, there is no evidence of cerebral protection with indometacine, nitric oxide, eythropoietin, phenobarbital, and etamsylate. Due to their specific properties, a careful evaluation of aspirin, anaesthetic drugs and tocolytics should be done in the next months. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: To determine the measures to prevent spontaneous preterm birth (excluding preterm premature rupture of membranes)and its consequences., Materials and Methods: The PubMed database, the Cochrane Library and the recommendations from the French and foreign obstetrical societies or colleges have been consulted., Results: In France, premature birth concerns 60,000 neonates every year (7.4 %), half of them are delivered after spontaneous onset of labor. Among preventable risk factors of spontaneous prematurity, only cessation of smoking is associated to a decrease of prematurity (level of evidence [LE] 1). This is therefore recommended (grade A). Routine screening and treatment of vaginal bacteriosis in general population is not recommended (grade A). Asymptomatic women with single pregnancy without history of preterm delivery and a short cervix between 16 and 24 weeks is the only population in which vaginal progesterone is recommended (grade B). A history-indicated cerclage is not recommended in case of only past history of conisation (grade C), uterine malformation (Professional consensus), isolated history of pretem delivery (grade B) or twin pregnancies in primary (grade B) or secondary (grade C) prevention of preterm birth. A history-indicated cerclage is recommended for single pregnancy with a history of at least 3 late miscarriages or preterm deliveries (grade A).). In case of past history of a single pregnancy delivery before 34 weeks gestation (WG), ultrasound cervical length screening is recommended between 16 and 22 WG in order to propose a cerclage in case of length<25mm before 24 WG (grade C). Cervical pessary is not recommended for the prevention of preterm birth in a general population of asymptomatic women with a twin pregnancy (grade A) and in populations of asymptomatic women with a short cervix (Professional consensus). Although the implementation of a universal transvaginal cervical length screening at 18-24 weeks of gestation in women with a singleton gestation and no history of preterm birth can be considered by individual practitioners, this screening cannot be universally recommended. In case of preterm labor, (i) it is not possible to recommend one of the methods over another (ultrasound of the cervical length, vaginal examination, fetal fibronectin) to predict preterm birth (grade B); (ii) routine antibiotic therapy is not recommended (grade A); (iii) prolonged hospitalization (grade B) and bed rest (grade C) is not recommended. Compared with placebo, tocolytics are not associated with a reduction in neonatal mortality or morbidity (LE2) and maternal severe adverse effects may occur with all tocolytics (LE4). Atosiban and nifedipine (grade B), contrary to betamimetics (grade C), can be used for tocolysis in spontaneous preterm labour without preterm premature rupture of membranes. Maintenance tocolysis is not recomended (grade B). Antenatal corticosteroid administration is recommended to every woman at risk of preterm delivery before 34 weeks of gestation (grade A). After 34 weeks, evidences are not consistent enough to recommend systematic antenatal corticosteroid treatment (grade B), however, a course might be indicated in the clinical situations associated with the higher risk of severe respiratory distress syndrome, mainly in case of planned cesarean delivery (grade C). Repeated courses of antenatal corticosteroids are not recommended (grade A). Rescue courses are not recommended (Professional consensus). Magnesium sulfate administration is recommended to women at high risk of imminent preterm birth before 32WG (grade A). Cesarean is not recommended in case of vertex presentation (Professional consensus). Both planned vaginal or elective cesarean delivery is possible in case of breech presentation (Professional consensus). A delayed cord clamping may be considered if the neonatal or maternal state so permits (Professional consensus)., Conclusion: Except for antenatal corticosteroid and magnesium sulfate administration, diagnostic tools or prenatal pharmacological treatments implemented since 30 years to prevent preterm birth and its consequences have not matched expectations of caregivers and families., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To synthesize the available evidence regarding the incidence and several risk factors of preterm birth. To describe neonatal outcomes according to gestational age and to the context of delivery., Materials and Methods: Consultation of the Medline database., Results: In 2010, 11% of live births (15 million babies) occurred before 37 completed weeks of gestation worldwide. About 85% of these births were moderate to late preterm babies (32-36 weeks), 10% were very preterm babies (28-31 weeks) and 5% were extremely preterm babies (<28 weeks). In France, premature birth concerns 60,000 neonates every year, 12,000 of whom are born before 32 completed weeks of gestation. Half of them are delivered after spontaneous onset of labor or preterm premature rupture of the membranes, and the other half are provider-initiated preterm births. Several maternal