Introduction: The safety and effectiveness of birth center care have been demonstrated in previous studies, including the National Birth Center Study and the San Diego Birth Center Study. This study examines outcomes of birth center care in the present maternity care environment. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of ...

A new public health frontier challenging maternity care is addressing the sub-optimal breastfeeding rates of women who are obese. Despite the World Health Organisation's recommendation that breastfeeding is initiated within the first hour of birth and continued exclusively for six months, less than half of infants and young children globally ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the recent literature regarding maternal mortality, especially in developed countries, and to provide suggestions for clinical action addressing the rising trend. RECENT FINDINGS: Worldwide maternal deaths declined over the past 20 years; however, it is unlikely that the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal 5 for ...

AIM: The study aims to determine the risk factors associated with mortality and necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) among very low birthweight infants in 95 neonatal intensive care units in the Asian Network on Maternal and Newborn Health. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using an international collaborative database of 17 595 very ...

The aim of the study was to analyze trends in overall mortality and mortality from major causes of death, detect differences in cut points, and estimate the contribution of the major causes of death to the changes in overall mortality throughout 2 decades of independence in Lithuania (1991-2000 and 2001-2010). ...

Postpartum depression (PPD) varies worldwide and is considered a serious issue because of its devastating effects on mothers, families, and infants or children. Preterm birth may be a risk factor for PPD. In 2005, the global incidence of preterm birth was estimated to be 9.6%, and of these births, 85% ...

A number of case studies have shown that promotion of breastfeeding (BF) coincides with improved BF and exclusive BF (EBF) practices. We quantify the relationship between BF promotion and changes in BF practices by analyzing the relationship between implementation of the WHO/UNICEF Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding ...

There is concern that the rate of planned births (by pre-labour caesarean section or induction of labour) is increasing and that the gestation at which they are being conducted is decreasing. The aim of this study was to describe trends in the distribution of gestational age, and assess the contribution ...

Results of epidemiological studies linking census with mortality records may be affected by unlinked deaths and changes in cause of death classification. We examined these issues in the Swiss National Cohort (SNC). The SNC is a longitudinal study of the entire Swiss population, based on the 1990 (6.8 million persons) ...

Preterm birth is a significant public health concern, as it is associated with high risk of infant mortality, various morbidities in both the neonatal period and later in life, and a significant societal economic burden. As many cases are of unknown etiology, identification of the contribution of environmental contaminant exposures ...

The male-female ratio at birth (M/F: male births divided by total births) is anticipated to approximate 0.515. This has been shown to be declining in industrialised countries and to be displaying a latitude gradient in Europe, with more males born in warmer, southern climates. Annual national data for the British ...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine if the risk of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is associated with month of birth in Norway and to explore a possible latitudinal gradient. METHODS: All patients with MS born between 1930 and 1979 registered in the Norwegian MS Registry or ascertained in Norwegian prevalence studies were ...

STUDY QUESTION: Does the length of time during which embryos are cultured in vitro affect the birthweight of the infants? SUMMARY ANSWER: The duration of the embryo culture period is a significant factor in determining the birthweight of the infants. WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN: IVF children show adverse perinatal outcome ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Poorly spaced pregnancies have been documented worldwide to result in adverse maternal and child health outcomes. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum inter-birth interval of 33 months between two consecutive live births in order to reduce the risk of adverse maternal and child health outcomes. However, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: To determine the rates of birth registration over a five-year period in New South Wales (NSW) and explore the factors associated with the rate of registration. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using linked population databases. The study population included all births of NSW residents in NSW between ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The northern territory Nunavut has Canada's largest jurisdictional land mass with 33,322 inhabitants, of which 85% self-identified as Inuit. Nunavut has rates of infant mortality, postneonatal mortality and hospitalisation of infants for respiratory infections that greatly exceed those for the rest of Canada. The infant mortality rate in ...

Objective:To determine the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHDs) in a large, unselected cohort of monochorionic (MC) twins.Study Design:We completed a chart review of all MC twin pregnancies in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California population from 1996 to 2003. CHDs were identified by diagnostic codes and confirmed by postnatal echocardiograms. ...

Preterm birth, i.e., delivery more than 3 weeks before term, affects annually an estimated 13,000,000 newborn infants and rates are increasing(1). Only in the USA, about 500,000 infants are born preterm each year and of those, 80,000 are delivered very preterm (more than 8 weeks before the expected date). Without ...

