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Introduction: Refugees and their healthcare providers face numerous challenges in receiving and providing maternal and newborn care. Research exploring how these challenges are related to adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes is scarce. Therefore, this study aims to identify suboptimal factors in maternal and newborn care for asylum-seeking and refugee women and assess to what extent these factors may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes in the Netherlands., Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of national perinatal audit data from 2017 to 2019. Our analysis encompassed cases with adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes in women with a refugee background (n = 53). Suboptimal factors in care were identified and categorized according to Binder et al.'s Three Delays Model, and the extent to which they contributed to the adverse outcome was evaluated., Results: We identified 29 suboptimal factors, of which seven were related to care-seeking, six to the accessibility of services, and 16 to the quality of care. All 53 cases contained suboptimal factors, and in 67.9% of cases, at least one of these factors most likely or probably contributed to the adverse perinatal or maternal outcome., Conclusion: The number of suboptimal factors identified in this study and the extent to which they contributed to adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes among refugee women is alarming. The wide range of suboptimal factors identified provides considerable scope for improvement of maternal and newborn care for refugee populations. These findings also highlight the importance of including refugee women in perinatal audits as it is essential for healthcare providers to better understand the factors associated with adverse outcomes to improve the quality of care. Adjustments to improve care for refugees could include culturally sensitive education for healthcare providers, increased workforce diversity, minimizing the relocation of asylum seekers, and permanent reimbursement of professional interpreter costs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The sponsors had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study., (Copyright: © 2024 Verschuuren et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: The rise of forced migration worldwide compels birth care systems and professionals to respond to the needs of women giving birth in these vulnerable situations. However, little is known about the perspective of midwifery professionals on providing perinatal care for forcibly displaced women. This study aimed to identify challenges and target areas for improvement of community midwifery care for asylum seekers (AS) and refugees with a residence permit (RRP) in the Netherlands., Methods: For this cross-sectional study, data were collected through a survey aimed at community care midwives who currently work or who have worked with AS and RRP. We evaluated challenges identified through an inductive thematic analysis of respondents' responses to open-ended questions. Quantitative data from close-ended questions were analyzed descriptively and included aspects related to the quality and organization of perinatal care for these groups., Results: Respondents generally considered care for AS and RRP to be of lower quality, or at best, equal quality compared to care for the Dutch population, while the workload for midwives caring for these groups was considered higher. The challenges identified were categorized into five main themes, including: 1) interdisciplinary collaboration; 2) communication with clients; 3) continuity of care; 4) psychosocial care; and 5) vulnerabilities among AS and RRP., Conclusions: Findings suggest that there is considerable opportunity for improvement in perinatal care for AS and RRP, while also providing direction for future research and interventions. Several concerns raised, especially the availability of professional interpreters and relocations of AS during pregnancy, require urgent consideration at legislative, policy, and practice levels., (© 2023 The Authors. Birth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: A history of stillbirth is a risk factor for recurrent fetal death in a subsequent pregnancy. Reported risks of recurrent fetal death are often not stratified by gestational age. In subsequent pregnancies increased rates of medical interventions are reported without evidence of perinatal benefit. The aim of this study was to estimate gestational-age specific risks of recurrent stillbirth and to evaluate the effect of obstetrical management on perinatal outcome after previous stillbirth., Methods: A retrospective cohort study in the Netherlands was designed that included 252.827 women with two consecutive singleton pregnancies (1 st and 2 nd delivery) between 1999 and 2007. Data was obtained from the national Perinatal Registry and analyzed for pregnancy outcomes. Fetal deaths associated with a congenital anomaly were excluded. The primary outcome was the occurrence of stillbirth in the second pregnancy stratified by gestational age. Secondary outcome was the influence of obstetrical management on perinatal outcome in a subsequent pregnancy., Results: Of 252.827 first pregnancies, 2.058 pregnancies ended in a stillbirth (8.1 per 1000). After adjusting for confounding factors, women with a prior stillbirth have a two-fold higher risk of recurrence (aOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.07-3.60) compared to women with a live birth in their first pregnancy. The highest risk of recurrence occurred in the group of women with a stillbirth in early gestation between 22 and 28 weeks of gestation (a OR 2.25, 95% CI 0.62-8.15), while after 32 weeks the risk decreased. The risk of neonatal death after 34 weeks of gestation is higher in women with a history of stillbirth (aOR 6.48, 95% CI 2.61-16.1) and the risk of neonatal death increases with expectant obstetric management (aOR 10.0, 95% CI 2.43-41.1)., Conclusions: A history of stillbirth remains an important risk for recurrent stillbirth especially in early gestation (22-28 weeks). Women with a previous stillbirth should be counselled for elective induction in the subsequent pregnancy at 37-38 weeks of gestation to decrease the risk of perinatal death., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to regional or