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Background: Small for gestational age is defined as a birthweight below a birthweight percentile threshold, usually the 10th percentile, with the third or fifth percentile used to identify severe small for gestational age. Small for gestational age is used as a proxy for growth restriction in the newborn, but small-for-gestational-age newborns can be physiologically small and healthy. In addition, this definition excludes growth-restricted newborns who have weights more than the 10th percentile. To address these limits, a Delphi study developed a new consensus definition of growth restriction in newborns on the basis of neonatal anthropometric and clinical parameters, but it has not been evaluated., Objective: To assess the prevalence of growth restriction in the newborn according to the Delphi consensus definition and to investigate associated morbidity risks compared with definitions of Small for gestational age using birthweight percentile thresholds., Study Design: Data come from the 2016 and 2021 French National Perinatal Surveys, which include all births ≥22 weeks and/or with birthweights ≥500 g in all maternity units in France over 1 week. Data are collected from medical records and interviews with mothers after the delivery. The study population included 23,897 liveborn singleton births. The Delphi consensus definition of growth restriction was birthweight less than third percentile or at least 3 of the following criteria: birthweight, head circumference or length <10th percentile, antenatal diagnosis of growth restriction, or maternal hypertension. A composite of neonatal morbidity at birth, defined as 5-minute Apgar score <7, cord arterial pH <7.10, resuscitation and/or neonatal admission, was compared using the Delphi definition and usual birthweight percentile thresholds for defining small for gestational age using the following birthweight percentile groups: less than a third, third to fourth, and fifth to ninth percentiles. Relative risks were adjusted for maternal characteristics (age, parity, body mass index, smoking, educational level, preexisting hypertension and diabetes, and study year) and then for the consensus definition and birthweight percentile groups. Multiple imputation by chained equations was used to impute missing data. Analyses were carried out in the overall sample and among term and preterm newborns separately., Results: We identified that 4.9% (95% confidence intervals, 4.6-5.2) of newborns had growth restriction. Of these infants, 29.7% experienced morbidity, yielding an adjusted relative risk of 2.5 (95% confidence intervals, 2.2-2.7) compared with newborns without growth restriction. Compared with birthweight ≥10th percentile, morbidity risks were higher for low birthweight percentiles (less than third percentile: adjusted relative risk, 3.3 [95% confidence intervals, 3.0-3.7]; third to fourth percentile: relative risk, 1.4 [95% confidence intervals, 1.1-1.7]; fifth to ninth percentile: relative risk, 1.4 [95% confidence intervals, 1.2-1.6]). In adjusted models including the definition of growth restriction and birthweight percentile groups and excluding birthweights less than third percentile, which are included in both definitions, morbidity risks remained higher for birthweights at the third to fourth percentile (adjusted relative risk, 1.4 [95% confidence intervals, 1.1-1.7]) and fifth to ninth percentile (adjusted relative risk, 1.4 [95% confidence intervals, 1.2-1.6]), but not for the Delphi definition of growth restriction (adjusted relative risk, 0.9 [95% confidence intervals, 0.7-1.2]). Similar patterns were found for term and preterm newborns., Conclusion: The Delphi consensus definition of growth restriction did not identify more newborns with morbidity than definitions of small for gestational age on the basis of birthweight percentiles. These findings illustrate the importance of evaluating the results of Delphi consensus studies before their adoption in clinical practice., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The vast majority of prenatally diagnosed congenital pulmonary malformations (CPM) remain asymptomatic at birth. The maximal value of the CPM volume ratio (CVRmax) predicts the risk of neonatal respiratory distress (NRD), and should allow for better assessment of the level of expertise needed at the delivery site., Aim: This study evaluated the level of maternity units currently chosen for the delivery of CPMs, and determined the impact of the choice of delivery site based on the CVRmax, with a threshold of 0.4 cm 2 ., Methods: Data were extracted from the French prospective MALFPULM cohort, with inclusion between March 2015 and June 2018., Results: The final study population consisted of 383 women. Deliveries in level 1 or 2 maternity units (n = 98, 25%) involved CPMs with lower CVRmax (p<0.001), causing fewer signs of prenatal compression (p = 0.025). Among the 62 children (16%) who presented with NRD, only seven (11%) were born in level 1 or 2 units (p = 0.0078). Choosing the maternity level according to the CVRmax would have increased the number of births in level 1 or 2 maternity hospitals by 70%. In these maternity units, the percentage of children with NRD would have increased from 8% in the actual distribution to 10% in the new strategy., Conclusion: Our results showed an overuse of level 3 maternity hospitals for the delivery of newborns with a prenatal diagnosis of CPM. The use of CVRmax should enable a reduction in the use of expertise centers without an adverse impact on newborns., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 French Society of Pediatrics. