[Induction of labour with oral misoprostol versus vaginal misoprostol: A before-after study]. / Induction du travail par misoprostol oral versus misoprostol vaginal : étude avant-après.

OBJECTIVE: The rate of induction of labor represented 22 % of deliveries in 2016 in France. Oral misoprostol (Angusta®) was marketed in France in the last quarter of 2018. The objective of our study was to compare the efficacy and safety of induction of labor with oral misoprostol compared to vaginal misoprostol in women with an unripe cervix. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study before and after the implementation of oral misoprostol including all women with an unripe cervix who benefited from an induction of labor with a viable infant in vertex presentation, without uterine scar. During the first two-year period, women received 50µg of misoprostol in the posterior fornix, repeated 6hours later if needed. If labor had not started after 24hours, women received another dose of 50µg, which was repeated every 4hours until labor was established, up to a total dose of 150µg. During the second two-year period, women received two tablets of oral misoprostol 25µg every four hours if necessary, up to a total dose of 200µg. The primary endpoints were mode of delivery and neonatal safety. RESULTS: During the two study periods, 1199 women received vaginal misoprostol and 1199 women received oral misoprostol including. The cesarean delivery rate was 21.8% during the first period and 21,3% during the second period (P=0.83). A 5-minutes Apgar score<7 was observed in 23 (1.9%) and 14 (1.2%) newborns in the vaginal misoprostol and oral misoprostol groups (P=0.14), respectively. An arterial cord pH<7.00 was observed in 6 (0.5%) and 7 (0.6%) newborns (P=0.99), respectively. CONCLUSION: Oral misoprostol administered at the dose of 50µg every 4hours (up to a total dose of 200µg) is as effective and safe as the vaginal misoprostol to induce labor in women with an unripe cervix.

[Cell-free DNA fraction: Can it be used to evaluate the risk of obstetrical issues?] / L'ADN fœtal libre circulant : un outil d'évaluation du risque de survenue de complications obstétricales ?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate if fetal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fraction circulating in maternal blood at the beginning of the second trimester is associated with obstetrical complications. METHODS: This is a retrospective unicentric study conducted at the hospital of Poissy Saint Germain between the 1st January 2015, and the 31st. December 2016, Each woman who had a genetic counseling in order to realize a non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) was included. Only singleton pregnancies with a documented-issue were analysed. The primary criteria was a composite criteria, defined as the occurrence of preeclampsia, in utero fetal growth, or a spontaneous preterm delivery. A descriptive analyse was first conducted, secondly completed by a sub-group one: "high fetal fraction" (>90th percentile) group, "low fetal-fraction" group (<10th percentile) and "medium fetal-fraction" (control group) group. RESULTS: A total of 417 women had a cfDNA test, which was performed at a mean gestational age of 17.1 weeks of gestation. A total of 17% of pregnancies met the primary criteria. Among them, there were 8 (1.9%) pre-eclampsia, 49 (11.8%) intra-uterine growth restriction and 14 (3.4%) preterm births. There was no significant difference for the occurrence of the primary criteria (P>0.99) and of each obstetrical complication between each group. CONCLUSION: Fetal cf-DNA fraction measured at the beginning of the second trimester is not associated with common obstetrical complications.

[Impact of organizational factors on the cesarean delivery occurrence in a low-risk population]. / Facteurs organisationnels associés à la réalisation d'une césarienne dans une population à bas risque.

OBJECTIVE: Huge differences in cesarean delivery rate exist between maternities in a same region. In recent years, the cesarean delivery rate has increased in the low-risk population. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of organizational factors on the cesarean delivery occurence in a low-risk population. METHODS: We performed a population-based cohort study in the MYPA perinatal network from 2009 to 2015. A low-risk population was selected, keeping only groups 1 and 3 of the Robson classification. The studied organizational factors included the structural characteristics of maternity (academic or not, public or private, number of annual births, maternal intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, number of delivery rooms) and the organization of the health care team (number of midwives and obstetricians, on call duty, workload and implementation of a morbi-mortality review). We used a logistic multilevel model, based on random center effect, for both univariable and multivariable analysis. RESULTS: Our study population included 64,100 women. The cesarean delivery rate ranged from 5.5 to 11.3 % among the 10 maternities. In univariate analysis, the organizational variables significantly associated with the cesarean delivery rate were maternity status (university hospital, non-university public hospital and private hospital) and the implementation of a morbi-mortality review. However, after adjustment, none of these organizational factors were significantly associated with the cesarean delivery occurence. When multivariate analysis was restricted to the nulliparous subgroup, the private status of maternity was significantly associated with a higher rate of cesarean deliveries (OR=1.39 [1.09-1.76]). Also, the probability of cesarean delivery was higher when the number of births by delivery room increased (OR=1.15 [1.01-1.31]). For the multiparous subgroup, no variable was significantly associated with cesarean delivery occurence. CONCLUSION: In our global low-risk population, no organizational factors appeared to be associated with an increase in cesarean delivery rate. On the other hand, in the low-risk nulliparous population, the private status of the maternity and a high number of births by delivery room were associated with more cesarean deliveries. Increasing the number of delivery rooms could be a way to reduce the number of cesarean deliveries. Future researches should also try to identify specific factors that can reduce differences in cesarean delivery rates between private and public maternities.