Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 22;6(1):1378.
doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1378.

The data we have: Pregnancy and birth related data collection in Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA - A web-based survey of practice

K Lamont  1 , N W Scott  2 , S Bhattacharya  3
Affiliations

The data we have: Pregnancy and birth related data collection in Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA - A web-based survey of practice

K Lamont et al. Int J Popul Data Sci. .

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the feasibility of combining routinely recorded perinatal data from several databases in high-income countries to assess the risk of recurrent stillbirth.

Methods: Web-based questionnaire survey with reminder emails and searching of relevant country websites.

Results: 120 countries/regions in Canada, Europe and the USA were invited to participate and 83 (69%) responded. Of those one had no data, and two did not wish to take part. The remaining 80 were sent the questionnaire and 63 (53%) were completed. Twenty-seven countries/regions reported that they collect information on all perinatal events (including early pregnancy loss), 34 on live births and stillbirths and two only live births (stillbirths recorded in a separate database). Most countries (53/63) can link two or more pregnancies occurring in the same woman. Data and information extracted from the Australian and New Zealand Government websites showed that information on all perinatal events is collected nationally in New Zealand and in 5/8 regions in Australia. Both Australia and New Zealand can link two or more pregnancies occurring in the same woman. Maternal age and caffeine consumption were the most and least consistently collected demographic indicators respectively. Diabetes mellitus and mental health problems, birthweight and obstetric cholestasis the most and least consistently collected for medical conditions and pregnancy condition/complications. Procedures for gaining access to data vary between countries.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that it is possible to link pregnancies in the same woman to assess the risk of recurrent stillbirth using routinely collected perinatal data in all states/territories in Australia, 7/8 responding provinces/territories in Canada, 21/27 responding countries/regions in Europe, New Zealand and 26/28 responding states in the USA. The scope of the databases and quality and extent of data collected (thus their potential use) varied, as did procedures for accessing their data.

Keywords: Perinatal health, information systems; data; high-income countries; pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1: Proportions of responding countries/regions in each geographical area that collect the demographic information asked about in the questionnaire
Figure 1: Proportions of responding countries/regions in each geographical area that collect the demographic information asked about in the questionnaire
Figure 2: Proportions of responding countries/regions in each geographical area that collect the medical conditions asked about in the questionnaire
Figure 2: Proportions of responding countries/regions in each geographical area that collect the medical conditions asked about in the questionnaire
Figure 3: Proportions of responding countries/areas in each geographical area that collect each pregnancy condition asked about in the questionnaire
Figure 3: Proportions of responding countries/areas in each geographical area that collect each pregnancy condition asked about in the questionnaire
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Flenady V, Wojcieszek AM, Middleton P, Ellwood D, Erwich JJ, Coory M, et al. Stillbirths: recall to action in high-income countries. Lancet, vol. 387, no. 10019, pp. 691-702, 2016. 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01020-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mohangoo, AD. Blondel, B. Gissler, M. Velebil, P. Macfarlane, A. et al. International Comparisons of Foetal and Neonatal Mortality Rates in High-Income Countries: Should Exclusion Thresholds be Based on Birth Weight or Gestational Age? PLoS ONE 2013;8(5 e64869):2013. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Euro-Peristat Project. European Perinatal Health Report. Core indicators of the health and care of pregnant women and babies in Europe in 2015. November 2018. Available www.europeristat.com
    1. Flenady V, Koopmans L, Middleton P, Frøen FJ, Smith GC, et al. Major risk factors for stillbirth in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2011;377(9774):1331–1340. 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62233-7 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Henningsen AA, Wennerholm UB, Gissler M, et al. Risk of stillbirth and infant deaths after assisted reproductive technology: a Nordic study from the CoNARTaS group. Hum Reprod, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1090–1096, May 2014. 10.1093/humrep/deu031 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources