Outcomes associated with planned place of birth among low-risk pregnancies in Ontario, Canada (2012-2021): A protocol for a population-based propensity score weighted cohort study.

Background: Evidence suggests that for low-risk pregnancies, planned home births attended by a skilled health professional in settings where such services are well integrated are associated with lower risk of intrapartum interventions and no increase in adverse health outcomes. Monitoring and updating evidence on the safety of planned home births is necessary to inform ongoing clinical and policy decisions.

Methods: This protocol describes a population-based retrospective cohort study which aims to compare risk of (a) neonatal morbidity and mortality, and (b) maternal outcomes and birth interventions, between people at low obstetrical risk with a planned home birth with a midwife, a planned a hospital birth with a midwife, or a planned hospital birth with a physician.

Maternal outcomes and birth interventions among women who begin labour intending to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital: A systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: We previously concluded that risk of stillbirth, neonatal mortality or morbidity is not different whether birth is intended at home or hospital. Here, we compare the occurrence of birth interventions and maternal outcomes among low-risk women who begin labour intending to birth at home compared to women intending to birth in hospital.

Methods: We used our registered protocol (PROSPERO, http://www.

Perinatal or neonatal mortality among women who intend at the onset of labour to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital: A systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: More women are choosing to birth at home in well-resourced countries. Concerns persist that out-of-hospital birth contributes to higher perinatal and neonatal mortality. This systematic review and meta-analyses determines if risk of fetal or neonatal loss differs among low-risk women who begin labour intending to give birth at home compared to low-risk women intending to give birth in hospital.

Outcomes associated with planned place of birth among women with low-risk pregnancies.

Background: Previous studies have shown that planned home birth is associated with a decreased likelihood of intrapartum intervention with no difference in neonatal outcomes compared with planned hospital birth. The purpose of our study was to evaluate different birth settings by comparing neonatal mortality, morbidity and rates of birth interventions between planned home and planned hospital births in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: We used a provincial database of all midwifery-booked pregnancies between 2006 and 2009 to compare women who planned home birth at the onset of labour to a matched cohort of women with low-risk pregnancies who had planned hospital births attended by midwives.

Accounting for center in the Early External Cephalic Version trials: an empirical comparison of statistical methods to adjust for center in a multicenter trial with binary outcomes.

Background: Clustering of outcomes at centers involved in multicenter trials is a type of center effect. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials Statement recommends that multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs) should account for center effects in their analysis, however most do not. The Early External Cephalic Version (EECV) trials published in 2003 and 2011 stratified by center at randomization, but did not account for center in the analyses, and due to the nature of the intervention and number of centers, may have been prone to center effects.

Protocol: systematic review and meta-analyses of birth outcomes for women who intend at the onset of labour to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital.

Background: There has been a renewed interest in the place of birth, including intended home birth, for low risk women. In the absence of adequately-sized randomised controlled trials, a recent Cochrane review recommended that a systematic review and meta-analysis, including observational studies, be undertaken to inform this topic. The objective of this review is to determine if women intending at the onset of labour to give birth at home are more or less likely to experience a foetal or neonatal loss compared to a cohort of women who are comparable to the home birth cohort on the absence of risk factors but who intend to give birth in a hospital setting.

Women's experiences of participating in the early external cephalic version 2 trial.

Background: The international, multicenter External Cephalic Version 2 (ECV2) Trial compared early external cephalic version at 34(0/7) to 35(6/7) weeks with that at greater than 37 weeks. A total of 1,543 women were randomized from 68 centers in 21 countries. The goal of this component of the trial was to understand women's views about participation in a research trial and timing of external cephalic version.

Pregnancy outcomes in women with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review.

Background And Objectives: Pregnant women with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at risk of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of observational studies that described this risk.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We searched several databases from their date of inception through June 2010 for eligible articles published in any language.

Outcomes associated with planned home and planned hospital births in low-risk women attended by midwives in Ontario, Canada, 2003-2006: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Midwives in Ontario, Canada, provide care in the home and hospital and are required to submit data for all births to the Ontario Ministry of Health database. The purpose of this study was to compare maternal and perinatal/neonatal mortality and morbidity and intrapartum intervention rates for women attended by Ontario midwives who planned a home birth compared with similar low-risk women who planned a hospital birth between 2003 and 2006.

Methods: The database provided outcomes for all women planning a home birth at the onset of labor (n = 6,692) and for a cohort, stratified by parity, of similar low-risk women planning a hospital birth.

Smoking in Ontario schools: does policy make a difference?

Objective: Studies in other countries have shown that school tobacco control policy has potential to prevent smoking uptake in adolescents. Since no Canadian research has studied this association, we assessed the statistical link between school tobacco policy and smoking status in Ontario elementary and secondary schools.

Methods: We conducted secondary analysis of data collected using the School Smoking Profile, a cross-sectional, self-report questionnaire.