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the respiratory outcome in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), considering recent management procedures and the CHD pathophysiology., Design and Setting: Clinical and functional respiratory outcome were evaluated in 8-year-old children with isolated CHD followed up from birth in the prospective population-based EPICARD cohort., Patients: Children were assigned to two groups, based on the pathophysiology of the CHD: CHDs with left-to-right shunt (n = 212) and CHDs with right outflow tract obstruction (n = 113)., Results: Current wheezing episodes were observed in 15% of the children with isolated CHD and left-to-right shunt, and 11% of the children with isolated CHD and right outflow tract obstruction (not significant). Total lung capacity (TLC) was the only respiratory function parameter that significantly differed between the two groups. It was lower in children with left-to-right shunt (88.72 ± 0.65% predicted) than in those with right outflow tract obstruction (91.84 ± 0.96, p = 0.006). In multivariate analysis, CHD with left-to-right shunt (coeff. [95% CI]: -3.17 [-5.45; -0.89]) and surgery before the age of 2 months (-6.52 [-10.90; -2.15]) were identified as independent factors associated with significantly lower TLC values., Conclusion: Lower TLC remains a long-term complication in CHD, particularly in cases with left-to-right shunt and in patients requiring early repair. These findings suggest that an increase in pulmonary blood flow may directly impair lung development., (Copyright © 2021 French Society of Pediatrics. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study determined the prevalence, mortality, and time trends of children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)., Methods: Twenty-five hospital- and population-based surveillance programs in 19 International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research member countries provided birth defects mortality data between 1974 and 2015. CDH cases included live births, stillbirths, or elective termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies. Prevalence, cumulative mortality rates, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Poisson regression and a Kaplan-Meier product-limit method. Joinpoint regression analyses were conducted to assess time trends., Results: The prevalence of CDH was 2.6 per 10,000 total births (95% CI: 2.5-2.7), slightly increasing between 2001 and 2012 (average annual percent change = 0.5%; 95% CI:-0.6 to 1.6). The total percent mortality of CDH was 37.7%, with hospital-based registries having more deaths among live births than population-based registries (45.1% vs. 33.8%). Mortality rates decreased over time (average annual percent change = -2.4%; 95% CI: -3.8 to 1.1). Most deaths due to CDH occurred among 2- to 6-day-old infants for both registry types (36.3%, hospital-based; 12.1%, population-based)., Conclusions: The mortality of CDH has decreased over time. Mortality remains high during the first week and varied by registry type., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Septo-optic nerve dysplasia is a rare congenital anomaly with optic nerve hypoplasia, pituitary hormone deficiencies and midline developmental defects of the brain. The clinical findings are visual impairment, hypopituitarism and developmental delays. The aim of this study was to report prevalence, associated anomalies, maternal age and other epidemiological factors from a large European population based network of congenital anomaly registries (EUROCAT). Data from 29 full member registries for the years 2005-2014 were included, covering 6.4 million births. There were 99 cases with a diagnosis of septo-optic dysplasia. The prevalence of septo-optic dysplasia in Europe was calculated to lie between 1.9 and 2.5 per 100,000 births after adjusting for potential under-reporting in some registries. The prevalence was highest in babies of mothers aged 20-24 years of age and was significantly higher in UK registries compared with other EUROCAT registries (P = 0.021 in the multilevel model) and the additional risk for younger mothers was significantly greater in the UK compared to the rest of Europe (P = 0.027). The majority of septo-optic dysplasia cases were classified as an isolated cerebral anomaly (N = 76, 77%). Forty percent of diagnoses occurred in fetuses with a prenatal diagnosis. The anomaly may not be visible at birth, which is reflected in that 57% of the postnatal diagnoses occurred over 1 month after birth. This is the first population based study to describe the prevalence of septo-optic dysplasia in Europe. Septo-optic dysplasia shares epidemiological patterns with gastroschisis and this strengthens the hypothesis of vascular disruption being an aetiological factor for septo-optic dysplasia., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Objectives: To assess overall and malformation-specific trends in the prevalence and prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies in the Parisian population., Methods: The Paris Registry of Congenital Malformations is population-based and since 1981 has registered all cases with structural birth defects or chromosomal anomalies in the Parisian population. The total and livebirth prevalence and the proportion of cases with prenatal diagnosis were calculated for all anomalies and 20 malformations selected based on their higher frequency and their impact on health outcomes., Results: The overall prevalence was 3.30% (95% CI 3.27-3.33), and