nationwide lockdowns as part of risk mitigation measurements in many countries worldwide. Recent studies suggest an unexpected and unprecedented decrease in preterm births during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns in the first half of 2020. The objective of the current study was to assess the effects of the two months of the initial national COVID-19 lockdown period on the incidence of very and extremely preterm birth in the Netherlands, stratified by either spontaneous or iatrogenic onset of delivery, in both singleton and multiple pregnancies., Methods: Retrospective cohort study using data from all 10 perinatal centers in the Netherlands on very and extremely preterm births during the initial COVID-19 lockdown from March 15 to May 15, 2020. Incidences of very and extremely preterm birth were calculated using an estimate of the total number of births in the Netherlands in this period. As reference, we used data from the corresponding calendar period in 2015-2018 from the national perinatal registry (Perined). We differentiated between spontaneous versus iatrogenic onset of delivery and between singleton versus multiple pregnancies., Results: The incidence of total preterm birth < 32 weeks in singleton pregnancies was 6.1‰ in the study period in 2020 versus 6.5‰ in the corresponding period in 2015-2018. The decrease in preterm births in singletons was solely due to a significant decrease in iatrogenic preterm births, both < 32 weeks (OR 0.71; 95%CI 0.53 to 0.95) and < 28 weeks (OR 0.53; 95%CI 0.29 to 0.97). For multiple pregnancies, an increase in preterm births < 28 weeks was observed (OR 2.43; 95%CI 1.35 to 4.39)., Conclusion: This study shows a decrease in iatrogenic preterm births during the initial COVID-19-related lockdown in the Netherlands in singletons. Future studies should focus on the mechanism of action of lockdown measures and reduction of preterm birth and the effects of perinatal outcome., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: There are a growing number of reports on the association between air pollution and the risk of congenital anomalies. However, the results are inconsistent and most studies have only focused on the association of air pollution with congenital heart defects and orofacial clefts., Objectives: Using an exploratory study design, we aimed to identify congenital anomalies that may be sensitive to maternal exposure to specific air pollutants during the periconceptional period., Methods: We conducted a case-control study of 7426 subjects born in the 15 years between 1999 and 2014 and registered in the European Registration of Congenital Anomalies and Twins Northern Netherlands (EUROCAT NNL). Concentrations of various air pollutants (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PM 10-2.5 , NO 2 , NO X , absorbance) were obtained using land use regression models from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). We linked these data to every subject in the EUROCAT NNL registry via their full postal code. Cases were classified as children or fetuses born in the 15-year period with a major congenital anomaly that was not associated with a known monogenic or chromosomal anomaly. Cases were divided into anomaly subgroups and compared with two different control groups: control group 1 comprised children or fetuses with a known monogenic or chromosomal anomaly, while control group 2 comprised all other non-monogenic and non-chromosomal registrations., Results: Using control group 1 (n = 1618) for analysis, we did not find any significant associations, but when we used control group 2 (ranges between n = 4299 and n = 5771) there were consistent positive associations between several air pollutants (NO 2 , PM 2.5 , PM 10-2.5 , absorbance) and the genital anomalies subgroup., Conclusion: We examined various congenital anomalies and their possible associations with a number of air pollutants in order to generate hypotheses for future research. We found that air pollution exposure was positively associated with genital anomalies, mainly driven by hypospadias. These results broaden the evidence of associations between air pollution exposure during gestation and congenital anomalies in the child. They warrant further research, which should also focus on possible underlying mechanisms., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Objective: To assess the implementation and first results of a term perinatal internal audit by a standardised method., Design: Population-based cohort study., Setting: All 90 Dutch hospitals with obstetric/paediatric departments linked to community practices of midwives, general practitioners in their attachment areas, organised in perinatal cooperation groups (PCG)., Population: The population consisted of 943 registered term perinatal deaths occurring in 2010-2012 with detailed information, including 707 cases with completed audit results., Main Outcome Measures: Participation in the audit, perinatal death classification, identification of substandard factors (SSF), SSF in relation to death, conclusive recommendations for quality improvement in perinatal care and antepartum risk selection at the start of labour., Results: After the introduction of the perinatal audit in 2010, all PCGs participated. They organised 645 audit sessions, with an average of 31 healthcare professionals per session. Of all 1102 term perinatal deaths (2.3/1000) data were registered for 86% (943) and standardised anonymised audit results for 64% (707). In 53% of the cases at least one SSF was identified. Non-compliance to guidelines (35%) and deviation from usual professional care (41%) were the most frequent SSF. There was a (very) probable relation between the SSF and perinatal death for 8% of all cases. This declined over the years: from 10% (n=23) in 2010 to 5% (n=10) in 2012 (p=0.060). Simultaneously term perinatal mortality decreased from 2.3 to 2.0/1000 births (p<0.00001). Possibilities for improvement were identified in the organisation of care (35%), guidelines or usual care (19%) and in documentation (15%). More pregnancies were antepartum selected as high risk, 70% in 2010 and 84% in 2012 (p=0.0001)., Conclusions: The perinatal audit is implemented nationwide in all obstetrical units in the Netherlands in a short time period. It is possible that the audit contributed to the decrease in term perinatal mortality., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)