Medication for Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy - Maternal and Infant Network to Understand Outcomes Associated with Use of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy (MAT-LINK), 2014-2021.

Problem: Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is recommended for persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy. However, knowledge gaps exist about best practices for management of OUD during pregnancy and these data are needed to guide clinical care. Period Covered: 2014-2021. Description of the System: Established in 2019, the Maternal and Infant Network to Understand Outcomes Associated with Medication for Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy (MAT-LINK) is a surveillance network of seven clinical sites in the United States. Boston Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, The Ohio State University, and the University of Utah were the initial clinical sites in 2019. In 2021, three clinical sites were added to the network (the University of New Mexico, the University of Rochester, and the University of South Florida). Persons receiving care at the seven clinical sites are diverse in terms of geography, urbanicity, race and ethnicity, insurance coverage, and type of MOUD received. The goal of MAT-LINK is to capture demographic and clinical information about persons with OUD during pregnancy to better understand the effect of MOUD on outcomes and, ultimately, provide information for clinical care and public health interventions for this population. MAT-LINK maintains strict confidentiality through robust information technology architecture. MAT-LINK surveillance methods, population characteristics, and evaluation findings are described in this inaugural surveillance report. This report is the first to describe the system, presenting detailed information on funding, structure, data elements, and methods as well as findings from a surveillance evaluation. The findings presented in this report are limited to selected demographic characteristics of pregnant persons overall and by MOUD treatment status. Clinical and outcome data are not included because data collection and cleaning have not been completed; initial analyses of clinical and outcome data will begin in 2023. Results: The MAT-LINK surveillance network gathered data on 5,541 reported pregnancies with a known pregnancy outcome during 2014-2021 among persons with OUD from seven clinical sites. The mean maternal age was 29.7 (SD = ±5.1) years. By race and ethnicity, 86.3% of pregnant persons were identified as White, 25.4% as Hispanic or Latino, and 5.8% as Black or African American. Among pregnant persons, 81.6% had public insurance, and 84.4% lived in urban areas. Compared with persons not receiving MOUD during pregnancy, those receiving MOUD during pregnancy were more likely to be older and White and to have public insurance. The evaluation of the surveillance system found that the initial four clinical sites were not representative of demographics of the South or Southwest regions of the United States and had low representation from certain racial and ethnic groups compared with the overall U.S. population; however, the addition of three clinical sites in 2021 made the surveillance network more representative. Automated extraction and processing improved the speed of data collection and analysis. The ability to add new clinical sites and variables demonstrated the flexibility of MAT-LINK. Interpretation: MAT-LINK is the first surveillance system to collect comprehensive, longitudinal data on pregnant person-infant dyads with perinatal outcomes associated with MOUD during pregnancy from multiple clinical sites. Analyses of clinical site data demonstrated different sociodemographic characteristics between the MOUD and non-MOUD treatment groups. Public Health Actions: MAT-LINK is a timely and flexible surveillance system with data on approximately 5,500 pregnancies. Ongoing data collection and analyses of these data will provide information to support clinical and public health guidance to improve health outcomes among pregnant persons with OUD and their children.

Interrupted versus continuous magnesium sulfate and blood loss at cesarean delivery.

OBJECTIVE: Magnesium sulfate is standard of care for prevention of eclampsia in women with preeclampsia with severe features. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology endorses its use throughout labor, delivery and the immediate postpartum period. Some providers pause magnesium sulfate infusion preoperatively due to concern for increased risk of uterine atony and postpartum hemorrhage. Using a non-inferiority analysis, we investigated the effect of interrupted versus continuous infusion of magnesium sulfate on postpartum hemorrhage in women with preeclampsia with severe features undergoing cesarean delivery. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective non-inferiority cohort study of women with preeclampsia with severe features treated with magnesium sulfate undergoing cesarean delivery with singleton pregnancies at tertiary care hospital from 2013 to 2018. The primary outcome was postpartum hemorrhage. Secondary outcomes included estimated blood loss, change in hematocrit and a composite of postpartum hemorrhage severity, including transfusion of blood products, use of more than one uterotonic and additional surgical interventions. RESULTS: Of 249 women, magnesium sulfate infusion was interrupted in 171 (69%) and continued in 78 (31%). Women with interrupted magnesium sulfate infusion were more likely to be Caucasian (73% vs 67%, p = .024), have chronic hypertension (23% vs 1%, p < .001), labor prior to cesarean delivery (84% vs 55%, p < .001), undergo primary cesarean delivery (86% vs 67%, p = .005), and experience shorter surgical time (50 vs 55 min, p = .026). The rate of postpartum hemorrhage for those receiving interrupted magnesium sulfate infusion (9.9%) and continuous magnesium sulfate infusion (10.2%) was similar, falling within the non-inferiority margin (absolute difference 0.3%, 95% CI -7.8 to 8.4%, p = .88). There were no significant differences in the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSION: Interrupted magnesium sulfate infusion is non-inferior to continued magnesium sulfate infusion for rates of postpartum hemorrhage in women with preeclampsia with severe features undergoing cesarean delivery.

The Hard Work of Improving Outcomes for Mothers and Babies: Obstetric and Perinatal Quality Improvement Initiatives Make a Difference at the Hospital, State, and National Levels.

Quality improvement efforts are an increasingly expanding focus for perinatal care providers across the United States. From successful hospital-level initiatives, there has been a growing effort to use and implement quality improvement work in substantive and meaningful ways. This article summarizes the foundations of maternal-focused, birth-focused, and neonatal-focused quality improvement initiatives to highlight the underpinnings and potential future directions of current state-level perinatal quality care collaboratives.