OBJECTIVES: In general, epidemiological studies evaluated cases with congenital cardiovascular abnormalities together. The aim of this study is to describe the birth outcomes of cases with isolated/single atrial septal defect type II (ASD-II, i.e. only a fossa ovalis defect) after surgical correction or lethal outcome in the light of maternal ...

In Dane County, Wisconsin, the black-white infant mortality gap started decreasing from 2000 and was eliminated from 2004 to 2007. Unfortunately, it has reappeared since 2008. This paper examines risk factors and levels of prenatal care to identify key contributors to the dramatic decline and recent increase in black infant ...

To ascertain the national neonatal mortality rate in Qatar during the first quarter of 2011 (1 January-31 March), we carried out a prospective pilot national epidemiologic study. Nationwide birth and neonatal mortality data were collected using predesigned, structured questionnaires. To analyse trends over the previous 4 years (2008-2011) we used ...

Background: The gender ratio at birth (M/F: male births divided by total births) is expected to approximate 0.515. This has shown to be declining in industrialised countries and to display a latitude gradient in Europe, with more males born in southern climates. Methods: Annual national data for Scandinavian countries for ...

This paper examines the risk of child mortality associated with short preceding birth intervals in Mozambique. We apply a piecewise log-rate model to a pooled dataset comprising 36,305 live births from the 1997 and 2003 Mozambique Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Our results show that the effects of short preceding ...

To examine international rates of preterm birth and potential associations with stillbirths and neonatal deaths at late preterm and term gestation. Ecological study. Canada, USA and 26 countries in Europe. All deliveries in 2004. Information on preterm birth (<37, 32-36, 28-31 and 24-27 weeks of gestation) and perinatal deaths was ...

Abstract Background: Although late preterm infants (LPIs), at 34(0/7)-36(6/7) weeks of gestation, are reported to have suboptimal rates of breastfeeding, there is a lack of quantitative evidence describing this trend. This study examined the prevalence of breastfeeding initiation and factors associated with breastfeeding non-initiation within a Pennsylvania population-based cohort of ...

To determine whether maternal nativity (US-born versus foreign-born) is associated with the first year mortality rates of term births. Stratified and multivariable binomial regression analyses were performed on the 2003-2004 National Center for Health Statistics linked live birth-infant death cohort files. Only term (37-42 weeks) infants with non-Latina White, African-American, and ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Some women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require therapy with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists during pregnancy. It is not clear whether these drugs are transferred to the fetus, via the placenta, and then cleared, or whether structurally different TNF antagonists have different rates of transfer. METHODS: ...

The correlation between infant birthweight and parental birthweight has received substantial interest. However, fewer studies including the birthweight of the father have had access to large sets of population-based data. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of maternal and paternal birthweight on the birthweight of the ...

Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) due to pulmonary surfactant deficiency is heritable, but common variants do not fully explain disease heritability. Using next-generation, pooled sequencing of race-stratified DNA samples from infants ≥34 weeks' gestation with and without RDS (n = 513) and from a Missouri population-based cohort (n = 1066), ...

Every year, 1·1 million babies die from prematurity, and many survivors are disabled. Worldwide, 15 million babies are born preterm (<37 weeks' gestation), with two decades of increasing rates in almost all countries with reliable data. The understanding of drivers and potential benefit of preventive interventions for preterm births is ...

In 2005, the World Health Organization estimated that 9.6% or 12.9 million births worldwide were born preterm at <37 weeks of gestation and were accompanied by a mortality rate as high as 42% (http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/1/08-062554). Significant data suggesting that intrauterine infection is an important modifier for the risk of preterm birth ...

Abstract Human milk confers health benefits of vital importance for the sick and preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Mother's own milk is the first choice in preterm infant feeding, and every effort should be made to promote lactation. When mother's milk is not available or is insufficient, ...

BACKGROUND: The birth prevalence of gastroschisis is increasing worldwide, yet little evidence exists concerning the optimal monitoring strategies after diagnosis. The aim of this study was to describe the UK prevalence, antenatal management and outcomes of affected pregnancies. METHODS: Cases were identified throughout the UK between October 2006 and September ...

Background: Most twins after assisted reproductive technology (ART) are dizygotic. Analysis of dizygotic twin pairs is useful in assessing familial aggregation in the development of birth defects.Methods: Using nationwide post-ART data from the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, recurrence risk ratios (RRRs)-defined as probandwise concordance rates of birth defects ...