factors are associated with preterm birth, including sociodemographic, obstetrical, psychological, and genetic factors; paternal and environmental factors are also involved. Gestational age is highly associated with neonatal mortality and with short- and long-term morbidities. Pregnancy complications and the context of delivery also have an impact on neonatal outcomes., Conclusion: Preterm birth is one of the leading cause of the under-five mortality and of neurodevelopmental impairment worldwide; it remains a major public health issue., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate in preterm born children the neuroprotective benefits and the risks, at short- and long-term outcome, of the antenatal administration of magnesium sulphate (MgSO 4 ) in women at imminent risk of preterm delivery., Material and Methods: Computer databases Medline, the Cochrane Library and the recommendations of various international scientific societies., Results: Given the demonstrated benefit of antenatal MgSO 4 intravenous administration on the reduction of cerebral palsy rates and the improvement of motor development in children born preterm, it is recommended for all women whose imminent delivery is expected or programmed before 32 weeks of gestation (WG) (grade A). The analysis of the literature finds no argument for greater benefit of antenatal MgSO 4 administration in sub-groups of gestational age, or depending on the type of pregnancy (single or multiple pregnancy) or with the cause of preterm birth (NP2). Its administration is recommended before 32 WG, if single or multiple pregnancy, whatever the cause of prematurity (grade B). It is recommended 4g loading dose (professional consensus). With a loading dose of 4g intravenous (IV) in 20min, the serum magnesium is lower than with intramuscular suggesting a preference for the IV route (professional consensus). It is proposed to use a maintenance dose of 1g/h until delivery with a maximum recommended duration of 12hours without exceeding a cumulative dose of 50g (professional consensus). These doses are without severe adverse maternal side effects or adverse effects in newborns at short- and medium-term outcome (NP1)., Conclusion: It is recommended to administer magnesium sulfate to the women at high risk of imminent preterm birth before 32 WG, whether expected or planned (grade A), with a 4g IV loading dose followed by a maintenance dose of 1g/h for 12hours (professional consensus), the pregnancy is single or multiple, whatever the cause of prematurity (professional consensus)., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Every year, approximately 15 million babies are born preterm worldwide (before 37 completed weeks of gestation), putting the global preterm birth rate at 11%; they are about 60,000 in France. About 85% of these births are moderate (32-33 weeks) to late preterm babies (34-36 weeks), 10% are very preterm babies (28-31 weeks) and 5% are extremely preterm babies (< 28 weeks). Though neonatal mortality rates are dropping, they remain high and are largely determined by gestational age at birth (over 10% mortality for infants born before 28 weeks, 5-10% at 28-31 weeks and 1-2% at 32-34 weeks). Severe neonatal morbidity and disabilities during childhood are also frequent and vary with gestational age. For example, the risk of motor or cognitive impairment is 2 to 3 times higher among children born between 34 and 36 weeks than among children born full-term. Therefore, every preterm baby must be carefully monitored. Recent cohort studies have focused on extremely preterm births; however, awareness of potential outcome and prognosis of all preterm babies is a crucial step for health professionals caring for these children. Huge disparities exist between high- and low-income countries, but also among high-income countries themselves., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Preterm birth remains a public health priority given that one child out of ten is born before 37 weeks of gestation. Survival without major neonatal morbidity has increased in high-income countries, in particular in France and in cases of extreme preterm birth before 27 weeks of gestation. Rate of severe handicaps, such as cerebral palsy, is probably decreasing, but specific cognitive disabilities in a variety of domains remain frequent, interfering with normal learning abilities at school and explaining the high rate of special education needs. Prevalence of sequelae increases when gestational age at birth decreases. However, because there are more moderate to late preterm children compared to very preterm children, the absolute number of children with specific cognitive or neurological disabilities is equivalent in these two groups. Better characterization of the development in a recent cohort of very preterm children is necessary to improve the early detection of variations in normal neurodevelopment and to propose trials with remediation actions targeting working memory and language for example. These protocols could decrease the rates of learning disabilities at school., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: The immature brain is highly susceptible to the consequences of very preterm birth with a high rate of long-term neurodisabilities in survivors and high use of specific outpatient services to limit the functional effects of the disabilities. To assess the economic