the livebirth prevalence 2.42% (95% CI 2.39-2.45). The proportion of cases diagnosed prenatally increased from 16.5% (95% CI 14.1-19.1) in 1983 to 70.7% (95% CI 68.3-73.1) in 2007. Terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (TOPFA) increased from 8.8% (95% CI 7.0-10.8) in 1983 to 35.6% (95% CI 33.1-38.1) in 2007. These results varied substantially for the 20 congenital anomalies studied., Conclusion: We found an increase in the overall prevalence of all anomalies, especially for chromosomal abnormalities. The observed increase is at least to a large extent due to trends in delayed childbearing and an increase in both pre- and postnatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies in our population., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study trends in the main indicators of health, medical practices and risk factors in France., Population and Method: We collected data from samples of all births in France during one week in 1995 (n=13318), 1998 (n=13718), 2003 (n=14737) and 2010 (n=14903) and have compared them., Results: Between 1995 and 2010, maternal age and body mass index increased steadily, but tobacco use decreased. In 2010, 39.4% of pregnant women had a visit with a midwife in a maternity unit, versus 26.6% in 2003. Deliveries occurred in large public hospitals more and more frequently. The increase in caesarean sections was no longer significant between 2003 and 2010. In general, medical decisions during pregnancy and delivery were closer to professional recommendations in 2010 than in earlier years. Live births before 37 weeks increased steadily from 5.4% in 1995 to 6.6% in 2010, but the proportion of birth weights below 2500g or the 10th percentile stopped increasing after 2003., Conclusion: Routine national perinatal surveys highlight major trends in maternal characteristics, obstetric practices, organisation of services, and perinatal health., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study trends in the main indicators of health, medical practice and risk factors in France., Population and Method: A sample of all births during one week was set-up in 1995 (n=13,318), 1998 (n=13,718), 2003 (n=14,737) and 2010 (n=14,903), and we compared data from these four years., Results: Between 1995 and 2010, maternal age and body mass index increased steadily, but tobacco smoking decreased. In 2010, 39.4% of pregnant women had a visit with a midwife in maternity unit, versus 26.6% in 2003. Deliveries occurred in large public hospitals more and more frequently. The increase in caesarean sections was no longer significant between 2003 and 2010. In general medical decisions during pregnancy and delivery were closer to professional recommendations in 2010 than in the previous years. Live births before 37 weeks increased steadily from 5.4% in 1995 to 6.6% in 2010, but the proportion of births below 2500g or under the 10th percentile stopped increasing since 2003., Conclusion: Routine national perinatal surveys highlight major trends in maternal characteristics, obstetric practice, organisation of services and perinatal health., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study trends in smoking before and during pregnancy in national samples of pregnant women and changes in characteristics of smokers over time, and describe the current relation between maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal growth., Population and Methods: Five nationally representative samples of singleton live births in metropolitan France (1972, 1981, 1995, 1998 and 2003) were used to study the change in smoking rates during pregnancy over the past 30 years. We further examined changes in smoking rates between 1998 and 2003 according to maternal characteristics. Finally, we estimated the effect of smoking on fetal growth in 2003., Results: Prevalence of smoking decreased over time, but the rate remained high, 21 % in 2003. The decrease was more important among women at low risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, resulting in increased social disparities. We confirmed the strong dose-response relation between tobacco use during pregnancy and fetal growth., Conclusion: It is important to verify that smoking during pregnancy is still decreasing and to develop policies to encourage women to quit smoking during pregnancy, especially for highly exposed groups., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this article is to describe conditions of abortions practices in France., Materials and Methods: The study was based on the COCON survey. This survey was carried out among a representative sample of 2863 women aged 18 to 44 living in metropolitan France. Women were interviewed by telephone. The analysis was performed among a sub-sample of 320 women who had had an abortion between 1996 and 2000. Results were compared with those of the national notification of induced abortions., Results: Altogether, the way in which abortions were carried out was appropriate, but differences were observed according to the type of hospital: access to care was easier in the private sector; however a pre-abortion interview was less often carried out and a post-abortion interview less often proposed in the private sector. Besides, in both sectors, women were rarely allowed to choose the abortion technique, or the type of anesthesia in the case of a surgical abortion., Conclusion: The COCON study is the first population based survey describing the characteristics of care regarding voluntary abortion. It shows the persistence of differences in practices between the public and the private sectors.

