title: Predicting successful intended vaginal delivery after previous caesarean section: external validation of two predictive models in a Dutch nationwide registration-based cohort with a high intended vaginal delivery rate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To externally validate two models from the USA (entry-to-care [ETC] and close-to-delivery [CTD]) that predict successful intended vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) for the Dutch population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationwide registration-based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen hospitals in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven hundred and sixty-three pregnant women, each with one previous caesarean section and a viable singleton cephalic pregnancy without a contraindication for an intended VBAC.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ETC model comprises the variables maternal age, prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, previous vaginal delivery, previous VBAC and previous nonprogressive labour. The CTD model replaces prepregnancy BMI with third-trimester BMI and adds estimated gestational age at delivery, hypertensive disease of pregnancy, cervical examination and induction of labour. We included consecutive medical records of eligible women who delivered in 2010. For validation, individual probabilities of women who had an intended VBAC were calculated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Discriminative performance was assessed with the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic and predictive performance was assessed with calibration plots and the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) statistic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five hundred and fifteen (67%) of the 763 women had an intended VBAC; 72% of these (371) had an actual VBAC. The AUCs of the ETC and CTD models were 68% (95% CI 63-72%) and 72% (95% CI 67-76%), respectively. The H-L statistic showed a P-value of 0.167 for the ETC model and P = 0.356 for the CTD model, indicating no lack of fit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  External validation of two predictive models developed in the USA revealed an adequate performance within the Dutch population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Maastricht University Medical Centre+, GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: E N C
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Schoorel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Melman
authors.forename: S M J
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: van Kuijk
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Grobman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kwee
authors.forename: B W J
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Mol
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Nijhuis
authors.forename: L J M
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aardenburg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: F M C
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Delemarre
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: van Dooren
authors.forename: M T M
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Franssen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kleiverda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: S M I
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kuppens
authors.forename: F T H
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sikkema
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smid-Koopman
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.forename: F P J M
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Vrouenraets
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Woiski
authors.forename: R P M G
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Hermens
authors.forename: H C J
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scheepers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009426:Netherlands; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D016064:Vaginal Birth after Cesarean / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: External validation; prediction; vaginal birth after caesarean