Search

Background: The low-risk cesarean delivery (CD) rate is an established performance indicator for providers in maternity care for quality improvement purposes. Purpose: Our objectives were to assess nurse performance using adjusted nurse-level CD rates and to compare methods of identifying nurse outliers. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cohort study of 6970 births attended by 181 registered nurses in one hospital's maternity unit. Adjusted and unadjusted nurse-level CD rates were compared and agreement between 3 definitions (statistical, top decile, over a benchmark) of outliers calculated. Results: Adjusted nurse-level CD rates varied from 5.5% to 53.2%, and the unadjusted rates varied from 5% to 50%. Risk adjustment had little impact on the ranking of nurses, and outliers were consistently identified by 3 definitions. Conclusions: Trade-offs between statistical certainty and feasibility need to be considered when classifying nurse outliers. Findings can help target interventions to improve nurse performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  To evaluate whether prophylactic antibiotics at the time of placement of an intrauterine balloon tamponade (IBT) is associated with a reduction in postpartum endometritis. Study Design  Retrospective cohort study of patients who received an IBT from January 1, 2012, to December 12, 2016. Patients were included if the IBT remained in place at least 2 hours and excluded if chorioamnionitis was present. Patients who received prophylactic antibiotics at the time of IBT placement were compared with those who did not. Results  A total of 149 subjects received an IBT; 36 were excluded due to early removal or chorioamnionitis. Of the remaining, 59 received prophylactic antibiotics and 54 did not. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups except mode of delivery. The majority (65%) of those who did not receive prophylactic antibiotics had a cesarean delivery (p  = 0.03). The overall incidence of endometritis was 15%. The incidence of endometritis was greater among those patients who did not receive prophylactic antibiotics compared with those who did (5 vs. 26%; p  < 0.002; odds ratio [OR]: 6.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.76–24.25). This association remained after adjustment for mode of delivery and receiving group B Streptococcus antibiotics prior to delivery (adjusted OR: 5.9; 95% CI: 1.58–22.35). Conclusion  Prophylactic antibiotics were associated with a reduction in postpartum endometritis among patients receiving an IBT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background To determine whether the mode of delivery was different between women who attended childbirth education ( CBE) class, had a birth plan, or both compared with those who did not attend CBE class or have a birth plan. Methods This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of women who delivered singleton gestations > 24 weeks at our institution between August 2011 and June 2014. Based on a self-report at the time of admission for labor, women were stratified into four categories: those who attended a CBE class, those with a birth plan, both, and those with neither CBE or birth plan. The primary outcome was the mode of delivery. Multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusting for clinical covariates were performed. Results In this study, 14,630 deliveries met the inclusion criteria: 31.9 percent of the women attended CBE class, 12.0 percent had a birth plan, and 8.8 percent had both. Women who attended CBE or had a birth plan were older ( p < 0.001), more likely to be nulliparous ( p < 0.001), had a lower body mass index ( p < 0.001), and were less likely to be African-American ( p < 0.001). After adjusting for significant covariates, women who participated in either option or both had higher odds of a vaginal delivery ( CBE: OR 1.26 [95% CI 1.15-1.39]; birth plan: OR 1.98 [95% CI 1.56-2.51]; and both: OR 1.69 [95% CI 1.46-1.95]) compared with controls. Conclusion Attending CBE class and/or having a birth plan were associated with a vaginal delivery. These findings suggest that patient education and birth preparation may influence the mode of delivery. CBE and birth plans could be used as quality improvement tools to potentially decrease cesarean rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Cesarean is the single most common operation in United States and has reached epidemic proportions in recent decades. Our objective was to study the effect of nonclinical parameters on primary cesarean rates in a large contemporary population. Study Design We designed a retrospective multicenter study using data obtained from electronic medical records from 19 U.S. hospitals between 2005 and 2007 (Consortium on Safe Labor Database), which included 145,764 term, singleton, nonanomalous, vertex, live births that included labor. The impact of nonclinical parameters (patient and provider characteristics, time of delivery, institutional policies, and insurance type) was investigated using modified Poisson regression methodology and classification and regression tree analysis. Results There were 125,517 vaginal and 20,247 cesarean deliveries. Using the multivariable model, the nonclinical parameters with statistical significance for primary cesarean were delivery during evening hours, a male provider, public insurance, and nonwhite race (p < 0.001). Conclusions Cesarean rates are associated with several nonclinical factors. Further investigation into these factors might help to develop strategies to reduce their influence and hence the rates of cesarean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We examined trends in maternal comorbidities in California. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1 551 017 California births using state-linked vital statistics and hospital discharge cohort data for 1999, 2002, and 2005. We used International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to identify the following conditions, some of which were preexisting: maternal hypertension, diabetes, asthma, thyroid disorders, obesity, mental health conditions, substance abuse, and tobacco use. We estimated prevalence rates with hierarchical logistic regression models, adjusting for demographic shifts, and also examined racial/ethnic disparities. Results. The prevalence of these comorbidities increased over time for hospital admissions associated with childbirth, suggesting that pregnant women are getting sicker. Racial/ethnic disparities were also significant. In 2005, maternal hypertension affected more than 10% of all births to non-Hispanic Black mothers; maternal diabetes affected nearly 10% of births to Asian/Pacific Islander mothers (10% and 43% increases, respectively, since 1999). Chronic hypertension, diabetes, obesity, mental health conditions, and tobacco use among Native American women showed the largest increases. Conclusions. The prevalence of maternal comorbidities before and during pregnancy has risen substantially in California and demonstrates racial/ethnic disparity independent of demographic shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses medical research with emphasis on the assessment of short-term respiratory morbidity in late preterm births compared with term births in a contemporary cohort of deliveries in the U.S. It mentions that the study utilizes retrospective collection of electronic data from 12 institutions across the U.S. on 233, 844 deliveries between 2002 and 2008. It states several main outcome measures of the study which include respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, and pneumonia. It concludes that late preterm birth was associated with increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome and other respiratory morbidity.

