Mode of birth and postnatal health-related quality of life after one previous cesarean in three European countries.

BACKGROUND: How a woman gives birth can affect her health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study explored HRQoL at 3 months postpartum in women with a history of one previous cesarean in three European countries. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal survey, embedded within a cluster randomized trial in three countries, exploring women's postnatal HRQoL up to 3 months postpartum. The Short-Form Six-Dimensions (SF-6D) was used to measure HRQoL, and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationship with mode of birth. RESULTS: Complete data were available from 880 women. Women with a spontaneous vaginal birth had the highest HRQoL scores, whereas women with an emergency repeat cesarean (P = .01) had the lowest. Postnatal readmission of the mother (P = .03), having public health insurance (P = .04), and a low antenatal HRQoL score (P < .01) contributes to poorer HRQoL scores. More specifically, women with a spontaneous vaginal birth had significantly higher HRQoL scores on the vitality dimension compared with women with an emergency repeat cesarean (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: In women with low-risk factors, repeat cesareans result in a poorer HRQoL compared with vaginal birth. When there are no contraindications for vaginal birth, women with a history of one previous cesarean should be encouraged to give birth vaginally rather than have an elective repeat cesarean.

Maternal infibulation and obstetrical outcome in Djibouti.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to assess the relation between female genital mutilation and obstetric outcome in an East African urban clinic with a standardized care, taking into account medical and socioeconomic status. METHODS: This was a cohort study conducted in Djibouti between October 1, 2012 and April 30, 2014. Overall 643 mothers were interviewed and clinically assessed for the presence of female genital mutilation. The prevalence of obstetric complications by infibulation status was included in a multivariate stepwise regression model. RESULTS: Overall, 29 of 643 women did not have any form of mutilation (4.5%), as opposed to 238 of 643 women with infibulation (37.0%), 369 with type 2 (57.4%), and 7 with type 1 mutilation (1.1%).Women with a severe type of mutilation were more likely to have socio-economic and medical risk factors. After adjustment, the only outcome that was significantly related with infibulation was the presence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid with an odds ratio of 1.58 (1.10-2.27), p value=0.014. CONCLUSIONS: Infibulation was not related with excess perinatal morbidity in this setting with a very high prevalence of female genital mutilation, but future research should concentrate on the relation between infibulation and meconium.