title: Social disparity and intrauterine death: from politics to policies.
abstract: Correlation between intrauterine demise (IUD) and social disparity, based on maternal post-code of residence, is assessed in this study in order to find out if there is any correlation between IUD and geographical area. A total of 190 IUD cases from September 2002 to August 2004 were collected retrospectively from the IUD register. The maternity computer health record programme (Terranova-Healthware) was used for the assessment of area of residence of the patient and GP, patient demography and pregnancy details. Data were then entered onto a MS Excel spreadsheet and analysed by a public health statistician and a consultant obstetrician using the IMD-Index of Multiple Deprivation and then on to a graph. The results of this study show that there was a strong correlation between the IMD and the distribution of IUDs. Disparities come at a personal, midwifery and obstetric price. Differential access may lead to disparities in quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK. tezcanberrin@hotmail.com
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tezcan
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khazaezadeh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ash
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oteng-Ntim
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006291:Health Policy; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D011057:Politics; D011247:Pregnancy; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors