January 23, 2020 | by: Henci Goer
What are we to make of a new Swedish trial in which women were allocated by chance to either routine induction at 41 weeks or expectant management until 42 weeks (Wennerholm 2019)? The trial was stopped midway through because it had already shown a statistically significant increase, meaning unlikely to be due to chance, in perinatal mortality in the expectant management arm of the trial, and routine induction hadn’t increased the cesarean rate. You may be thinking, “It has long been established that 41-week induction is the better strategy for just these reasons. The Swedish trial just adds to the pile of studies finding in its favor.”
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July 30, 2019 | by: Henci Goer, BA
“To VBAC or not to VBAC” continues to be the question. “Mode of delivery after a previous cesarean birth, and associated maternal and neonatal morbidity,” a recent analysis of Canadian national data between 2003 and 2014, compared maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity after planned vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC ) versus repeat cesarean and concluded (Young 2018): “Although absolute rates of adverse outcomes are low, attempted vaginal birth after cesarean delivery continues to be associated with higher relative rates of severe morbidity and mortality in mothers and infants.” However, things aren’t always as they appear to be at first glance. Let’s take a closer look.
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November 20, 2018 | by: Henci Goer, BA
Effect of Immediate vs Delayed Pushing on Rates of Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery Among Nulliparous Women Receiving Neuraxial Analgesia: A Randomized Clinical Trial - a deeper dive to see if its conclusions hold up to closer scrutiny.
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August 14, 2018 | by: Henci Goer, BA
Henci Goer examines the just-released ARRIVE Trial to determine if there is new information compared to the study abstract that raises more questions or answers the old ones? What should birth professionals understand and share with consumers about the evidence to induce at 39 weeks?
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