Educating Families on Urgent Maternal Warning Signs: Learning From a Pilot to Improve Training and Tools for Maternal and Child Home Visiting Programs.

Early recognition of the warning signs of pregnancy-related complications and provision of timely, quality care could prevent many maternal deaths. We piloted a maternal warning signs education intervention with five Maryland-based maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs serving populations disproportionately affected by adverse maternal outcomes. The intervention included a 1.5-hr online training for home visitors, monthly collaborative calls with program managers, and a client education toolkit with a 3-min video, illustrated handout of 15 urgent maternal warning signs, magnet with the same, and discussion guide for home visitor-client interactions. A mixed-methods formative evaluation assessed the acceptability, feasibility, and utilization of different components of the intervention. Home visiting program staff reported that the materials were highly acceptable and easily understood by diverse client populations. They valued the illustrations, simple language, and translation of materials in multiple languages. Program managers found implementation a relatively simple process, feasible for in-person and remote visits. Despite positive reception, not all components of the toolkit were used consistently. Program managers and staff also identified the need for more guidance and tools to help clients communicate with health care providers and advocate for their health care needs. Feedback from pilot sites was used to adapt the training and tools, including adding content on patient self-advocacy. Home visiting programs have a unique ability to engage families during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This pilot offers lessons learned on strategies and tools that home visiting programs can use to improve early recognition and care-seeking for urgent maternal warning signs.

Call to Action: Maternal Health and Saving Mothers: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association.

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause. Therefore, the American Heart Association has a unique role in advocating for efforts to improve maternal health and to enhance access to and delivery of care before, during, and after pregnancy. Several initiatives have shaped the time course of major milestones in advancing maternal and reproductive health equity in the United States. There have been significant strides in improving the timeliness of data reporting in maternal mortality surveillance and epidemiological programs in maternal and child health, yet more policy reforms are necessary. To make a sustainable and systemic impact on maternal health, further efforts are necessary at the societal, institutional, stakeholder, and regulatory levels to address the racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health, to effectively reduce inequities in care, and to mitigate maternal morbidity and mortality. In alignment with American Heart Association's mission "to be a relentless force for longer, healthier lives," this policy statement outlines the inequities that influence disparities in maternal outcomes and current policy approaches to improving maternal health and suggests additional potentially impactful actions to improve maternal outcomes and ultimately save mothers' lives.

Global, regional, and national estimates and trends in stillbirths from 2000 to 2019: a systematic assessment.

BACKGROUND: Stillbirths are a major public health issue and a sensitive marker of the quality of care around pregnancy and birth. The UN Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (2016-30) and the Every Newborn Action Plan (led by UNICEF and WHO) call for an end to preventable stillbirths. A first step to prevent stillbirths is obtaining standardised measurement of stillbirth rates across countries. We estimated stillbirth rates and their trends for 195 countries from 2000 to 2019 and assessed progress over time. METHODS: For a systematic assessment, we created a dataset of 2833 country-year datapoints from 171 countries relevant to stillbirth rates, including data from registration and health information systems, household-based surveys, and population-based studies. After data quality assessment and exclusions, we used 1531 datapoints to estimate country-specific stillbirth rates for 195 countries from 2000 to 2019 using a Bayesian hierarchical temporal sparse regression model, according to a definition of stillbirth of at least 28 weeks' gestational age. Our model combined covariates with a temporal smoothing process such that estimates were informed by data for country-periods with high quality data, while being based on covariates for country-periods with little or no data on stillbirth rates. Bias and additional uncertainty associated with observations based on alternative stillbirth definitions and source types, and observations that were subject to non-sampling errors, were included in the model. We compared the estimated stillbirth rates and trends to previously reported mortality estimates in children younger than 5 years. FINDINGS: Globally in 2019, an estimated 2·0 million babies (90% uncertainty interval [UI] 1·9-2·2) were stillborn at 28 weeks or more of gestation, with a global stillbirth rate of 13·9 stillbirths (90% UI 13·5-15·4) per 1000 total births. Stillbirth rates in 2019 varied widely across regions, from 22·8 stillbirths (19·8-27·7) per 1000 total births in west and central Africa to 2·9 (2·7-3·0) in western Europe. After west and central Africa, eastern and southern Africa and south Asia had the second and third highest stillbirth rates in 2019. The global annual rate of reduction in stillbirth rate was estimated at 2·3% (90% UI 1·7-2·7) from 2000 to 2019, which was lower than the 2·9% (2·5-3·2) annual rate of reduction in neonatal mortality rate (for neonates aged <28 days) and the 4·3% (3·8-4·7) annual rate of reduction in mortality rate among children aged 1-59 months during the same period. Based on the lower bound of the 90% UIs, 114 countries had an estimated decrease in stillbirth rate since 2000, with four countries having a decrease of at least 50·0%, 28 having a decrease of 25·0-49·9%, 50 having a decrease of 10·0-24·9%, and 32 having a decrease of less than 10·0%. For the remaining 81 countries, we found no decrease in stillbirth rate since 2000. Of these countries, 34 were in sub-Saharan Africa, 16 were in east Asia and the Pacific, and 15 were in Latin America and the Caribbean. INTERPRETATION: Progress in reducing the rate of stillbirths has been slow compared with decreases in the mortality rate of children younger than 5 years. Accelerated improvements are most needed in the regions and countries with high stillbirth rates, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Future prevention of stillbirths needs increased efforts to raise public awareness, improve data collection, assess progress, and understand public health priorities locally, all of which require investment. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Levels, Trends, and Risk Factors for Stillbirths in the United States: 2000-2017.

OBJECTIVE: This study documents 2000 to 2017 trends in stillbirth rates and changes in associations between known maternal and fetal risk factors and stillbirths for 2000 to 2002 versus 2015 to 2017 in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective, population-based analysis of stillbirths and live-births using national vital statistics data. We calculated annual stillbirth rates overall and by gestational age; and examined stillbirth rates by maternal age, race-ethnicity, and state for 2000 to 2002 versus 2015 to 2017. We used Chi-squared tests to examine associations between maternal and fetal risk factors separately for early (20-27 weeks) and late (28+ weeks) stillbirths compared with live-births for 2000 to 2002 versus 2015 to 2017. RESULTS: Stillbirth rates declined by 7.5% (p < 0.001) during 2000 to 2006 but remained flat at approximately 6 stillbirths per 1,000 births thereafter. Throughout 2000 to 2017, there were significant improvements in stillbirth rates at 39+ weeks nationally (p < 0.001), but rates varied greatly between and within states. Sociodemographic (advanced maternal age, Black race, low education, unmarried status, and rural residence), obstetric, and other medical factors (>3 births, use of infertility treatment, maternal obesity, diabetes, chronic hypertension, eclampsia, no prenatal care, and tobacco use) were significantly more prevalent in women with late than early stillbirths or live births. Notably, late and total stillbirth rates were approximately 30% higher for women >35 years than for women <35 years and twice as high for non-Hispanic Black than non-Hispanic White women; American Indian/Alaska Native women represented the only racial-ethnic group with significantly higher late stillbirth rates in 2015 to 2017 than in 2000 to 2002. Pregnancy and fetal factors (multiple pregnancy, male fetus, and breech presentation) were more prevalent in women with early than late stillbirths or live births. CONCLUSION: U.S. stillbirth rates have plateaued since 2006. There are persistent differential risk profiles for early versus late stillbirths which can inform stillbirth prevention strategies (e.g., close observation of women with risk factors for stillbirth) and new research into the causes of stillbirths by gestational age. KEY POINTS: · U.S. stillbirth rates have plateaued since 2006.. · Stillbirth rates vary between and within U.S. states and by maternal and fetal factors.. · Early versus late stillbirths have different risk profiles which can guide stillbirth prevention strategies..

Approaches to motivate physicians and nurses in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review.