Objective: To evaluate whether women with protracted active phase labor longer than 6 hours have an increased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes after the implementation of new labor management guidelines.Methods: This was a retrospective study of nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex deliveries at Cedars Sinai Medical Center from August 2016 to September 2017. Women were included if they progressed to active phase labor, defined by cervical dilation of 6 cm or more. Women then were divided into three groups based on the time course of cervical change between 6 and 10 cm: 1) normal active phase: cervical change 1 cm or more within 4 hours throughout active labor; 2) mildly protracted active phase: cervical change 1 cm or less over 4-6 hours; and 3) very protracted active phase: cervical change 1 cm or less over 6 hours. Rate of change was assessed between cervical examinations. Primary outcome was a composite of maternal morbidity by study group. Secondary outcome was a composite of neonatal morbidity. We hypothesized that women with very protracted active phase had higher rates of adverse outcomes when compared with normal active phase. Regression analyses were performed to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes by study group.Results: There were 2,559 deliveries, of which 2,378 (90.8%) were vaginal deliveries. Composite maternal and neonatal morbidity was higher with longer labor. Maternal morbidity-very protracted active phase (42.0%) compared with normal active phase (22.6%) adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.15 (95% CI 1.62-2.86); mildly protracted active phase (39.5%) compared with normal active phase (22.6%) aOR 2.18 (95% CI 1.67-2.84). Neonatal morbidity: very protracted active phase (19.8%) compared with normal active phase (13.8%) aOR 1.38 (95% CI 0.98-1.96); mildly protracted active phase (19.4%) compared with normal active phase (13.8%) aOR 1.44; (95% CI 1.04-1.99). Composite maternal and neonatal morbidity was not different between mildly protracted and very protracted groups.Conclusion: Composite maternal morbidity was greater in women with cervical change consistent with mildly protracted (4-6 hours) and very protracted (more than 6 hours) labor compared with cervical change in the normal active phase (less than 4 hours) group. However, composite maternal and neonatal morbidity was not different between mildly protracted and very protracted groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To use population data to identify patient characteristics associated with a postpartum maternal emergency department visit within 90 days of discharge after birth.Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed linked maternal discharge and emergency department data for all live California births from 2009 to 2011. The primary outcome was at least one emergency department visit within 90 days of hospital discharge after birth. Secondary outcomes included three or more visits within 90 days ("high utilization") and inpatient readmission. Independent variables included demographics (age, race or ethnicity, payer, income) and clinical characteristics (length of stay, antepartum complications, mode of delivery, and severe maternal morbidity at delivery). Multilevel logistic regression identified variables associated study outcomes; we validated the predictive model with a split-sample approach and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results: Of 1,071,232 deliveries included, 88,674 women (8.3%) visited the emergency department at least once in the 90 days after delivery discharge. Emergency department use was significantly associated with Medicaid insurance (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.15, 95% CI 2.08-2.21), age younger than 20 years (adjusted OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.98-2.19), severe maternal morbidity at delivery (adjusted OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.49-1.71), antepartum complications (adjusted OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.42-1.50), and cesarean delivery (adjusted OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.37-1.44). Approximately one fifth of visits occurred within 4 days of discharge, and more than half were within 3 weeks. High utilizers comprised 0.5% of the entire sample (5,171 women) and only 1.2% of women presenting for emergency department care were readmitted. Receiver operating curve model analysis using the validation sample supported predictive accuracy for postpartum emergency department use (area under the curve=0.95).Conclusion: One in 12 California women visited the emergency department in the first 90 days after postpartum discharge. Women at increased risk for postpartum emergency department use per our validated model (eg, low income, birth complications) may benefit from earlier scheduled postpartum visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]