Early labour experience and labour characteristics after introduction of an electronic early labour educational intervention.

OBJECTIVE: The study's aim was to compare first-time mothers' experience of early labour and subsequent labour characteristics before and after introducing an online early labour educational intervention. This article also reports on further testing of the underlying structure of the of the Early Labour Experience Questionnaire (ELEQ) in a Norwegian setting. METHODS: Pre- and post-intervention cohorts were recruited. The ELEQ was translated into Norwegian, back-translated and distributed among primiparous mothers whilst in hospital. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to evaluate model fit, and the internal consistency of the scale was measured by Cronbach's α coefficient. The relationship between cohorts and demographic characteristics were analysed using chi-square statistics and t-tests. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Swedish version of the ELEQ for primiparous women showed an acceptable fit. Neither the overall score nor the scores on the subscales for emotional well-being, emotional distress and perceptions of midwifery care differed significantly, but there was a significant difference between the groups on a few of the items. The cervix was significantly more dilated upon admission in the post-intervention group, and oxytocin use was significantly reduced. The number of telephone consultations increased significantly after the intervention was introduced. CONCLUSION: The intervention did not improve women's experience with early labour. However, women who received the intervention were admitted in more advanced labour and required less oxytocin. The increased number of telephone consultations may indicate that an online early labour educational programme cannot replace women's need to communicate directly with staff.

Nucleation status of Day 2 pre-implantation embryos, acquired by time-lapse imaging during IVF, is associated with live birth.

The primary purpose of this time-lapse data analysis was to identify the association between the nucleation status of a Day 2 preimplantation embryo and live births following in vitro fertilization (IVF). The retrospective data analysis was based on 2769 transferred embryos from 1966 treatment cycles and utilised only Known Implantation Data (KID) for live births. Nucleation errors (NE) such as micronucleation, binucleation, multinucleation and minor error groups, were annotated in the time-lapse images which were taken every 15 minutes for a minimum of 44 hours post insemination. Further, factors that may impact NE and the relationship of early morphological attributes and morphokinetic variables with NE occurrence were explored. The frequency of NE among the transferred embryos was 23.8%. The reversibility of NE evidenced by their presence at the two-cell stage, but absence at the four-cell stage was 89.6%. Embryos exhibiting nucleation errors at the two-cell stage had significantly lower live birth rates compared to embryos with no nucleation errors, constituting a significant predictor. A Generalized Additive Mixed Model was used to control for confounders and for controlling clustering effects from dual embryo transfers. Increased incidences of NE were observed with increasing age, with delayed occurrence of cell divisions and in oocytes inseminated with surgically retrieved spermatozoa. NE assessment and their impact on live birth provides valuable markers for early preimplantation embryo selection. In addition, the high incidence of reversibility of NE and their possible impact on live birth suggest that incorporating two-cell nuclear status annotations in embryo selection, alongside morphology and morphokinetics, is of value.

Development of and Experiences With an Informational Website on Early Labor: Qualitative User Involvement Study.

BACKGROUND: The period of regular contractions before 4 cm of cervical dilatation is often referred to as the latent phase or early labor. Women find it challenging to prepare for and cope with this phase of labor, and easily accessed web-based information from reliable sources may be useful in this preparation. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe the development of a Norwegian website, Latens.no, for people seeking information on early labor and to explore users' experiences with the website to increase its user-friendliness. METHODS: We developed a website using an iterative process involving a multidisciplinary research team, health personnel, users, a graphic designer, and an expert in software development. We explored the website's user-friendliness using semistructured individual interviews and the think-aloud method. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. We then analyzed the participants' feedback on the website. RESULTS: Participants included women who had recently given birth to their first baby (n=2), women who were pregnant with their first baby (n=4), and their partners (n=2). Results from participants' experiences completing tasks included positive feedback related to the content of Latens.no, positive feedback related to the website's design, and suggestions for improvement. Participants wanted to find information on early labor on the internet. Moreover, they found the information on the website relevant, trustworthy, and easy to read, and the design was attractive and easy to use. Overall, the participants performed the tasks easily, with few clicks and minimal effort. CONCLUSIONS: The think-aloud method, while performing tasks, allowed for detailed feedback. The participants confirmed the user-friendliness of the website but at the same time provided information enabling improvement. We expect that changes made based on this user-centered design study will further increase the usability and acceptability of Latens.no.

A qualitative study of Norwegian first-time mothers' information needs in pre-admission early labour.

