Variations in use of childbirth interventions in 13 high-income countries: A multinational cross-sectional study

by Anna E. Seijmonsbergen-Schermers, Thomas van den Akker, Eva Rydahl, Katrien Beeckman, Annick Bogaerts, Lorena Binfa, Lucy Frith, Mechthild M. Gross, Bj örn Misselwitz, Berglind Hálfdánsdóttir, Deirdre Daly, Paul Corcoran, Jean Calleja-Agius, Neville Calleja, Miriam Gatt, Anne Britt Vika Nilsen, Eugene Declercq, Mika Gissler, Anna Heino, Helena Lindgren, Ank de Jonge BackgroundVariations in intervention rates, without subsequent reductions in adverse outcomes, can indicate overuse. We studied variations in and associations between commonly used childbirth interventions and adverse outcomes, adjusted for population characteristics. Methods and findingsIn this multinational cross-sectional study, existing data on 4,729,307 singleton births at ≥37 weeks in 2013 from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany (Hesse), Malta, the United States, and Chile were used to describe variations in childbirth interventions and outcomes. Numbers of births ranged from 3,987 for Iceland to 3,500,397 for the USA. Crude data were analysed in the Netherlands, or analysed data were shared with the principal investigator. Strict variable definitions were used and information on data quality was collected. Intervention rates were described for each country and stratified by parity. Uni- and multivar iable analyses were performed, adjusted for population characteristics, and associations between rates of interventions, population characteri...
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research