title: Maternal haemoglobin and short-term neonatal outcome in preterm neonates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether there is a significant association between maternal haemoglobin measured before delivery and short-term neonatal outcome in very preterm neonates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included prospectively all live births occurring from 25 to 32+6 weeks of gestation in a tertiary care centre between January 1(st) 2009 and December 31(st) 2011. Outborn infants and infants presenting with lethal malformations were excluded. Three hundred and thirty-nine mothers and 409 infants met the inclusion criteria. For each mother-infant pair a prospective record of epidemiologic data was performed and maternal haemoglobin concentration recorded within 24 hours before delivery was retrospectively researched. Maternal haemoglobin was divided into quartiles with the second and the third one regarded as reference as they were composed of normal haemoglobin values. Short-term outcome was defined as poor in case of death during hospital stay and/or grades III/IV intraventricular haemorrhage and/or periventricular leukomalacia and/or necessity of ventriculoperitoneal shunt.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The global rate of poor short-term neonatal outcome was 11.4% and was significantly associated with low maternal haemoglobin values. This association remained significant after adjustment for antenatal corticosteroids therapy, gestational age, parity, mechanism of preterm birth, mode of delivery and birth weight (aOR = 2.97 CI 95% [1.36-6.47]). There was no relation between short-term neonatal outcome and high maternal haemoglobin concentration values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We show that low maternal haemoglobin concentration at delivery is an independent risk factor for poor short-term neonatal outcome in very preterm neonates. This study is one of the first to show such an association within the preterm population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Savajols
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burguet
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Godoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sagot
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Denis S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Semama
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins