Decrease in perinatal mortality after closure of obstetric services in a community hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess differences in adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes before and after closure of a secondary obstetric care unit of a community hospital in an urban district.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study using aggregated data from National Perinatal Registry of the Netherlands (PERINED) in the very urban region of Amsterdam, consisting of data of five secondary and two tertiary hospitals. We assessed maternal and neonatal outcomes in singleton hospital births between 24 weeks of gestational age (GA) up to 42 weeks.