Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess whether Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS) score could provide additional unique information to the Wexner score when assessing fecal incontinence (FI) in women with previous obstetric injury, thus providing a better foundation for treatment decisions.
Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study with intraindividual comparison of two scoring systems. Women with previous obstetric injury and diagnosed with FI between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, with valid LARS and Wexner scores were included. Statistical methods used were Spearman rank correlation, Kendall τ, scatterplot, and ratios.
Results: Seventy women were included. Correlation coefficients varied from 0.42 to 0.66 (Spearman rank correlation) and 0.44 to 0.51 (Kendall τ). Cohen κ values varied from 0.33 to 0.67. No strong association was seen in the correlation analyses or the scatterplot.
Conclusion: LARS score was shown to provide extra relevant information when assessing FI in women with previous obstetric injury. All symptoms should be considered relevant when assessing FI since it is a complex condition and should be approached accordingly. The authors suggest a combination of LARS and Wexner scores when assessing FI among women with previous obstetric injury.
Objective: To gain insight into the quality of care in facilities implementing the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) cash transfer program in Madhya Pradesh, India, by reviewing the level of documentation in the clinical records of women who delivered.
Methods: The present retrospective, descriptive study reviewed case records of women who delivered at 73 primary, secondary, and tertiary level facilities in three districts of Madhya Pradesh between 2012 and 2013. Twenty elements of care were assessed encompassing clinical history and admission details, care during delivery and postnatal period, and discharge details.
Results: A total of 1239 records were reviewed. The extent of documentation varied among the elements assessed-e.g. 24 (1.9%) records documented advice at discharge, 171 (13.8%) documented postnatal blood pressure, 437 (353%) documented fetal heart rate, and 1220 (98.5%) documented admission date. The extent of documentation was better at higher level facilities.
Conclusion: The quality of clinical documentation in the JSY program was found to be unacceptably poor in Madhya Pradesh. Improving staff skills and practices in clinical documentation and record keeping will be required to enable clinical processes to be assessed and quality of care to be improved. (C) 2015 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
OBJECTIVE: Factors contributing to the limited use of confidential inquiries into maternal deaths include the negative focus and demotivating effect of such inquiries, perceptions of unavailability of sufficient documentation of events, and lack of time and resources. To ascertain whether these problems can be overcome, variations to confidential inquiries into maternal deaths were introduced in Ghana and Indonesia.
METHODS: Clinical review panels were set up as part of the usual process of confidential inquiries, and modifications to the confidential inquiries were introduced. In Ghana, the traditional confidential inquiry process focusing on health facility care was modified to introduce the assessment of positive factors. In addition to the assessment of positive factors, adaptations in Indonesia consisted of including cases of obstetric complications, as well as deaths, and the use of interview testimonials as data sources. Information about resource and time needs for conducting confidential inquiries was collected.
RESULTS: The introduction of positive aspects to the process provided a balanced and more motivating setting for the inquiry. The data obtained from case notes in district hospitals and interview testimonials provided sufficient information to assess why maternal deaths and severe complications occurred. The costs of conducting the inquiries ranged from US $4000 to US $11000 (per study), and the estimated time required for a panel member to review each case was more than 3 hours.
CONCLUSION: This study introduced practical ways to encourage the implementation of maternal death reviews, inquiries, and audits that are context specific and, therefore, acceptable to local practitioners.
The prevention of fatal complications of childbirth is a priority of health care in the developing countries. This historical study of maternal deaths in Sweden analyses the decline in mortality between 1751-1900 and during this years maternal mortality was reduced by 76% whereas the female mortality dropped only by 33% The decline was especially pronounced during the period 1861-1900, when maternal mortality declined from 567 to 227 per 100,000 live births. The potential impact of medical technology was analysed by epidemiological methods for the period 1861-1900. The introduction of antiseptic technique was estimated to reduce septic maternal mortality 25-fold in lying-in hospitals and 2.7-fold in rural home deliveries, implying that 49% of the septic maternal deaths were thus "prevented". In addition, licensed midwives assisting at home deliveries were estimated to reduce non-septic mortality 5-fold, thus "preventing" 46% of the non-septic maternal deaths. This could be one explanation why Sweden had a lower maternal mortality than the U.S. and the U.K. in the beginning of the 20th century.
Objective: To investigate if multiparous individuals who had undergone a previous cesarean delivery experienced an increased risk of severe maternal outcomes or adverse perinatal outcomes compared with multiparous individuals who had undergone previous vaginal deliveries. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study at a university hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, enrolled multiparous participants of at least 28 weeks of pregnancy between February 1 and June 30, 2012. Data were collected from patients' medical records and the hospital's obstetric database. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (Cl) were calculated to compare outcomes among patients who had or had not undergone previous cesarean deliveries. Results: A total of 2478 patients were enrolled. A previous cesarean delivery resulted in no increase in the risk of severe maternal outcomes (OR0.86, 95% CI 0.58-1.26; P = 0.46), and decreased risk of stillbirth (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.29-0.62, P < 0.001), and intrapartum stillbirth and neonatal distress (OR 0.58, 95% CI 038-0.87, P = 0.007). Conclusion: Previous cesarean delivery was not a risk factor for severe maternal outcomes or adverse perinatal outcomes. The present study was conducted at a referral institution, where individuals with previous cesarean deliveries may constitute a healthy group. Additionally, there could be differences between the study groups in terms of healthcare-seeking behavior, referral mechanisms, intrapartum monitoring, and clinical decision making.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of a criteria‐based audit (CBA) of obstructed labor and fetal distress on cesarean delivery and perinatal outcomes.
Methods: A cross‐sectional study was performed at a tertiary referral hospital in Tanzania. Data were collected before and after CBA (January 2013–November 2013 and July 2015–June 2016). Outcomes of fetal distress (baseline CBA, n=248; re‐audit, n=251) and obstructed labor (baseline CBA, n=260; re‐audit n=250) were assessed using a checklist. Additionally, 27 960 parturients were assessed using the Robson classification.
Results: Perinatal morbidity and mortality decreased from 42 of 260 (16.2%) to 22 of 250 (8.8%) among patients with obstructed labor after CBA (P=0.012). Cesarean delivery rate decreased for referred term multiparas with induced labor or prelabor cesarean delivery (odds ratio [OR] 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09–0.82). Cesarean delivery rate for preterm pregnancies increased among both referred (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.02–1.63) and non‐referred (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.98–3.90) groups. Neonatal distress rate decreased for referred term multiparas (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.56–0.92), referred preterm pregnancies (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.25–0.39), and non‐referred preterm pregnancies (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.18–0.36).
Conclusion: Use of CBA reduced poor perinatal outcomes of obstructed labor and increased uptake of cesarean delivery.
Objective: To explore how being infected with the Zika virus during pregnancy was experienced by affected women, and how it influenced their family relationships and future family planning.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative study, including 19 semistructured interviews with women of reproductive age and confirmed Zika infection during 2015-2018 in Medellin, Colombia. Purposeful sampling was applied, and participants were identified through National Public Health Surveillance System records. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using content analysis with inductive and deductive approaches.
Results: Of 19 women interviewed, eight women identified the pregnancy as unexpected and two women had undergone permanent sterilization. Women had mixed views about decision-making related to family planning, and not having an abortion in a future pregnancy was influenced by religious beliefs. Women knew about vector-borne transmission but were not well informed about sexual transmission of the virus. Women desired better support and guidance to ease concerns about Zika virus.
Conclusion: All interviewed women expressed a need for more information about Zika virus and continuous support, specifically after delivery, from healthcare professionals. Communication strategies to enhance culturally sensitive messages and for accurate perception of information are recommended during Zika outbreaks.