Aim  The aim of this study was to investigate whether current literature provides a useful body of evidence reflecting the proportion of cerebral palsy (CP) that is attributable to birth asphyxia. Method  We identified 23 studies conducted between 1986 and 2010 that provided data on intrapartum risks of CP. Results  ...

Problem/Condition: Since the birth of the first U.S. infant conceived with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in 1981, use of advanced technologies to overcome the problem of infertility has increased steadily, as has the number of fertility clinics providing ART services in the United States. ART includes fertility treatments in which ...

There is a growing concern internationally about the continued rise in birth intervention. Caesarean section rates continue to rise within the international arena. Women are losing confidence in the birth process being natural and safe and often exhibit moderate to high levels of fear during pregnancy. Simultaneously midwives are in ...

Recent national guidelines encourage a trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC) as a means of increasing vaginal births after cesarean (VBACs) and decreasing the high US cesarean birth rate and its consequences (2010 National Institute of Health Consensus Statement and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists revised guideline). A birthing ...

To determine the prevalence of preterm birth from self-reports by Brazilian women, to assess complications, interventions and outcomes, to identify factors associated with preterm birth, and to improve the preterm birth rates estimates. This is a secondary analysis of data from a Demographic Health Survey. It interviewed a sample of ...

Horemuzova et al (2012) (1) published recently the growth charts for infants born before 26 gestation weeks (GW) to describe the extrauterine growth from birth to the full-term age. Previous growth charts have described intra-uterine growth (2). Postnatal growth has been shown to be inferior to this "golden standard" (1, ...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the impact of mode of delivery (MOD) on early outcome for neonates diagnosed prenatally with major forms of congenital heart disease (CHD). METHODS: We retrospectively studied infants admitted, over a 2-year period, to a single institution for cardiac intervention. Infants were grouped on the basis ...

Objective: To study perinatal mortality associated with placental abruption. Design: Retrospective population study using the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and Medical Birth Register data. Setting: Finland 1987-2005. Population: Cases with placental abruption and all other births without placental abruption. Methods: The national Hospital Discharge Register and Medical Birth Register were ...

I reexamine the epidemiological paradox of lower overall infant mortality rates in the Mexican-origin population relative to U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites using the 1995-2002 U.S. NCHS linked cohort birth-infant death files. A comparison of infant mortality rates among U.S.-born non-Hispanic white and Mexican-origin mothers by maternal age reveals an infant survival ...

We compared perinatal mortality rates (PMRs) and the risk from certain causes among immigrant and native population in the Valencian Community (Spain). Using data from the Perinatal Mortality Registry, crude and age standardized mortality ratios were obtained in the different groups of mothers. Mortality rate ratios were calculated to compare ...

This study presents reproductive parameter data gathered by direct observation over a 40-year period (1971-2011) of the provisioned free-ranging population of orangutans at Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Age at first reproduction, interbirth interval (IBI), sex ratio at birth, and infant mortality for 19 female ...

Background: Insufficiency of the pulmonary surfactant system is the primary cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants. Genetic factors, including specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the genetic components of surfactant protein A (SP-A1 and SP-A2), affect protein structure and function, as well as risk of RDS. Objective: We investigated ...

: To estimate trends in good perinatal outcomes (singleton live births at term with birthweight more than 2,500 g) among live births after assisted reproductive technology in the United States from 2000 to 2008, and associated factors among singletons in 2008. : Using retrospective cohort data from the National Assisted ...

Recombinant erythropoietin is being used in premature population for anemia of prematurity. It is considered very safe in this population, although risks are still being evaluated. We report the first case of dermal erythropoiesis as a side effect of recombinant erythropoietin in an extremely prematurely born infant presenting with late-onset ...

BACKGROUND: It is estimated that India has more deaths from rabies than any other country. However, existing estimates are indirect and rely on non-representative studies. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined rabies deaths in the ongoing Million Death Study (MDS), a representative survey of over 122,000 deaths in India that ...

Vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation is a rare entity in the paediatric population. However, it is being recognised with increasing frequency due to better diagnostic techniques. Neonates usually present with congestive heart failure, while in older infants and children it tends to manifest with seizures, hydrocephalus, intracerebral or subarachnoid haemorrhages. ...