Search

Abstract Objective to compare the distribution of caesarean rates in the Robson's 10 groups classification in order to see if any change occurred after the implementation of an audit and feedback intervention. Design: cross sectional, before and after an audit and feedback study. Setting: a university hospital in Brazil. Methods clinical records of all births during two three months-periods were evaluated. Each case of CS was classified into one of ten mutually exclusive categories according to obstetric characteristics. The proportion of CS in each group was compared in both periods. Results total number of deliveries and the high rate of CS were similar in both periods. Group 3 (multiparous excluding previous CS, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, spontaneous labour) accounted for the largest proportion of deliveries, 28.5 and 26.8% in both periods. Group 1 (nulliparous, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, spontaneous labour) was the second largest one, while Group 5 (previous caesarean section, single, cephalic, and ≥ 37 weeks) was the third but the largest contributor to CS, accounting for 16.6 and 14.9% among all deliveries in both periods. Groups 2 (nulliparous, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, induction or CS before labour) and 4 (multiparous excluding previous CS, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, induction or CS before labour) were less prevalent, however had higher rates of CS. Only in Group 10 (All single, cephalic, ≤ 36 weeks, including previous CS), there was a significant decrease of CS rate from 70.5 to 42.6% between periods. Conclusion Robson's classification did not identify any significant change in the pattern of CS rates with the audit and feedback process, but showed to be useful for comparing trends among similar obstetric populations.

Abstract Background Each year, worldwide about 530,000 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Of the deaths 99% are in low and middle income countries. Obstetric haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality, most occurring in the postpartum period. Systemic antifibrinolytic agents are widely used in surgery to prevent clot breakdown (fibrinolysis) in order to reduce surgical blood loss. At present there is little reliable evidence from randomised trials on the effectiveness of tranexamic acid in the treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Methods The Trial aims to determine the effect of early administration of tranexamic acid on mortality, hysterectomy and other morbidities (surgical interventions, blood transfusion, risk of non-fatal vascular events) in women with clinically diagnosed postpartum haemorrhage. The use of health services and safety, especially thromboembolic effect, on breastfed babies will also be assessed. The trial will be a large, pragmatic, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial among 15,000 women with a clinical diagnosis of postpartum haemorrhage. All legally adult women with clinically diagnosed postpartum haemorrhage following vaginal delivery of a baby or caesarean section will potentially be eligible. The fundamental eligibility criterion is the responsible clinician's 'uncertainty' as to whether or not to use an antifibrinolytic agent in a particular woman with postpartum haemorrhage. Treatment will entail a dose of tranexamic acid (1 gram by intravenous injection) or placebo (sodium chloride 0.9%) will be given as soon as possible after randomisation. A second dose may be given if after 30 minutes bleeding continues, or if it stops and restarts within 24 hours after the first dose. The main analyses will be on an 'intention to treat' basis, irrespective of whether the allocated treatment was received or not. Subgroup analyses for the primary outcome will be based on type of delivery; administration or not of prophylactic uterotonics; and on whether the clinical decision to consider trial entry was based primarily on estimated blood loss alone or on haemodynamic instability. A study with 15,000 women will have over 90% power to detect a 25% reduction from 4% to 3% in the primary endpoint of mortality or hysterectomy. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials: ISRCTN76912190 and Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT00872469

Abstract Background Health care planning for chronic pelvic pain (CPP), an important cause of morbidity amongst women is hampered due to lack of clear collated summaries of its basic epidemiological data. We systematically reviewed worldwide literature on the prevalence of different types of CPP to assess the geographical distribution of data, and to explore sources of variation in its estimates. Methods We identified data available from Medline (1966 to 2004), Embase (1980 to 2004), PsycINFO (1887 to 2003), LILACS (1982 to 2004), Science Citation index, CINAHL (January 1980 to 2004) and hand searching of reference lists. Two reviewers extracted data independently, using a piloted form, on participants' characteristics, study quality and rates of CPP. We considered a study to be of high quality (valid) if had at least three of the following features: prospective design, validated measurement tool, adequate sampling method, sample size estimation and response rate >80%. We performed both univariate and multivariate meta-regression analysis to explore heterogeneity of results across studies. Results There were 178 studies (459975 participants) in 148 articles. Of these, 106 studies were (124259 participants) on dysmenorrhoea, 54 (35973 participants) on dyspareunia and 18 (301756 participants) on noncyclical pain. There were only 19/95 (20%) less developed and 1/45 (2.2%) least developed countries with relevant data in contrast to 22/43 (51.2%) developed countries. Meta-regression analysis showed that rates of pain varied according to study quality features. There were 40 (22.5%) high quality studies with representative samples. Amongst them, the rate of dysmenorrhoea was 16.8 to 81%, that of dyspareunia was 8 to 21.8%, and that for noncyclical pain was 2.1 to 24%. Conclusion There were few valid population based estimates of disease burden due to CPP from less developed countries. The variation in rates of CPP worldwide was due to variable study quality. Where valid data were available, a high disease burden of all types of pelvic pain was found.