After a review of medical literature on domestic violence during pregnancy, this paper shows the results of a survey carried out in 16 European countries. The percentage of women reporting domestic violence during pregnancy varies with the country; it is specially high in Russia, Poland and Czech Republic. Women who live without partner, those whose the couple has been separated during the pregnancy or those living in an overcrowded house have been more often victim of domestic violence. Domestic violence is significantly related to preterm birth risk.

Objectives: To study the psychological health of the mothers and their difficulties seven years after the birth of triplets and to compare these results with those obtained at four years., Data and Methods: Eleven mothers of triplets were followed up from birth to seven. At four and seven years the psychological status of the mothers and their relationships with the triplets were evaluated using a semi-structured interview and the level of depression was measured using a standardized scale (CES-D). At seven years the scores were compared to those of mothers having a singleton child of the same age., Results: At seven years three mothers of triplets out of 11 still suffered of depressive symptoms. These symptoms were more frequent than among control mothers but non significantly. One mother of triplets out of two (6/11), twice more than at four years, appreciated the increase of her educative tasks and the decrease of practical problems. In the other half of the sample problems still persisted between adults and children., Conclusion: Although the situation seemed to improve at seven years, the mother's psychological distress and quality of relationship with the children remained preoccupying in one family out of two.

Background: In all industrialized countries, injuries constitute the primary public health problem during adolescence; study of long-term outcome of injuries to adolescents remains poor., Population and Methods: A longitudinal epidemiological study performed on 8,140 students in 17 secondary schools in Paris and the Department of the Côte-d'Or followed the development over one year of 777 adolescents who had injuries in 1990. All injuries, both within and outside school, were included if they fulfilled the following criteria: school absence or excused from vocational training exceeding or equal to 2 days, or excused from physical education classes for at least 14 days., Results: One year after the injury, 13% of the adolescents were still bothered by their injury, especially those who were older and the girls. Among described impairments, musculo-skeletal problems (88% of cases) were the major difficulty. These impairments were primarily in the lower limbs (53%). Unaesthetic scars were found in 17% of cases, and a psychological impact was found in 16.5% of the adolescents. The presence of sequelae was related to the type of initial lesion (present in 24% of head injuries and in 16% of cases affecting the lower limbs). The most serious difficulties were caused by dislocations, serious sprains and fractures. One year after the injury, sequelae were serious in 10% of those adolescents still experiencing problems; they had some impact on the daily life of the adolescents in 36% of cases, that is, 5% of all adolescents experiencing an injury. These sequelae were responsible for a high level of consumption of medical services., Conclusions: Although observed sequelae were relatively minor, the high frequency of injuries during adolescence, as well as their high economic costs, justify the most appropriate care available for victims of injuries, even those which appear benign. In addition, longitudinal studies should be prepared using adapted tools (scales for the evaluation of the gravity of injury sequelae).

The objective of this study was to identify those factors that influence pregnant women's behavior towards alcohol consumption, so that they could be taken into account when developing alcohol prevention programs in prenatal care. Tobacco use was also studied to identify similarities and differences in attitudes and behavior. A sample of 176 women was interviewed using a structured questionnaire in the prenatal clinics or post-partum wards. Most women were aware that alcohol and tobacco could be harmful to their babies; however heavy drinkers recognized the influence of alcohol in pregnancy less often than the others. Sixty percent of the women, even among the light drinkers, thought that two drinks per day was a reasonable level of consumption during pregnancy. When asked who could be helpful in decreasing their alcohol consumption, most women mentioned their husband, and the doctor or midwife. This is in contrast to our finding that less than 20% of heavy drinkers were advised to reduce alcohol consumption, as compared to 70% of heavy smokers. The results point to the potential for more active interventions on alcohol reduction by health personnel during prenatal care.

This paper describes the last part of a study on the long-term psychosocial consequences of caesarean delivery. One group of 103 primiparous caesarean delivered women and one control group of 103 women delivered vaginally were followed from delivery to the children's fourth birthday. Previous assessments were made at birth, two months and one year later (Garel, M., Lelong, N. and Kaminski, M. (1987) J. Psychosom. Obstet. Gynecol., 6, 197-209 and (1988) Early Hum. Dev., 16, 271-282). Four years after delivery, 58 mothers of the caesarean group and 50 mothers of the control group returned a completed questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about subsequent pregnancies and mother's and child's general state of health. The comparisons between respondents and non-respondents showed no significant difference with regard to social and medical factors. As far as possible, factors which might have interfered with the mothers' and children's conditions were controlled in the analysis. There was no association between the method of delivery and the mother's overall state of health. However, after a caesarean section, mothers tended to have fewer children and more difficulty in conceiving. Four years after delivery, mothers in the caesarean group reported fatigue more frequently than control mothers. Five mothers (9%) consulted a psychiatrist, none in the control group (P less than 0.09). Between one and four years, caesarean born children had more hospital admissions but their overall behaviour and development, as reported by the mothers, was not different from those of children in the control group.

This study is of a 4-year follow-up of two groups of mothers, the first having had caesarean operations and the second vaginal deliveries. We have already published studies of the results after delivery, after two months and after one year. The purpose of this 4-year follow-up after delivery is to determine the effects of caesarean operation on the numbers of future pregnancies and their results and to look at the long-term consequences for the physical and psychological health of the mothers. Fifty-eight mothers who had had caesarean operations and fifty mothers as controls replied to a postal questionnaire. The response level was 52%. From the social and the medical point of view there was no significant difference between those who replied and those who did not. The results indicate that mothers who had had a caesarean operation were less likely to have another baby or did so in lower numbers. They further had more difficulty in conceiving another pregnancy than did the control mothers (the differences were not statistically significant). After four years they were often more tired than the others, apart from objective medical and social differences. The use of health services was not linked to the method of delivery, but 9% of women who had had a caesarean consulted a psychiatrist in the last three years but none of the controls did. The replies show that caesarean section contributed to or re-awoke a labile psychological state. The data do not make it possible for us to say that women who had had a caesarean operation had particular psychological characteristics.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Semi-directed interviews were conducted with 103 primiparous women between the 3rd and the 6th day after delivery to compare the effects of the two methods of anaesthesia on the way they experienced caesarean operation. Analysis of the contents of the interviews show that the mothers who had caesarean operation under general anaesthesia were more often depressed than those who had an epidural. Overall, the experience of delivery was more satisfying when the caesarean took place under an epidural because it enabled the mother to take part in the delivery. The mothers who were unconscious because they had a general anaesthetic felt sorrow that they deprived of the experience of the delivery. All the same, it must be said that one-third of the women felt ill-at-ease owing to delivery under epidural, both physically and psychologically. The first contacts with the infant are earlier and less disagreeable after epidural analgesia, but in the days following the delivery the interactions between mother and baby and the comments the mothers make about their child do not differ markedly whichever form of anaesthesia has been used.

This study was the follow-up part of a survey of psychosocial consequences of caesarean delivery (J. Psychosom. Obstet. Gynecol., 6 (1987) 197-209). Two groups of primiparous mothers were compared, one group of 103 mothers delivered by caesarean section and one control group of 103 mothers delivered by vaginal delivery. Semi-structured questionnaires were mailed at 2 months and 1 year after birth to explore the mothers' physiological and psychological condition and mother-infant adaptation. At 2 months, 92 mothers in the caesarean section group and 84 mothers in the control group returned a completed questionnaire. At one year there were, respectively, 79 and 71 in each group. The data indicated that the most obvious long-term psychological ill-effects of caesarean delivery appeared to be on mothers. They more often reported psychosomatic symptoms during first year than controls. At 2 months the concerns of caesarean mothers seemed more self-oriented than in the control group. They also felt less confident about their abilities to care for their babies. At 1 year these differences disappeared. Signs of disturbance in mother-infant interaction were not linked to the mode of delivery either at 2 months or at 1 year. The influence of the mode of anaesthesia for surgical delivery was also examined. The positive consequences of epidural analgesia which were observed are discussed taking into account the role of confounding variables.