OBJECTIVE: To explore women's experience with information, and their information needs in pre-admission early labour. DESIGN: A qualitative study with an exploratory and descriptive approach. SETTING: Five focus group interviews with women attending post-natal care at five different well-baby clinics in South-Eastern Norway in 2019. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen first-time mothers who had given birth to a baby 3-17 weeks prior to the focus group interview. All had experience of staying at home in early labour. FINDINGS: Three themes emerged from the analysis. The first and most substantial theme involved information. The women considered it necessary to have easy access to a suitable amount of trustworthy information at the appropriate time. The second theme described that the women were surprised at how early labour manifested, despite having prepared for it. The third theme was about receiving acknowledgement and support, revealing that information did not meet all woman's needs. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The women found it challenging to prepare for early labour, and no matter how prepared they felt beforehand, unexpected situations arose. Easily accessed online information from reliable sources was useful in early labour, but in order for women to feel safe at home, this should be complemented by telephone conversations with skilled and welcoming midwives in the labour ward. More knowledge about women's information needs in early labour is required, including studies exploring how the information should be provided to help women feel safe when staying at home in early labour.

Time-lapse imaging derived morphokinetic variables reveal association with implantation and live birth following in vitro fertilization: A retrospective study using data from transferred human embryos.

The purpose of this retrospective time-lapse data analysis from transferred preimplantation human embryos was to identify early morphokinetic cleavage variables that are related to implantation and live birth following in vitro fertilization (IVF). All embryos were monitored from fertilization check until embryo transfer for a minimum of 44 hours. The study was designed to assess the association between day 2 embryo morphokinetic variables with implantation and live birth based on Known Implantation Data (KID). The kinetic variables were subjected to quartile-based analysis. The predictive ability for implantation and live birth was studied using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. Three morphokinetic variables, time to 2-cells (t2), duration of second cell cycle (cc2) below one threshold and cc2 above another threshold had the highest predictive value with regards to implantation and live birth following IVF treatment. The predictive pre-transfer information has little divergence between fetal heartbeat and live birth data and therefore, at least for early morphokinetic variables up to the four-cell stage (t4), conclusions and models based on fetal heartbeat data can be expected to be valid for live birth datasets as well. The three above mentioned variables (t2, cc2 below one threshold and cc2 above another threshold) may supplement morphological evaluation in embryo selection and thereby improve the outcome of in vitro fertilization treatments.

Validation of Assisted Reproductive Technology in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway Versus the Norwegian Prescription Database.

BACKGROUND: Increasing attention has been given to the long-term effects of assisted reproductive technology (ART). This study assessed the validity and completeness of ART as registered in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) using drug prescription data from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD) as reference. METHODS: In this nationwide registry validation study, we included all pregnancies recorded in the MBRN between 2005 and 2017. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of the MBRN, using data from the NorPD as reference. We obtained the total percentage of ART pregnancies that could be identified (completeness) from both registries using the capture-recapture method. We analyzed subgroups by maternal age, gestational length, mode of ART treatment, health region, and mode of registration of ART (ART institution or birth notification form). RESULTS: Twenty-three thousand seven hundred eighteen of a total 765,789 pregnancies were registered as ART pregnancies through the MBRN and 20,807 as ART pregnancies through the NorPD. The sensitivity of the MBRN was 85.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 84.7, 85.6) and the PPV was 74.7% (74.1-75.2). Sensitivity declined with increasing maternal age: 71.5% (69.4-73.7) in the age group 40-44 years, and 40.7% (22.2-59.3) in the ages above 45 years. Completeness when combining data was 96.2% (96.0-96.5). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis shows that, when identifying women pregnant through ART, NorPD data complemented MBRN data to obtain a more complete count of all women giving birth after ART in Norway.

Cancer risk in mother and child after fertility treatment. / Kreftrisiko hos mor og barn etter fertilitetsbehandling.

BAKGRUNN: I Norge fødes nå om lag 2 500 barn årlig etter fertilitetsbehandling. Hvorvidt behandlingen er forbundet med økt kreftrisiko, er fremdeles usikkert. KUNNSKAPSGRUNNLAG: Oversikten inkluderer kohortstudier om kreftrisiko hos kvinner behandlet med fertilitetsbehandling og barn unnfanget etter slik behandling. Et systematisk søk etter artikler ble gjort i EMBASE og Medline for perioden 2006-17. RESULTATER: Resultatene viser ingen generell økning i kreft hos kvinner som har fått fertilitetsbehandling. Hos barn antyder resultatene en tendens til økt risiko for hematologisk kreft, men ingen generell økt kreftrisiko. FORTOLKNING: Det er ingen entydige funn av forhøyet risiko for kreft hos kvinner som har gjennomgått fertilitetsbehandling, eller hos barn unnfanget etter slik behandling. Oppfølgingstiden er foreløpig kort, og det er behov for store befolkningsbaserte kohortstudier med lengre oppfølgingsperioder.