Background: Intrapartum complications are responsible for approximately half of all maternal deaths, and two million stillbirth and neonatal deaths per year. Prolonged second stage of labour is associated with potentially fatal maternal complications such as haemorrhage and infection and it is a major cause of stillbirth and newborn morbidity and mortality. Currently, the three main options for managing prolonged second stage of labour are forceps, vacuum extractor and caesarean section. All three clinical practices require relatively expensive equipment (e.g., a surgical theatre for caesarean section) and/or highly trained staff which are often not available in low resource settings. The specific aim of the proposed study is to test the safety and feasibility of a new device (Odón device) to effectively deliver the fetus during prolonged second stage of labour. The Odón device is a low-cost technological innovation to facilitate operative vaginal delivery and designed to minimize trauma to the mother and baby. These features combined make it a potentially revolutionary development in obstetrics, particularly for improving intrapartum care and reducing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in low resource settings. Methods/design: This will be a hospital-based, multicenter prospective phase 1 cohort study with no control group. Delivery with the Odón device will be attempted under normal labour and non-emergency conditions on all the women enrolled in the study. One-hundred and thirty pregnant women will be recruited in tertiary care facilities in Argentina. Safety will be assessed by examining maternal and infant outcomes until discharge. Feasibility will be evaluated by observing successful expulsion of the fetal head after one-time application of the device under standardized conditions (full cervical dilation, anterior presentation, +2 station, normal fetal heart rate). Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR). Identifier: ACTRN12613000141741. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: to compare the distribution of caesarean rates in the Robson's 10 groups classification in order to see if any change occurred after the implementation of an audit and feedback intervention. Design: cross sectional, before and after an audit and feedback study. Setting: a university hospital in Brazil. Methods: clinical records of all births during two three months-periods were evaluated. Each case of CS was classified into one of ten mutually exclusive categories according to obstetric characteristics. The proportion of CS in each group was compared in both periods. Results: total number of deliveries and the high rate of CS were similar in both periods. Group 3 (multiparous excluding previous CS, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, spontaneous labour) accounted for the largest proportion of deliveries, 28.5 and 26.8% in both periods. Group 1 (nulliparous, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, spontaneous labour) was the second largest one, while Group 5 (previous caesarean section, single, cephalic, and ≥ 37 weeks) was the third but the largest contributor to CS, accounting for 16.6 and 14.9% among all deliveries in both periods. Groups 2 (nulliparous, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, induction or CS before labour) and 4 (multiparous excluding previous CS, single, cephalic, ≥ 37 weeks, induction or CS before labour) were less prevalent, however had higher rates of CS. Only in Group 10 (All single, cephalic, = 36 weeks, including previous CS), there was a significant decrease of CS rate from 70.5 to 42.6% between periods. Conclusion: Robson's classification did not identify any significant change in the pattern of CS rates with the audit and feedback process, but showed to be useful for comparing trends among similar obstetric populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine the prevalence of severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM) worldwide (near miss). Method: Systematic review of all available data. The methodology followed a pre-defined protocol, an extensive search strategy of 10 electronic databases as well as other sources. Articles were evaluated according to specified inclusion criteria. Data were extracted using data extraction instrument which collects additional information on the quality of reporting including definitions and identification of cases. Data were entered into a specially constructed database and tabulated using SAS statistical management and analysis software. Results: A total of 30 studies are included in the systematic review. Designs are mainly cross-sectional and 24 were conducted in hospital settings, mostly teaching hospitals. Fourteen studies report on a defined SAMM condition while the remainder use a response to an event such as admission to intensive care unit as a proxy for SAMM. Criteria for identification of cases vary widely across studies. Prevalences vary between 0.80% - 8.23% in studies that use disease-specific criteria while the range is 0.38% - 1.09% in the group that use organ-system based criteria and included unselected group of women. Rates are within the range of 0.01% and 2.99% in studies using management-based criteria. It is not possible to pool data together to provide summary estimates or comparisons between different settings due to variations in case-identification criteria. Nevertheless, there seems to be an inverse trend in prevalence with development status of a country. Conclusion: There is a clear need to set uniform criteria to classify patients as SAMM. This standardisation could be made for similar settings separately. An organ-system dysfunction/failure approach is the most epidemiologically sound as it is least open to bias, and thus could permit developing summary estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The progestogen component of oral contraceptives (OCs) has undergone changes since it was recognized that their chemical structure can influence the spectrum of minor adverse and beneficial effects. Methods: The objective of this review was to evaluate currently available low-dose OCs containing ethinylestradiol and different progestogens in terms of contraceptive effectiveness, cycle control, side effects and continuation rates. The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched. Randomized trials reporting clinical outcomes were considered for inclusion and were assessed for methodological quality and validity. Results: Twenty-two trials were included in the review. Eighteen were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and in only 5 there was an attempt for blinding. Most comparisons between different interventions included one to three trials, involving usually less than 500 women. Discontinuation was less with second-generation progestogens compared to first-generation (RR 0.79; 95% CI 0.69-0.91). Cycle control appeared to be better with second-compared to first-generation progestogens for both, mono-and triphasic preparations (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.52-0.91) and (RR 0.61; 95% CI 0.43-0.85), respectively. Intermenstrual bleeding was less with third-compared to second-generation pills (RR 0.71; 95% CI 0.55-0.91). Contraceptive effectiveness of gestodene (GSD) was comparable to that of levonorgestrel (LNG), and had similar pattern of spotting, breakthrough bleeding and absence of withdrawal bleeding). Drospirenone (DRSP) was similar compared to desogestrel (DSG) regarding contraceptive effectiveness, cycle control and side effects. Conclusion: The third- and second-generation progestogens are preferred over first generation in all indices of acceptability. Current evidence suggests that GSD is comparable to LNG in terms of contraceptive effectiveness and for most cycle control indices. GSD is also comparable to DSG. DRSP is comparable to DSG. Future research should focus on independently conducted well designed randomized trials comparing particularly the third- with second-generation progestogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-care interventions include over-the-counter contraceptives, which enable individuals to make informed, autonomous decisions about fertility management. As there is a substantial unmet need for contraception in many countries, increasing access by establishing sound, affordable and effective regulation of over-the-counter contraceptives could help reduce unintended pregnancies and improve maternal health. We performed a review of 30 globally diverse countries: (i) to assess national regulatory procedures for changing oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives and injectable contraceptives from prescription-only to over-the-counter products; and (ii) to determine whether national lists of over-the-counter medicines included contraceptives. Of the 30 countries, 13 (43%) had formal regulatory procedures in place for changing prescription-only medicines to over-the-counter medicines, 11 (36%) had national lists of over-the-counter medicines, and four (13%) included contraceptives on those lists. Changing from prescription-only to over-the-counter medicines presents challenges for national medicines regulatory authorities and manufacturers, involving, for example, reporting side-effects, quality control and the often poorly-defined process of switching to over-the-counter products. To facilitate the over-the-counter availability of contraceptives, countries should consider adopting a formal regulatory procedure for reclassifying prescription-only contraceptives as over-the-counter contraceptives. Although the availability of over-the-counter contraceptives can increase users' independence and anonymity and improve access, there may also be disadvantages, such as higher out-of-pocket costs and the need for accurate self-assessment. Basic remedial actions to improve, harmonize and standardize regulatory procedures for the reclassification of contraceptives are proposed with the aim of enabling national medicines regulatory authorities to manage the switch to over-the-counter contraceptives and to control their quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Moving Beyond Essential Interventions for Reduction of Maternal Mortality (the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health): A Cross-Sectional Study," by Jo&#227o Paulo Souza and colleagues in the May 18, 2013 issue of "The Lancet."

