Changing trends in preterm childbirth.
Progress in perinatal care has been accompanied recently by increasing numbers of induced premature deliveries because of fetal distress. This is confirmed by study of 26,796 consecutive births in the Caen Hospital Group between 1980 and 1987. Study of the fate of these children shows that this attitude has not led to any excess mortality when the share of the IPD before 32 weeks are regularly growing. This would imply that the prematurity rate is no longer a sufficiently accurate epidemiological index for the evaluation of prenatal care policies.
Le Coutour
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Service de Medecine Preventive et Sociale, C.H.U., Côte de Nacre, Caen, France.
Marie
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Muller
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Levy
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D005260:Female; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000453:epidemiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007751:Labor, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D012044:Regression Analysis