Background

Postpartum hemorrhage, a major cause of maternal death and severe maternal morbidity, increased in frequency in Canada between 1991 and 2004. We carried out a study to describe the epidemiology of postpartum hemorrhage in British Columbia, Canada, between 2000 and 2009.

Methods

The study population included all women residents of British Columbia who delivered between 2000 and 2009. Data on postpartum hemorrhage by subtypes and severity were obtained from the British Columbia Perinatal Data Registry. Among women with postpartum hemorrhage, severe cases were identified by the use of blood transfusions or procedures to control bleeding. Rates of postpartum hemorrhage and changes over time were assessed using rates, rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

The rate of postpartum hemorrhage increased by 27% (95% CI 21-34%) between 2000 and 2009 (from 6.3% to 8.0%), while atonic postpartum hemorrhage rates increased by 33% (95% CI 26-41%) from 4.8% to 6.4%. Atonic postpartum hemorrhage with blood transfusion increased from 17.8 to 25.5 per 10,000 deliveries from 2000 to 2009 and atonic postpartum hemorrhage with either suturing of the uterus, ligation of pelvic vessels or embolization increased from 1.8 to 5.6 per 10,000 deliveries from 2001 to 2009. The increase in atonic postpartum hemorrhage was most evident between 2006 and 2009 and occurred across regions, hospitals and various maternal, fetal and obstetric characteristics.

Conclusions

Atonic postpartum hemorrhage and severe atonic postpartum hemorrhage increased in British Columbia between 2000 and 2009. Further research is required to identify the cause of the increase.

We present a model for longitudinal measures of fetal weight as a function of gestational age. We use a linear mixed model, with a Box-Cox transformation of fetal weight values, and restricted cubic splines, in order to flexibly but parsimoniously model median fetal weight. We systematically compare our model to other proposed approaches. All proposed methods are shown to yield similar median estimates, as evidenced by overlapping pointwise confidence bands, except after 40 completed weeks, where our method seems to produce estimates more consistent with observed data. Sex-based stratification affects the estimates of the random effects variance-covariance structure, without significantly changing sex-specific fitted median values. We illustrate the benefits of including sex-gestational age interaction terms in the model over stratification. The comparison leads to the conclusion that the selection of a model for fetal weight for gestational age can be based on the specific goals and configuration of a given study without affecting the precision or value of median estimates for most gestational ages of interest.

The authors tested whether the relation between gestational weight gain (GWG) and 5 adverse pregnancy outcomes (small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth, large-for-gestational-age (LGA) birth, spontaneous preterm birth, indicated preterm birth, and unplanned cesarean delivery) differed according to maternal race/ethnicity, smoking, parity, age, and/or height. They also evaluated whether GWG guidelines should be modified for special populations by studying GWG and risk of at least 1 adverse outcome within different subgroups. Data came from a cohort of 23,362 normal-weight mothers who delivered singletons at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2003–2008). Adequacy of GWG was defined as observed GWG divided by recommended GWG. The synergy analysis found that the combination of smoking, black race/ethnicity, primiparity, or short height with poor GWG was associated with an excess risk of SGA birth, while high GWG combined with each of these characteristics diminished risk of LGA birth in comparison with the same GWG among the women's counterparts. Nevertheless, there were no significant or meaningful differences in the risk of at least 1 adverse outcome between the GWG recommended by the Institute of Medicine in 2009 and the GWG that minimized risk of the composite outcome. These findings do not support the tailoring of GWG guidelines on the basis of a mother's smoking status, race/ethnicity, parity, age, or height among normal-weight women.

Background

While the reduction in infants’ prone sleeping has led to a temporal decline in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), some aspects of this trend remain unexplained. We assessed whether changes in the gestational age distribution of births also contributed to the temporal reduction in SIDS.

Methods

SIDS patterns among singleton and twin births in the United States were analysed in 1995–96 and 2004–05. The temporal reduction in SIDS was partitioned using the Kitagawa decomposition method into reductions due to changes in the gestational age distribution and reductions due to changes in gestational age-specific SIDS rates. Both the traditional and the fetuses-at-risk models were used.

Results

SIDS rates declined with increasing gestation under the traditional perinatal model. Rates were higher at early gestation among singletons compared with twins, while the reverse was true at later gestation. Under the fetuses-at-risk model, SIDS rates increased with increasing gestation and twins had higher rates of SIDS than singletons at all gestational ages. Between 1995–96 and 2004–05, SIDS declined from 8.3 to 5.6 per 10,000 live births among singletons and from 14.2 to 10.6 per 10,000 live births among twins. Decomposition using the traditional model showed that the SIDS reduction among singletons and twins was entirely due to changes in the gestational age-specific SIDS rate. The fetuses-at-risk model attributed 45% of the SIDS reduction to changes in the gestational age distribution and 55% of the reduction to changes in gestational age-specific SIDS rates among singletons; among twins these proportions were 64% and 36%, respectively.

Conclusion

Changes in the gestational age distribution may have contributed to the recent temporal reduction in SIDS.

Background

Preterm birth rates have increased substantially in the recent years mostly due to obstetric intervention. We studied the effects of increasing iatrogenic preterm birth on temporal trends in perinatal mortality and serious neonatal morbidity in the United States.

Methods

We used data on singleton and twin births in the United States, 1995-2005 (n = 36,399,333), to examine trends in stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and serious neonatal morbidity (5-minute Apgar ≤3, assisted ventilation ≥30 min and neonatal seizures). Preterm birth subtypes were identified using an algorithm that categorized live births <37 weeks into iatrogenic preterm births, births following premature rupture of membranes and spontaneous preterm births. Temporal changes were quantified using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Among singletons, preterm birth increased from 7.3 to 8.8 per 100 live births from 1995 to 2005, while iatrogenic preterm birth increased from 2.2 to 3.7 per 100 live births. Stillbirth rates declined from 3.4 to 3.0 per 1,000 total births from 1995-96 to 2004-05, and neonatal mortality rates declined from 2.4 to 2.1 per 1,000 live births. Temporal declines in neonatal mortality/morbidity were most pronounced at 34-36 weeks gestation and larger among iatrogenic preterm births (OR = 0.75, CI 0.73-0.77) than among spontaneous preterm births (OR = 0.82, CI 0.80-0.84); P < 0.001. Similar patterns were observed among twins, with some notable differences.

Conclusion

Increases in iatrogenic preterm birth have been accompanied by declines in perinatal mortality. The temporal decline in neonatal mortality/serious neonatal morbidity has been larger among iatrogenic preterm births as compared with spontaneous preterm births.

Background

An association between insufficient milk supply, the inability of a mother's breast milk to provide sufficiently for her infant, and breast cancer has been suggested by observations in animal models. To determine if an association has been reported in epidemiological studies of human breast cancer, a systematic review of the literature has been conducted. We also sought to identify the methodological limitations of existing studies to guide the design of any future prospective studies in this field.

Methodology/Principal Findings

PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, BIOSIS, and CAB abstracts were searched. We selected any study that (1) assessed breast cancer in association with breastfeeding history and (2) examined the relationship between insufficient milk supply with breast cancer. Seven relevant studies were identified that met both criteria. There was statistically significant heterogeneity among the results which likely reflects clinically significant differences in definitions of insufficient milk supply and reference groups that were used. Among premenopausal women who had experienced insufficient milk supply, odds ratios (ORs) for breast cancer risk ranged from 0.9 to 16.3. Among postmenopausal women, ORs ranged from 0.6 to 6.7. Based on the range of odds ratios obtained in the studies reported in this review, it remains unclear if there is a true association between insufficient milk supply and breast cancer.

Conclusions/Significance

Although some studies have shown a strong positive association, there is no consistent evidence for an effect of insufficient milk supply on breast cancer risk. Exposure definitions are in need of improvement in order to focus on primary insufficient milk supply. Reference groups consisting of women who have successfully breastfed may also introduce positive bias (inflation of the odds ratio) into study results because of the protective effect of prolonged breastfeeding in the control group.

Background

Among youth, participation in extracurricular physical activities at school and organised physical activities in the community is associated with higher physical activity levels. The objective was to determine if participation in organised physical activities during early adolescence protects against declines in physical activity levels during adolescence.

Methods

Every 3 months for 5 years, students initially in grade 7 (aged 12–13 years) completed a 7-day physical activity recall and provided data on the number and type of (extracurricular) physical activities organised at school and in the community in which they took part. To study rates of decline in physical activity, only adolescents who reported an average of ≥5 moderate-vigorous physical activity sessions per week in grade 7 (n = 1028) were retained for analyses. They were categorised as to whether or not they were involved in organised physical activities in grade 7. We used generalized estimating equation Poisson regression to compare the rate of decline in number of moderate-vigorous physical activity sessions per week during adolescence between initially physically active students who participated in organised physical activity in grade 7 and those who did not.

Results

In grade 7, about 87% of physically active adolescents reported taking part in at least one organised physical activity. Compared to active adolescents not involved in organised physical activities, baseline involvement in physical activity was 42% (95% CI 26–59%) higher among those involved in organised physical activity (mean number of moderate-vigorous physical activity sessions per week = 14.6 ± 13.1 vs 10.4 ± 9.0). Physical activity declined by 8% per year in both groups. Results were similar in analyses that examined the effect of school or community-based physical activities separately.

Conclusion

Although participation in organised physical activities during early adolescence is associated with more physical activity throughout secondary school, participation in such activities does not protect against declines in physical activity over time.

Objectives To examine variations in the registration of extremely low birthweight and early gestation births and to assess their effect on perinatal and infant mortality rankings of industrialised countries.

Design Retrospective population based study.

Setting Australia, Canada, European countries, and the United States for 2004; Australia, Canada, and New Zealand for 2007.

Population National data on live births and on fetal, neonatal, and infant deaths.

Main outcome measures Reported proportions of live births with birth weight/gestational age of less than 500 g, less than 1000 g, less than 24 weeks, and less than 28 weeks; crude rates of fetal, neonatal, and infant mortality; mortality rates calculated after exclusion of births under 500 g, under 1000 g, less than 24 weeks, and less than 28 weeks.

Results The proportion of live births under 500 g varied widely from less than 1 per 10 000 live births in Belgium and Ireland to 10.8 per 10 000 live births in Canada and 16.9 in the United States. Neonatal deaths under 500 g, as a proportion of all neonatal deaths, also ranged from less than 1% in countries such as Luxembourg and Malta to 29.6% in Canada and 31.1% in the United States. Rankings of countries based on crude fetal, neonatal, and infant mortality rates differed substantially from rankings based on rates calculated after exclusion of births with a birth weight of less than 1000 g or a gestational age of less than 28 weeks.

Conclusions International differences in reported rates of extremely low birthweight and very early gestation births probably reflect variations in registration of births and compromise the validity of international rankings of perinatal and infant mortality.