Background: Every woman has the right to dignified, respectful care during childbirth. Recent evidence has demonstrated that globally many women experience mistreatment during labour and childbirth in health facilities, which can pose a significant barrier to women attending facilities for delivery and can contribute to poor birth experiences and adverse outcomes for women and newborns. However there is no clear consensus on how mistreatment of women during childbirth in facilities is defined and measured. We propose using a two-phased, mixed-methods study design in four countries to address these research gaps. This protocol describes the Phase 1 qualitative research activities., Methods/design: We will employ qualitative research methodologies among women, healthcare providers and administrators in the facility catchment areas of two health facilities in each country: Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria. In-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) will be conducted among women of reproductive age (15-49 years) to explore their perceptions and experiences of facility-based childbirth care, focused on how they were treated by healthcare workers and perceived factors affecting how they were treated. IDIs will also be conducted with healthcare providers of different cadres (e.g.: nurses, midwives, medical officers, specialist obstetricians) and facility administrators working in the selected facilities to explore healthcare providers' perceptions and experiences of facility-based childbirth care and how staff are treated, colleagues and supervisors. Audio recordings will be transcribed and translated to English. Textual data will be analysed using a thematic framework approach and will consist of two levels of analysis: (1) conduct of local analysis workshops with the research assistants in each country; and (2) line-by-line coding to develop a thematic framework and coding scheme., Discussion: This study serves several roles. It will provide an in-depth understanding of how women are treated during childbirth in four countries and perceived factors associated with this mistreatment. It will also provide data on where and how an intervention could be developed to reduce mistreatment and promote respectful care. The findings from this study will contribute to the development of tools to measure the prevalence of mistreatment of women during facility-based childbirth.