Cancer Risk in Women Treated with Fertility Drugs According to Parity Status-A Registry-based Cohort Study.

Background: Long-term safety of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) is of interest as their use is increasing. Cancer risk is known to be affected by parity. This study examined the risk of cancer after fertility treatment, stratified by women's parity.Methods: Data were obtained from all women (n = 1,353,724) born in Norway between 1960 and 1996. Drug exposure data (2004-2014) were obtained from the Norwegian Prescription Database (drugs used in ART and clomiphene citrate). The Medical Birth Registry of Norway provided parity status. HRs were calculated for all site cancer, breast, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, colorectal, central nervous system, thyroid cancer, and malignant melanoma.Results: In 12,354,392 person-years of follow-up, 20,128 women were diagnosed with cancer. All-site cancer risk was 1.14 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.03-1.26] and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.98-1.23) after clomiphene citrate and ART exposure, respectively. For ovarian cancer, a stronger association was observed for both exposures in nulliparous (HR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.30-4.78; and HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 0.78-3.35) versus parous women (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.64-2.96; and HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.33-2.27). Elevated risk of endometrial cancers was observed for clomiphene citrate exposure in nulliparous women (HR, 4.49; 95% CI, 2.66-7.60 vs. HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 0.67-3.42). Risk was elevated for breast cancer in parous women exposed to clomiphene citrate (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.03-1.54) for thyroid cancer and among nulliparous women after ART treatment (HR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.08-4.44).Conclusions: Clomiphene citrate appears associated with increased risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer. Elevations in risks of breast and thyroid cancer were less consistent across type of drug exposure and parity.Impact: Continued monitoring of fertility treatments is warranted. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(6); 953-62. ©2017 AACR.

Risk of Cancer in Children Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: An increasing number of children are born after assisted reproductive technology (ART), and monitoring their long-term health effects is of interest. This study compares cancer risk in children conceived by ART to that in children conceived without. METHODS: The Medical Birth Registry of Norway contains individual information on all children born in Norway (including information of ART conceptions). All children born between 1984 and 2011 constituted the study cohort, and cancer data were obtained from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Follow-up started at date of birth and ended on the date of the first cancer diagnosis, death, emigration, or December 31, 2011. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of overall cancer risk between children conceived by ART and those not. Cancer risk was also assessed separately for all childhood cancer types. RESULTS: The study cohort comprised 1 628 658 children, of which 25 782 were conceived by ART. Of the total 4554 cancers, 51 occurred in ART-conceived children. Risk of overall cancer was not significantly elevated (HR 1.21; 95% CI 0.90-1.63). However, increased risk of leukemia was observed for children conceived by ART compared with those who were not (HR 1.67; 95% CI 1.02-2.73). Elevated risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma was also found for ART-conceived children (HR 3.63; 95% CI 1.12-11.72), although this was based on small numbers. CONCLUSIONS: This population-based cohort study found elevated risks of leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma in children conceived by ART.

Risk of breast cancer following fertility treatment--a registry based cohort study of parous women in Norway.

Despite increasing numbers of women availing themselves of assisted reproductive technology (ART), effects on cancer risk remain unresolved. Given hormonal exposures, breast cancer risk is of particular concern. The aim of this study is to investigate breast cancer risk amongst women giving birth following ART as compared to that amongst women who gave birth without ART. Data on all women who gave birth in Norway with or without ART, between 1984 and 2010 were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN). 808,834 women eligible for study were linked to the Cancer Registry of Norway. Cox proportional models computed hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of breast cancer between the two groups, adjusting for age, parity, age at first birth, calendar period and region of residence. In total, 8,037 women were diagnosed with breast cancer during the study period, 138 ART women and 7,899 unexposed. Total follow-up time was 12,401,121 person-years (median 16.0); median age at entry was 32.5 years (range 18.6-49.9) for ART women and 26.3 (range 10.5-54.6) for unexposed. Women exposed to ART had an elevated risk of breast cancer (adjusted HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.01-1.42). Subgroup analyses gave an HR of 1.30 (95% CI 1.07-1.57) for women treated with IVF and 1.35 (95 % CI 1.07-1.71) for women with follow-up >10 years, compared with controls. Our findings of increased risk in the study population warrant continued monitoring of women treated with ART as this population advances into more typical cancer age ranges.