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To investigate a reported increase, from 0.4 to 1.3 per thousand live birth, in the Danish incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a retrospective analysis of SIDS in Denmark from 1972 to 1983 was carried out. Based on data registered with the National Board of Health, a notable regional differences in SIDS rate between the western and eastern parts of Denmark was found. This difference did not correlate with the overall postneonatal mortality by region. Danish law requires medicolegal investigation in all cases of sudden unexpected death. Medicolegal autopsies are performed only in the three forensic institutes which cover all of Denmark. Despite the law and a uniform organization of the forensic medical services, differing application of postmortem examinations and individual interpretation of the history and autopsy in cases of sudden infant death existed. Differences in reporting of respiratory infections, suffocation, and cardiac malformation were found to contribute to the increase and to regional disparities in SIDS incidence. The three Danish forensic institutes examined all cases of sudden infant deaths in Denmark 1987 and 1988. These cases were classified as explained cause of death, pure SIDS, and atypical SIDS; atypical cases were evaluated by consensus. The SIDS incidence (the number of classic SIDS and atypical SIDS per thousand live births) was 1.9 in 1987 and 1.3 in 1988, and it was identical in the eastern and western part of Denmark; however, a higher incidence both of overall postneonatal and SIDS mortality was found in the middle region of Denmark. The analysis stresses the importance of high autopsy rate and expert investigation in all cases of infant death in order to obtain reliable data for epidemiological studies. A prospective joint study of all postneonatal infant deaths in Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark will be carried out to analyze the reliability and the possible cause of reported differences in SIDS incidence in the five Nordic countries. Pediatrics 1992;89:855-859

Infertility and fertility treatment have the potential to impact and disrupt a couple's overall life. In order to study the associations between the impact of childlessness on one's life, and men and women's attitudes towards fertility treatment continuation and/or adoption, we analysed data from a one-year follow-up questionnaire in a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of consecutive couples initiating fertility treatment in Denmark. The study comprised 302 couples with no children at baseline and no joint children at one-year follow-up. In total, 71.9% of women and 72.5% of men reported that they wished to continue fertility treatment, while 20.2% of women and 19.2% of men reported that they wished to pursue adoption. The attitudes of nearly 8 in 10 couples were congruent towards further fertility treatments, while nearly 7 in 10 couples were congruent in their attitudes to pursuing adoption. Significantly more men who reported a lower impact of childlessness on their daily life wished to continue fertility treatment, compared with those reporting that childlessness had a greater impact on their life. Among women, significantly more were undecided about whether or not to pursue adoption when reporting a greater impact of childlessness on social life, compared with those reporting a lower impact of their childlessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility is often portrayed as the antithesis of belonging. In this article, we challenge this perspective investigating how mobility and motility influence belonging in everyday life. We develop a perspective on belonging consisting of the dimensions of mobility, people and place and conditioned by the underlying dimensions of time, resources and structures of meaning. Applying this to interview material from a case study in Aalborg, we propose a tentative typology of mobile forms of belonging. It is discussed how different rhythms, conditions of mobility and variations in mobility resources result in different scales of belonging and modes of ‘centering’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare perinatal and maternal morbidity and birth interventions in low-risk women giving birth in two freestanding midwifery units (FMUs) and two obstetric units (OUs). Design: A cohort study with a matched control group. Setting: The region of North Jutland, Denmark. Participants: 839 low-risk women intending FMU birth and a matched control group of 839 low-risk women intending OU birth were included at the start of care in labour. OU women were individually chosen to match selected obstetric/socio-economic characteristics of FMU women. Analysis was by intention to treat. Main outcome measures: Perinatal and maternal morbidity and interventions. Results: No significant differences in perinatal morbidity were observed between groups (Apgar scores <7/5, <9/5 or <7/1, admittance to neonatal unit, asphyxia or readmission). Adverse outcomes were rare and occurred in both groups. FMU women were significantly less likely to experience an abnormal fetal heart rate (RR: 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.5), fetal-pelvic complications (0.2, 0.05 to 0.6), shoulder dystocia (0.3, 0.1 to 0.9), occipital-posterior presentation (0.5, 0.3 to 0.9) and postpartum haemorrhage >500 ml (0.4, 0.3 to 0.6) compared with OU women. Significant reductions were found for the FMU group's use of caesarean section (0.6, 0.3 to 0.9), instrumental delivery (0.4, 0.3 to 0.6), and oxytocin augmentation (0.5, 0.3 to 0.6) and epidural analgesia (0.4, 0.3 to 0.6). Transfer during or <2 h after birth occurred in 14.8% of all FMU births but more frequently in primiparas than in multiparas (36.7% vs 7.2%). Conclusion: Comparing FMU and OU groups, there was no increase in perinatal morbidity, but there were significantly reduced incidences of maternal morbidity, birth interventions including caesarean section, and increased likelihood of spontaneous vaginal birth. FMU care may be considered as an adequate alternative to OU care for low-risk women. Pregnant prospective mothers should be given an informed choice of place of birth, including information on transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which compared reproduction patterns among Danish females born with isolated oral clefts (OCs) with the Danish women background population. The study indicates that childlessness level is higher in oral cleft women than those in the background population. It notes that oral cleft women are more often childless or get their first offspring later.

Introduction: The establishing of three Danish population-based registers, namely the Fertility Database, the Register of Legally Induced Abortions, and the In Vitro Fertilisation register, aimed at providing data for surveying of reproductive outcome. Content: The registers include information on births, abortions, and assisted reproduction as well as selected characteristics of the women (and men) involved. Validity and coverage: Both the validity and coverage of each register are considered of high quality. Conclusion: These registers provide, both individually and in combination, unique opportunities for undertaking detailed and comprehensive research in the field of reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: The aim of this project was to assess whether any changes in the birth prevalence of cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL[P]) occurred in Denmark during the period 1988 through 2001. In this period an official recommendation of a supplementation of folic acid to pregnant women was introduced; furthermore, smoking among pregnant women decreased considerably. Design and Settings: There are few places in which ecological studies of oral clefts are possible. Denmark provides a particularly good setting for this kind of study because of a high ascertainment and a centralized registration of subjects with cleft over the last 65 years. Participants: Cleft occurrence in Denmark from 1936 to 1987 has previously been reported. Here we extend the study to include all live-born children with oral clefts born in Denmark in 1988 through 2001. Among a total of 992,727 live births, 1332 children with CL(P) were born during this period. Results and Conclusions: The birth prevalence of CL(P) in Denmark has previously been found to be constant in the period 1962 through 1987, with a frequency of 1.4 to 1.5 per 1000 live births. This study showed a similar occurrence in 1988 through 2001 (birth prevalence = 1.44 per 1000 live births, 95% confidence interval = 1.37 to 1.52). The introduction of folic acid and the decrease in smoking prevalence among pregnant women do not seem to have reduced the birth prevalence. This may be due to noncompliance with the folic acid recommendation and/or only a weak causal association between folic acid and smoking and occurrence of CL(P). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the rate of induced abortion among teenagers in Denmark and Finland. Strategies for the prevention of abortion; Details of the use of contraceptives in the states; Social condition of young families.

Using data from seven malformation monitoring systems around the world, the feasibility of monitoring fresh dominant mutations using skeletal dysplasias was explored. Based on a total of over 9.5 million births, 1500 infants with skeletal dysplasias were identified (16 per 100,000). In spite of efforts to get exact diagnoses, an average of 21% were unspecified. Comparisons of rates of specific diagnoses in different programmes suggested that classification differed. By analysing maternal age distribution, estimates were made of the proportion of fresh mutations in different subgroups: conditions regarded as dominant (achondroplasia, thanatophoric dysplasia, spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia) were estimated to consist of 58% fresh mutations--some of the remaining cases were inherited, others were probably misclassified. Among conditions regarded as recessive, only 5% were estimated to be truly dominant mutations. In the total group of skeletal dysplasias, 21% were estimated to be fresh dominant mutations and if osteogenesis imperfecta were excluded, the figure was 31%. By power analyses it was shown that equal monitoring power may be obtained by a programme covering about 45,000 births per year with intensive diagnosis of each individual case of skeletal dysplasia and a programme some three times greater where no specific diagnoses are obtained. An increasing trend in the occurrence of skeletal dysplasias was seen but probably explained by changing ascertainment. An impact of antenatal diagnosis resulting in a decrease in occurrence was also apparent in some programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare reproduction patterns among Danish women born with isolated oral clefts versus the Danish background population., Design and Setting: A nationwide population-based historic cohort study based on three registers: The Danish Facial Cleft Register, The Danish Civil Registration System, and the Fertility of Women and Couples Dataset., Participants: Through linkages of the registers, the number of children and the exact age at childbirth of all Danish women born with an oral cleft from 1950 through 1988 (N = 1931) were obtained. These data were compared with similar data for the entire Danish female background population (N = 1,184,390)., Results and Conclusions: This study suggests that childlessness is higher among women born with an oral cleft (55%) than among women in the Danish background population (44%). Excluding women without children, women born with oral cleft had an average of 1.98 children per woman. This did not differ significantly from the background population (2.02 children/woman). Furthermore, the present study found that Danish women born with oral clefts on average were older (27.3 years of age) than the background population (24.7 years of age) when they had their first child (difference = 2.6 years, confidence interval = 2.41 to 2.80)., Conclusion: Danish women born with an oral cleft more often are childless or have their first child later, but if they have children, they tend to have as many children as other Danish women. Social, psychological, and biological reasons might be responsible for the reduced fertility.

Objective: The aim of this project was to assess whether any changes in the birth prevalence of cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL[P]) occurred in Denmark during the period 1988 through 2001. In this period an official recommendation of a supplementation of folic acid to pregnant women was introduced; furthermore, smoking among pregnant women decreased considerably., Design and Settings: There are few places in which ecological studies of oral clefts are possible. Denmark provides a particularly good setting for this kind of study because of a high ascertainment and a centralized registration of subjects with cleft over the last 65 years., Participants: Cleft occurrence in Denmark from 1936 to 1987 has previously been reported. Here we extend the study to include all live-born children with oral clefts born in Denmark in 1988 through 2001. Among a total of 992,727 live births, 1332 children with CL(P) were born during this period., Results and Conclusions: The birth prevalence of CL(P) in Denmark has previously been found to be constant in the period 1962 through 1987, with a frequency of 1.4 to 1.5 per 1000 live births. This study showed a similar occurrence in 1988 through 2001 (birth prevalence = 1.44 per 1000 live births, 95% confidence interval = 1.37 to 1.52). The introduction of folic acid and the decrease in smoking prevalence among pregnant women do not seem to have reduced the birth prevalence. This may be due to noncompliance with the folic acid recommendation and/or only a weak causal association between folic acid and smoking and occurrence of CL(P).

In Denmark the number of births and induced abortions among teenagers has reduced and teenage parenthood is now rare. This paper evaluates the correlation between this observed fertility and reported sexual and contraceptive behaviour. In 1989 a sample of 16-20-year-olds in Denmark was selected at random and personally interviewed about sexual and contraceptive behaviour. Ninety-five per cent of the young women who had experienced sexual intercourse used contraception at the most recent sexual intercourse. In order to support the validity of this finding a model was developed to estimate an expected number of conceptions in the age groups concerned. The model included both the information on coital frequency and use of contraception from the questionnaire and available efficacy rates on contraception. The estimates derived by the model were compared with the registered number of births and induced abortions derived from public registers. The analysis revealed a high accordance between the estimated number of conceptions and the registered number of births and induced abortions for each age group. This underlines the validity of the data on sexual and contraceptive behaviour sampled among teenagers in Denmark. The findings indicate that contraceptive failure is a much greater problem than non-use of contraception for teenagers in Denmark.