• Monica Saucedo, Marie-Hélène Bouvier-Colle, Béatrice Blondel, Marie-Pierre Bonnet, Catherine Deneux-Tharaux, and ENCMM Study Group.
• From the Inserm UMR 1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team (EPOPé), Centre for Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), DHU Risks in Pregnancy, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
• Anesth. Analg. 2020 Jan 1; 130 (1): 52-62.

BackgroundThe variability in resources for managing critical events among maternity hospitals may impact maternal safety. Our main objective was to assess the risk of postpartum maternal death according to hospitals' organizational characteristics. A secondary objective aimed to assess the specific risk of death due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).MethodsThis national population-based case-control study included all 2007-2009 postpartum maternal deaths from the national confidential enquiry (n = 147 cases) and a 2010 national representative sample of parturients (n = 14,639 controls). To adjust for referral bias, cases were classified by time when the condition/complication responsible for the death occurred: postpartum maternal deaths due to conditions present before delivery (n = 66) or during or after delivery (n = 81). Characteristics of delivery hospitals included 24/7 on-site availability of an anesthesiologist and an obstetrician, level of perinatal care, number of deliveries annually, and their teaching and profit status. In teaching and other nonprofit hospitals in France, obstetric care is organized on the principle of collective team-based management, while in for-profit hospitals, this organization is based mostly on that of "one woman-one doctor." Logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for postpartum maternal death.ResultsThe risk of maternal death from prepartum conditions was lower for women who gave birth in for-profit compared with teaching hospitals (aOR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1-0.8; P = .02) and in hospitals with <1500 vs ≥1500 annual deliveries (aOR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.1-0.9; P = .02). Conversely, the risk of postpartum maternal death from complications occurring during or after delivery was higher for women who delivered in for-profit compared with teaching hospitals (aOR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.0; P = .009), as was the risk of death from PPH in for-profit versus nonprofit hospitals (aOR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2-6.5; P = .019).ConclusionsAfter adjustment for the referral bias related to prepartum morbidity, the risk of postpartum maternal mortality in France differs according to the hospital's organizational characteristics.

27 keywords...

hide…