Poor health worker motivation, and the resultant shortages and geographic imbalances of providers, impedes the provision of quality care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This systematic review summarizes the evidence on interventions used to motivate health workers in LMICs. A standardized keyword search strategy was employed across five databases from September 2007 -September 2017. Studies had to meet the following criteria: original study; doctors and/or nurses as target population for intervention(s); work motivation as study outcome; study design with clearly defined comparison group; categorized as either a supervision, compensation, systems support, or lifelong learning intervention; and conducted in a LMIC setting. Two independent reviewers screened 3845 titles and abstracts and, subsequently, reviewed 269 full articles. Seven studies were retained from China (n = 1), Ghana (n = 2), Iran (n = 1), Mozambique (n = 1), and Zambia (n = 2). Study data and risk of bias were extracted using a standardized form. Though work motivation was the primary study outcome, four studies did not provide an outcome definition and five studies did not describe use of a theoretical framework in the ascertainment. Four studies used a randomized trial-group design, one used a non-randomized trial-group design, one used a cross-sectional design, and one used a pretest-posttest design. All three studies that found a significant positive effect on motivational outcomes had a supervision component. Of the three studies that found no effects on motivation, two were primarily compensation interventions and the third was a systems support intervention. One study found a significant negative effect of a compensation intervention on health worker motivation. In conducting this systematic review, we found there is limited evidence on successful interventions to motivate health workers in LMICs. True effects on select categories of health workers may have been obscured given that studies included health workers with a wide range of social and professional characteristics. Robust studies that use validated and culturally appropriate tools to assess worker motivation are greatly needed in the Sustainable Development Goals era.

Value and disvalue of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates in the United States-impact on newly released 2018 maternal mortality data.

Maternal mortality is a sentinel health indicator. To improve the identification of maternal deaths, a pregnancy question was added during the 2003 revision of the US standard death certificate. Its adoption across all states in the United States took 16 years (2003-2018), and therefore the National Center for Health Statistics did not provide the national maternal mortality rate between 2007 and 2018. During this time, researchers raised questions about the accuracy of the checkbox information, particularly regarding its contribution to overreporting of maternal deaths in the United States. Checkbox errors were especially evident for women aged >40 years and for nonspecific causes of death. In January 2020, the NCHS resumed the reporting of maternal mortality data and provided the 2018 figures using a new coding method (ie, the 2018 method). Despite internal analyses suggesting the presence of both high false positive and high false negative pregnancy checkbox errors, the National Center for Health Statistics reported identification of 658 maternal deaths nationwide and a maternal mortality rate of 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births for 2018. The 2018 coding method restricts the entry of checkbox information to decedents aged 10-44 years; the information cannot, therefore, be entered for women aged >45 years when no pregnancy-related cause of death information is indicated on the death certificate. Reported deaths with a pregnancy or obstetrical condition entered in the cause of death section of the death certificate continue to be coded as maternal deaths regardless of age. The 2018 method likely corrects errors introduced by the use of the checkbox for women aged >45 years, but whether it provides accurate maternal mortality figures remains unknown. We call for efforts to urgently and systematically validate the pregnancy checkbox information. Post hoc coding adjustments cannot substitute for providing accurate and actionable maternal mortality data.

Assessing the Burden of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Validation of ICD-9-CM Data, Florida, 2010-2011.

CONTEXT: On October 1, 2015, the United States transitioned from using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) to ICD-10-CM. Continuing to monitor the burden of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after the transition presently requires use of data dependent on ICD-9-CM coding to enable trend analyses. Little has been published on the validation of using ICD-9-CM codes to identify NAS cases. OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of hospital discharge data (HDD) from selected Florida hospitals for passive NAS surveillance, based on ICD-9-CM codes, which are used to quantify baseline prevalence of NAS. DESIGN: We reviewed infant and maternal data for all births at 3 Florida hospitals from 2010 to 2011. Potential NAS cases included infants with ICD-9-CM discharge codes 779.5 and/or 760.72 in linked administrative data (ie, HDD linked to vital records) or in unlinked HDD and infants identified through review of neonatal intensive care unit admission logs or inpatient pharmacy records. Confirmed infant cases met 3 clinician-proposed criteria. Sensitivity and positive predictive value were calculated to assess validity for the 2 ICD-9-CM codes, individually and combined. RESULTS: Of 157 confirmed cases, 134 with 779.5 and/or 760.72 codes were captured in linked HDD (sensitivity = 85.4%) and 151 in unlinked HDD (sensitivity = 96.2%). Positive predictive value was 74.9% for linked HDD and 75.5% for unlinked HDD. For either HDD types, the single 779.5 code had the highest positive predictive value (86%), lowest number of false positives, and good to excellent sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Passive surveillance using ICD-9-CM code 779.5 in either linked or unlinked HDD identified NAS cases with reasonable validity. Our work supports the use of ICD-9-CM code 779.5 to assess the baseline prevalence of NAS through 2015.

Maternal Mortality in the United States: A Review of Contemporary Data and Their Limitations.

This article provides a review of maternal mortality data and their limitations in the United States. National maternal mortality data, which rely heavily on vital statistics, document that the risk of death from pregnancy-related causes has not declined for >25 years and that striking racial disparities persist. State-based maternal mortality reviews, functional in many states, obtain detailed information on medical and nonmedical factors contributing to maternal deaths. Without this detailed knowledge from state-level data and without addressing recognized quality problems with vital statistics data at the national-level, we will have difficulty understanding maternal death trends and preventing future such deaths.

Is quality of care a key predictor of perinatal health care utilization and patient satisfaction in Malawi?

BACKGROUND: The Malawi government encourages early antenatal care, delivery in health facilities, and timely postnatal care. Efforts to sustain or increase current levels of perinatal service utilization may not achieve desired gains if the quality of care provided is neglected. This study examined predictors of perinatal service utilization and patients' satisfaction with these services with a focus on quality of care. METHODS: We used baseline, two-stage cluster sampling household survey data collected between November and December, 2012 before implementation of CARE's Community Score Card© intervention in Ntcheu district, Malawi. Women with a birth during the last year (N = 1301) were asked about seeking: 1) family planning, 2) antenatal, 3) delivery, and 4) postnatal care; the quality of care received; and their overall satisfaction with the care received. Specific quality of care items were assessed for each type of service, and up to five such items per type of service were used in analyses. Separate logistic regression models were fitted to examine predictors of family planning, antenatal, delivery, and postnatal service utilization and of complete satisfaction with each of these services; all models were adjusted for women's socio-demographic characteristics, perceptions of the closest facility to their homes, service use indicators, and quality of care items. RESULTS: We found higher levels of perinatal service use than previously documented in Malawi (baseline antenatal care 99.4%; skilled birth attendance 97.3%; postnatal care 77.5%; current family planning use 52.8%). Almost 73% of quality of perinatal care items assessed were favorably reported by > 90% of women. Women reported high overall satisfaction (≥85%) with all types of services examined, higher for antenatal and postnatal care than for family planning and delivery care. We found significant associations between perceived and actual quality of care and both women's use and satisfaction with the perinatal health services received. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of care is a key predictor of perinatal health service utilization and complete patient satisfaction with such services in Malawi. The current heightened attention toward perinatal health services and outcomes should be coupled with efforts to improve the actual quality of care offered to women in this country.

Antepartum complications and perinatal mortality in rural Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Despite impressive improvements in maternal survival throughout the world, rates of antepartum complications remain high. These conditions also contribute to high rates of perinatal deaths, which include stillbirths and early neonatal deaths, but the extent is not well studied. This study examines patterns of antepartum complications and the risk of perinatal deaths associated with such complications in rural Bangladesh. METHODS: We used data on self-reported antepartum complications during the last pregnancy and corresponding pregnancy outcomes from a household survey (N = 6,285 women) conducted in Sylhet district, Bangladesh in 2006. We created three binary outcome variables (stillbirths, early neonatal deaths, and perinatal deaths) and three binary exposure variables indicating antepartum complications, which were antepartum hemorrhage (APH), probable infection (PI), and probable pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). We then examined patterns of antepartum complications and calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) to estimate the associated risks of perinatal mortality using Poisson regression analyses. We calculated population attributable fraction (PAF) for the three antepartum complications to estimate potential risk reductions of perinatal mortality associated them. RESULTS: We identified 356 perinatal deaths (195 stillbirths and 161 early neonatal deaths). The highest risk of perinatal death was associated with APH (IRR = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.4-4.9 for perinatal deaths; IRR = 3.7, 95% CI 2.3-5.9 for stillbirths; IRR = 3.5, 95% CI 2.0-6.1 for early neonatal deaths). Pregnancy-induced hypertension was a significant risk factor for stillbirths (IRR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.5), while PI was a significant risk factor for early neonatal deaths (IRR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.2). Population attributable fraction of APH and PIH were 6.8% and 10.4% for perinatal mortality and 7.5% and 14.7% for stillbirths respectively. Population attributable fraction of early neonatal mortality due to APH was 6.2% and for PI was 7.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying antepartum complications and ensuring access to adequate care for those complications are one of the key strategies in reducing perinatal mortality in settings where most deliveries occur at home.

The role of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment in the perinatal period.

Substance use during pregnancy is at least as common as many of the medical conditions screened for and managed during pregnancy. While harmful and costly, it is often ignored or managed poorly. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment is an evidence-based approach to manage substance use. In September 2012, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an Expert Meeting on Perinatal Illicit Drug Abuse to help address key issues around drug use in pregnancy in the United States. This article reflects the formal conclusions of the expert panel that discussed the use of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment during pregnancy. Screening for substance use during pregnancy should be universal. It allows stratification of women into zones of risk given their pattern of use. Low-risk women should receive brief advice, those classified as moderate risk should receive a brief intervention, whereas those who are high risk need referral to specialty care. A brief intervention is a patient-centered form of counseling using the principles of motivational interviewing. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment has the potential to reduce the burden of substance use in pregnancy and should be integrated into prenatal care.

The Validity of Discharge Billing Codes Reflecting Severe Maternal Morbidity.

BACKGROUND: Discharge diagnoses are used to track national trends and patterns of maternal morbidity. There are few data regarding the validity of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes used for this purpose. The goal of our study was to try to better understand the validity of administrative data being used to monitor and assess trends in morbidity. METHODS: Hospital stay billing records were queried to identify all delivery admissions at the Massachusetts General Hospital for the time period 2001 to 2011 and the University of Michigan Health System for the time period 2005 to 2011. From this, we identified patients with ICD-9-Clinical Modification (CM) diagnosis and procedure codes indicative of severe maternal morbidity. Each patient was classified with 1 of 18 different medical/obstetric categories (conditions or procedures) based on the ICD-9-CM code that was recorded. Within each category, 20 patients from each institution were selected at random, and the corresponding medical charts were reviewed to determine whether the ICD-9-CM code was assigned correctly. The percentage of correct codes for each of 18 preselected clinical categories was calculated yielding a positive predictive value (PPV) and 99% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The overall number of correctly assigned ICD-9-CM codes, or PPV, was 218 of 255 (86%; CI, 79%-90%) and 154 of 188 (82%; CI, 74%-88%) at Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Michigan Health System, respectively (combined PPV, 372/443 [84%; CI, 79-88%]). Codes within 4 categories (Hysterectomy, Pulmonary edema, Disorders of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance, and Sepsis) had a 99% lower confidence limit ≥75%. Codes within 8 additional categories demonstrated a 99% lower confidence limit between 74% and 50% (Acute respiratory distress, Ventilation, Other complications of obstetric surgery, Disorders of coagulation, Cardiomonitoring, Acute renal failure, Thromboembolism, and Shock). Codes within 6 clinical categories demonstrated a 99% lower confidence limit <50% (Puerperal cerebrovascular disorders, Conversion of cardiac rhythm, Acute heart failure [includes arrest and fibrillation], Eclampsia, Neurotrauma, and Severe anesthesia complications). CONCLUSIONS: ICD-9-CM codes capturing severe maternal morbidity during delivery hospitalization demonstrate a range of PPVs. The PPV was high when objective supportive evidence, such as laboratory values or procedure documentation supported the ICD-9-CM code. The PPV was low when greater judgment, interpretation, and synthesis of the clinical data (signs and symptoms) was required to support a code, such as with the category Severe anesthesia complications. As a result, these codes should be used for administrative research with more caution compared with codes primarily defined by objective data.

Maternal outcomes of term breech presentation delivery: impact of successful external cephalic version in a nationwide sample of delivery admissions in the United States.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to define the frequency and predictors of successful external cephalic version in a nationally-representative cohort of women with breech presentations and to compare maternal outcomes associated with successful external cephalic version versus persistent breech presentation. METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a United States healthcare utilization database, we identified delivery admissions between 1998 and 2011 for women who had successful external cephalic version or persistent breech presentation (including unsuccessful or no external cephalic version attempt) at term. Multivariable logistic regression identified patient and hospital-level factors associated with successful external cephalic version. Maternal outcomes were compared between women who had successful external cephalic version versus persistent breech. RESULTS: Our study cohort comprised 1,079,576 delivery admissions with breech presentation; 56,409 (5.2 %) women underwent successful external cephalic version and 1,023,167 (94.8 %) women had persistent breech presentation at the time of delivery. The rate of cesarean delivery was lower among women who had successful external cephalic version compared to those with persistent breech (20.2 % vs. 94.9 %; p < 0.001). Compared to women with persistent breech at the time of delivery, women with successful external cephalic version were also less likely to experience several measures of significant maternal morbidity including endometritis (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 0.36, 95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 0.24-0.52), sepsis (aOR = 0.35, 95 % CI 0.24-0.51) and length of stay > 7 days (aOR = 0.53, 95 % CI 0.40-0.70), but had a higher risk of chorioamnionitis (aOR = 1.83, 95 % CI 1.54-2.17). CONCLUSIONS: Overall a low proportion of women with breech presentation undergo successful external cephalic version, and it is associated with significant reduction in the frequency of cesarean delivery and a number of measures of maternal morbidity. Increased external cephalic version use may be an important approach to mitigate the high rate of cesarean delivery observed in the United States.

Prevalence of Elevated Blood Lead Levels and Risk Factors Among Residents Younger Than 6 Years, Puerto Rico--2010.

CONTEXT: Limited data exist about blood lead levels (BLLs) and potential exposures among children living in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Department of Health has no formal blood lead surveillance program. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the prevalence of elevated BLLs (≥5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood), evaluated household environmental lead levels, and risk factors for BLL among children younger than 6 years of age living in Puerto Rico in 2010. METHODS: We used a population-based, cross-sectional sampling strategy to enroll an island-representative sample of Puerto Rican children younger than 6 years. We estimated the island-wide weighted prevalence of elevated BLLs and conducted bivariable and multivariable linear regression analyses to ascertain risk factors for elevated BLLs. RESULTS: The analytic data set included 355 households and 439 children younger than 6 years throughout Puerto Rico. The weighted geometric mean BLL of children younger than 6 years was 1.57 µg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27-1.88). The weighted prevalence of children younger than 6 years with BLLs of 5 µg/dL or more was 3.18% (95% CI, 0.93-5.43) and for BLLs of 10 µg/dL or more was 0.50% (95% CI, 0-1.31). Higher mean BLLs were significantly associated with data collection during the summer months, a lead-related activity or hobby of anyone in the residence, and maternal education of less than 12 years. Few environmental lead hazards were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of elevated BLLs among Puerto Rican children younger than 6 years is comparable with the most recent (2007-2010) US national estimate (BLLs ≥5 µg/dL = 2.6% [95% CI = 1.6-4.0]). Our findings suggest that targeted screening of specific higher-risk groups of children younger than 6 years can replace island-wide or insurance-specific policies of mandatory blood lead testing in Puerto Rico.

Morbidity associated with cesarean delivery in the United States: is placenta accreta an increasingly important contributor?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine cesarean delivery morbidity and its predictors in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We used 2000-2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample data to identify cesarean deliveries and records with 12 potential cesarean delivery complications, including placenta accreta. We estimated cesarean delivery morbidity rates and rate changes from 2000-2011, and fitted Poisson regression models to assess the relative incidence of morbidity among repeat vs primary cesarean deliveries and explore its predictors. RESULTS: From 2000-2011, 76 in 1000 cesarean deliveries (97 in 1000 primary and 48 in 1000 repeat cesarean deliveries) were accompanied by ≥1 of 12 complications. The unadjusted composite cesarean delivery morbidity rate increased by 3.6% only among women with a primary cesarean delivery (P < .001); the unadjusted rate of placenta accreta increased by 30.8% only among women with a repeat cesarean deliveries (P = .025). The adjusted rate of overall composite cesarean delivery morbidity decreased by 1% annually from 2000-2011 (P < .001). Compared with women with a primary cesarean delivery, those women who underwent a repeat cesarean delivery were one-half as likely (incidence rate ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.49-0.50) to experience a complication, but 2.13 (95% CI, 1.98-2.29) times more likely to have a placenta accreta diagnosis. Both cesarean delivery morbidity and placenta accreta were positively associated with age >30 years, non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity, the presence of a chronic medical condition, and delivery in urban, teaching, or larger hospitals. CONCLUSION: Overall, cesarean delivery morbidity declined modestly from 2000-2011, but placenta accreta became an increasingly important contributor to repeat cesarean delivery morbidity. Clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for abnormal placentation and make adequate preparations for patients who need cesarean deliveries.

Prevalence and patterns of marijuana use among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to provide national prevalence, patterns, and correlates of marijuana use in the past month and past 2-12 months among women of reproductive age by pregnancy status. STUDY DESIGN: Data from 2007-2012 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, a cross-sectional nationally representative survey, identified pregnant (n = 4971) and nonpregnant (n = 88,402) women 18-44 years of age. Women self-reported marijuana use in the past month and past 2-12 months (use in the past year but not in the past month). χ(2) statistics and adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using a weighting variable to account for the complex survey design and probability of sampling. RESULTS: Among pregnant women and nonpregnant women, respectively, 3.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.2-4.7) and 7.6% (95% CI, 7.3-7.9) used marijuana in the past month and 7.0% (95% CI, 6.0-8.2) and 6.4% (95% CI, 6.2-6.6) used in the past 2-12 months. Among past-year marijuana users (n = 17,934), use almost daily was reported by 16.2% of pregnant and 12.8% of nonpregnant women; and 18.1% of pregnant and 11.4% of nonpregnant women met criteria for abuse and/or dependence. Approximately 70% of both pregnant and nonpregnant women believe there is slight or no risk of harm from using marijuana once or twice a week. Smokers of tobacco, alcohol users, and other illicit drug users were 2-3 times more likely to use marijuana in the past year than respective nonusers, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. CONCLUSION: More than 1 in 10 pregnant and nonpregnant women reported using marijuana in the past 12 months. A considerable percentage of women who used marijuana in the past year were daily users, met abuse and/or dependence criteria, and were polysubstance users. Comprehensive screening, treatment for use of multiple substances, and additional research and patient education on the possible harms of marijuana use are needed for all women of reproductive age.

Infant and maternal characteristics in neonatal abstinence syndrome--selected hospitals in Florida, 2010-2011.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a constellation of physiologic and neurobehavioral signs exhibited by newborns exposed to addictive prescription or illicit drugs taken by a mother during pregnancy. The number of hospital discharges of newborns diagnosed with NAS has increased more than 10-fold (from 0.4 to 4.4 discharges per 1,000 live births) in Florida since 1995, far exceeding the three-fold increase observed nationally. In February 2014, the Florida Department of Health requested the assistance of CDC to 1) assess the accuracy and validity of using Florida's hospital inpatient discharge data, linked to birth and infant death certificates, as a means of NAS surveillance and 2) describe the characteristics of infants with NAS and their mothers. This report focuses only on objective two, describing maternal and infant characteristics in the 242 confirmed NAS cases identified in three Florida hospitals during a 2-year period (2010-2011). Infants with NAS experienced serious medical complications, with 97.1% being admitted to an intensive care unit, and had prolonged hospital stays, with a mean duration of 26.1 days. The findings of this investigation underscore the important public health problem of NAS and add to current knowledge on the characteristics of these mothers and infants. Effective June 2014, NAS is now a mandatory reportable condition in Florida. Interventions are also needed to 1) increase the number and use of community resources available to drug-abusing and drug-dependent women of reproductive age, 2) improve drug addiction counseling and rehabilitation referral and documentation policies, and 3) link women to these resources before or earlier in pregnancy.

Ectopic pregnancy among American Indian and Alaska Native women, 2002-2009.

To examine rates of ectopic pregnancy (EP) among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women aged 15-44 years seeking care at Indian Health Service (IHS), Tribal, and urban Indian health facilities during 2002-2009. We used 2002-2009 inpatient and outpatient data from the IHS National Patient Information Reporting System to identify EP-associated visits and obtain the number of pregnancies among AI/AN women. Repeat visits for the same EP were determined by calculating the interval between visits; if more than 90 days between visits, the visit was considered related to a new EP. We identified 229,986 pregnancies among AI/AN women 15-44 years receiving care at IHS-affiliated facilities during 2002-2009. Of these, 2,406 (1.05 %) were coded as EPs, corresponding to an average annual rate of 10.5 per 1,000 pregnancies. The EP rate among AI/AN women was lowest in the 15-19 years age group (5.5 EPs per 1,000 pregnancies) and highest among 35-39 year olds (18.7 EPs per 1,000 pregnancies). EP rates varied by geographic region, ranging between 6.9 and 24.4 per 1,000 pregnancies in the Northern Plains East and the East region, respectively. The percentage of ectopic pregnancies found among AI/AN women is within the national 1-2 % range. We found relatively stable annual rates of EP among AI/AN women receiving care at IHS-affiliated facilities during 2002-2009, but considerable variation by age group and geographic region. Coupling timely diagnosis and management with public health interventions focused on tobacco use and sexually transmitted diseases may provide opportunities for reducing EP and EP-associated complications among AI/AN women.