burden for the social and health care system, it is necessary to inventory the community supports and need for special education or rehabilitation used by preterm children. Such studies are few and were done only in extremely low-birthweight or extremely preterm newborns in the United States., Objective: To study the rates of specific outpatient services and special education at 5 years of age and between 5 and 8 years of age in a geographically-defined population of children born very preterm., Design, Setting and Patients: 2901 liveborn children before 33 weeks'gestation (WG) and one control group of 666 liveborn children at 39-40WG were included in nine regions of France in 1997 corresponding to more than one third of all births. At five years, these children had a medical examination and were evaluated by a psychologist at local centres organised for the study in every region. Cognitive function was assessed by the mental processing composite scale (PMC) of the Kauffmann Assessement Battery for Children test, which is considered to be equivalent to intelligence quotient and behavioral difficulties using the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire completed by the parents. Data for dependence or compensatory aids, i.e. occupational therapy or physical therapy, speech therapy, psychologist or psychiatrist visits, orthoptic therapy, wearing glasses, wearing hearing aid, specific equipment to walk (walker, wheelchair...), orthopaedic treatment or anti-epileptic treatment were collected from parents. At eight years, a postal questionnaire was sent to the parents to collect data on specific outpatient services and special treatments at home and school. Stata software was used (version 9.0). Main outcome measures. Parent Questionnaire for identifying children with chronic conditions and specific health care needs at 5 and 8 years and categorization of developmental neurodisabilities based on examination of children and psychometric evaluation at 5 years., Results: At 5 years data were obtained for respectively 1817 and 396 children born before 33WG or at 39-40WG, which represent 80% of the very preterm children and 71% of the at term children. At 8 years we obtained data for 63% of the very preterm children and 59% of the at term children. At 5 years, care in a rehabilitation center and/or specific outpatient services were required for 41% of children born between 24 and 28WG, 32% of children born between 24 and 32WG and 15% of those born at 39-40WG. Between 5 and 8 years, these figures were respectively 61%, 50% and 36%. In the very preterm group, rates of specific outpatient services were higher than 80% if the child had a motor and/or a neurosensory deficit. In case of cognitive deficiencies (PMC < 85), rates of specific outpatient services were low at 37% at 5 years and increases at 63% between 5 and 8 years., Conclusion: Compared to the children born at term, the very preterm children have considerable educational needs, which are inversely related to gestational age at birth and to age of the children at the time of reporting. Despite economic burden, efforts to improve access to services are necessary, in particular in case of cognitive impairment.

With improving neonatal survival for very premature babies, the challenge for neonatalogists is to ameliorate outcome of surviving babies. Several pharmacological molecules have been shown to have protective effects in different types of in vitro or in vivo animal models of acquired cerebral brain damages. However translational research and conduction of therapeutic trials in human remain difficult due to failure to recognize start of deleterious cascade leading to cerebral damage and additional toxic effect of potential protective molecules. This review concentrates on best evidence emerging in recent years on prevention on brain damage by early drug administration. It has been shown in two randomised trials that prenatal low-dose of magnesium sulphate does not increase paediatric mortality in very-preterm infants and has non significant neuroprotective effects on occurrence of motor dysfunction (with a 0.62 odds ratio in the French trial Premag and 0.71 relative risk in the Australian trial ACTOMgSO4), justifying that magnesium sulphate should be discussed as a stand-alone treatment or as part of a combination treatment, at least in the context of clinical trials. Antenatal corticosteroid therapy increases the survival of very-preterm infants, including the most immature. Moreover in an observational recent study of the Epipage cohort, it has been observed a significant decrease in white matter injury in the 28-32 weeks' gestation group but no effect on long term outcome and behaviour. Conversely in the most immature of the 24-27 weeks' gestation group, no effect has been detected either in white matter injury incidence or in long term outcome rates. Caffeine has a protective effect since a decrease in cerebral palsy has been noted in the caffeine group in a randomised trial studying caffeine versus placebo. For what concern other widely used potential protective molecules during the perinatal period, there is no evidence of cerebral protection with indometacine, nitric oxide, eythropoietin, phenobarbital, and etamsylate. Due to their specific properties, a careful evaluation of aspirin, anaesthetic drugs and tocolytics should be done in the next months.

Objective: Synchronous bilateral breast carcinoma (SBBC) is not uncommon. Women with unilateral breast carcinoma are at increased risk for developing contralateral disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate risk factors, diagnostic circumstances, histological characteristics and therapeutic methods for SBBC., Patients and Methods: Between July 1992 and May 2006, 62 patients with SBBC were treated at Tenon hospital (Paris, France). Population was divided into two sub-groups corresponding with two successive periods. Epidemiological characteristics, diagnostic circumstances, therapeutic methods and histological characteristics were analysed., Results: Global incidence of SBBC during this period was 2.6%. The patients presenting a CSBS had a family antecedent of breast cancer in 23.7% of the cases. The most frequent situation associated a palpable tumour and an infraclinic contralateral lesion (43.5%). MRI made diagnosis possible in seven tumours. Among the patients 38.7% had a bilateral mastectomy and 33.9% profited from the technique of the ganglion sentinel. The proportions of invasive lobular carcinomas and the multifocal tumours were 17.7%. The tumours had the same histological type in 78.3% of the cases and the expression of oestrogen receptors was identical in 91.4% of the cases., Discussion and Conclusion: The principal risk factors of CSBS are a family history of breast cancer, the histological type lobular invasive and the multifocal character of the first tumour. A conservative surgery is possible as well as the use of the technique of the ganglion sentinel. The CSBS have histological similarities, probably due to environmental factors.

Objective: Advances in perinatal care have resulted in a sharply increasing survival rate among very preterm infants. However, there is some concern about the later neurodevelopmental outcome of those infants who survive. In this paper, we review the prevalence estimates of motor (cerebral palsy), sensorineural and cognitive impairments and their recent time-trends in very preterm infants., Method: A review of studies describing neurodevelopmental outcome of very preterm infants in Europe, Australia and America North., Results: The gestational age-specific prevalences of cerebral palsy (CP) were 72-86 for extremely preterm children (<28 weeks), 32-60 for very preterm (28-31 weeks) and 5-6 for moderate preterm (32-36 weeks), and 1.3-1.5 for term children per 1000. The live birth prevalence for CP remained unchanged in extremely and very preterm infants since 1990. The prevalence estimates of moderate and severe cognitive impairments are 15 to 25% in very preterm children. Less than 4% of very preterm infants develop severe hearing or visual loss., Conclusion: This review indicates that very preterm infants have high risk of disability. Most studies have been conducted between 1985 and 1995. Thus, these results should be interpreted with caution before generalisation to recent cohorts.

Preterm labor (PL) is the main cause for hospital admission during pregnancy. 50% of all pregnant women are diagnosed with PL. 7% of all neonates are born prematurely and one third of all preterm births follow PL with intact membranes. Previous history of preterm delivery, young maternal age, low socio-economical status are established risk factors of PL with intact membranes. Intrauterine infection, abruptio placenta praevia and uterine and cervical anomalies are often associated with PL with intact membranes. Cytokines, cortico-releasing hormone and the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis could trigger the prostaglandin cascade leading to PL. However data are lacking to conclude. Intrauterine infection can also lead to neonatal infection in the preterm babies. This is also an important risk factor of cerebral lesions and cerebral palsy. Outside perinatal infection, PL does not seem to increase neonatal death and neonatal morbidity compared with other causes of preterm delivery.

Objective: To estimate stillbirth rate et neonatal mortality in very preterm infants in relation to gestational age at birth, place of delivery, and type of birth., Patients and Methods: This study includes neonates from the EPIPAGE cohort survey, born between 22 and 32 weeks of gestation, in the Paris area from the first of February to the 31(st) of July 1997. Stillbirth rate and mortality before hospital discharge were studied. Level III facilities were defined by facilities that had an obstetric ward and intensive care unit for the newborn on the same site., Results: Of the 772 neonates, 58% were born in level III centers. This percentage increased to 71% for multiple births. Mortality (stillbirth rate and mortality before discharge) of neonates born in level III was lower than the observed for neonates born in other centers (22.9% versus 45.8%). This difference was mainly due to difference in stillbirth rate and mortality in the delivery room., Conclusion: Differences in perinatal and neonatal mortality were observed between maternity units. It may reflect differences in attitudes. The explaination of such differences should be based only on long term outcome.

Objective: To study risk factors of total preterm delivery, spontaneous preterm delivery and induced preterm delivery., Population: Representative sample of births in 1995 in France, including 12869 single births., Method: Preterm deliveries included all births before 37 weeks. Risk factors were analyzed with logistic regression. Factors of spontaneous preterm delivery (after spontaneous onset of labor) and factors of induced preterm delivery (after induction or cesarean section before labor) were compared with polytomous logistic regression., Results: The main risk factors of preterm delivery were history of adverse pregnancy outcome (ORa=4. 5), history of induced abortion (ORa=1.5), 35 year old or more (ORa=1.5) and inadequate antenatal care (ORa=2.1). Other factors such as age under 20 or being single were not significantly linked to preterm delivery. Risk factors differed slightly between spontaneous and induced preterm deliveries., Conclusion: The present risk factors do not always correspond with the well-known factors. Thus the assessment of risk factors would be necessary at regular interval. The small differences between the risk factors of spontaneous preterm delivery and induced preterm delivery may be explained by difficulties in defining those two types of preterm delivery or by difficulties in distinguishing specific causes for each of them.

Background: The multinomial logistic regression model is employed to model the relationship between an outcome variable with more than two categories and a set of covariates. This model is not widely used in epidemiology. We discuss the value of the multinomial model by comparing it with the binary logistic model, and we present a statistical comparison of odds ratios (OR) using the multinomial model. We studied the associations between obstetric history and very (< 33 weeks of amenorrhea) and moderate (33-36 weeks) preterm births., Methods: Parameters (lnOR) of very and moderate preterm births, associated with the severity of obstetric history (none=0, moderate=1, severe=2), were estimated using two logistic binary models (moderate preterm births vs full-term births (>=37 weeks), and very preterm births vs full-term births) and one logistic multinomial model which compared very and moderate preterm births to full-term births. These analyses were performed before and after adjustment for a covariate: the country of survey. Parameters of very preterm birth and moderate preterm birth, estimated from multinomial model, were compared using Wald test. These analyses were performed using data from a large case-control survey in Europe, the EUROPOP survey; 1 675 very preterm births, 3 652 moderate preterm births and 7 965 full-term births were included., Results: Crude parameters of very and moderate preterm births were similar, regardless the logistic regression model, binary or multinomial. The estimated parameters slightly differ after adjustment for the covariate, but lower variance estimates were obtained using multinomial logistic regression model. Parameters of very preterm birth associated with moderate obstetric history, B(gp)=0.5040, and severe obstetric history, B(gp)'=1.545, differ significantly from those of moderate preterm birth, B(pm)=0.4434 and B(pm)'=1.223 respectively (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Parameters obtained in separate logistic binary models are close to those obtained in a multinomial model. The multinomial model is useful for testing the heterogeneity of risk factors for distinct health problems.

Introduction: In order to understand why maternal mortality is higher in France than in other comparable countries, an epidemiological survey was carried out concerning critical illness during pregnancy, delivery and post partum, to ascertain the frequency of critical illnesses, and describe the characteristics of the patients as well as of the obstetrical services caring for them., Material and Method: The survey was carried out on all obstetric patients treated in intensive care units (ICU), in three French regions for one year. A detailed questionnaire was retrospectively filled out by a specialized investigator, according to the patient's medical file., Results: The frequency of critical illness was estimated at 310 SD 36 per 100,000 live births. Hypertensive diseases (26%) are the most frequent diagnosis that motivated admission to ICU, followed by the hemorrhages (20%), and then the indirect obstetric causes (17%). A large part of these patients was affected by seriously poor conditions before the present pregnancy. Public hospitals were most often implicated in the care of these patients since the beginning of the pregnancy and still more at the moment of the delivery. There was no difference in prenatal care from one type of hospital to another. On the contrary, pathologies and hospitalisation during pregnancy then the causes and the time of admission to ICU as well as the seriousness of maternal conditions were statistically different from one type of hospital to much more frequently in such pregnancies. Letality did not differ according to the various classes of maternity ward but did differ according to the pathologies leading to the treatment in ICU., Conclusion: A large proportion of pregnant women experience seriously critical illness; the relationship between critical illness and maternal mortality according to health care must be studied in depth.