Improved Vitamin D Status Is Associated With Lower Incidence of Stillbirth.

Background/aim: Two retrospective studies of prospective cohorts showed doubled odds of birth asphyxia among women with low plasma vitamin D levels, and another study reported a four-fold increased risk of stillbirth. It was not known whether this was related to low sun exposure or to insufficient vitamin D per se. We aimed to assess if it was due to vitamin D status.

Preterm birth in assisted reproduction: the mediating role of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

Study Question: To what extent can hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) explain the higher risk of preterm birth following frozen embryo transfer (frozen-ET) and fresh embryo transfer (fresh-ET) in ART compared with naturally conceived pregnancies?

Summary Answer: HDP did not contribute to the higher risk of preterm birth in pregnancies after fresh-ET but mediated 20.7% of the association between frozen-ET and preterm birth.

What Is Known Already: Risk of preterm birth is higher after ART compared to natural conception.

Perinatal death in the Nordic countries in relation to gestational age: The impact of registration practice.

Introduction: Although perinatal death rates in the Nordic countries are among the lowest in the world, the risk of perinatal death is unevenly distributed across the Nordic countries, despite similarity in health care systems and pregnancy care. Birth registration practices across countries may explain some of the differences. We investigated differences in national registration of perinatal mortality within the Nordic countries and its impact on perinatal mortality according to gestational age.

Congenital heart defects in children born after assisted reproductive technology: a CoNARTaS study.

Background And Aims: Children born after assisted reproductive technology (ART) have worse perinatal outcomes compared with spontaneously conceived children. This study investigates whether children conceived after ART have a higher risk of congenital heart defects (CHDs) compared with children born after spontaneous conception (SC).

Methods: All 7 747 637 liveborn children in Denmark (1994-2014), Finland (1990-2014), Norway (1984-2015), and Sweden (1987-2015), where 171 735 children were conceived after ART, were included.

Interaction of maternal smoking and gestational diabetes mellitus on newborn head circumference and birthweight.

Introduction: Maternal smoking during pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have opposite effects on fetal growth during pregnancy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the interaction of smoking during pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus on head circumference and birthweight of newborns.

Material And Methods: The study included all primiparous women with singleton pregnancies (n = 290 602) without previously diagnosed diabetes or hypertension in Finland between 2006 and 2018.

Socioeconomic disparities in changes to preterm birth and stillbirth rates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a study of 21 European countries.

Background: Despite concerns about worsening pregnancy outcomes resulting from healthcare restrictions, economic difficulties and increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, preterm birth (PTB) rates declined in some countries in 2020, while stillbirth rates appeared stable. Like other shocks, the pandemic may have exacerbated existing socioeconomic disparities in pregnancy, but this remains to be established. Our objective was to investigate changes in PTB and stillbirth by socioeconomic status (SES) in European countries.

Prospective risk of Type 2 diabetes in 99 892 Nordic women with polycystic ovary syndrome and 446 055 controls: national cohort study from Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

Study Question: What is the prospective risk of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Nordic women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared to controls?

Summary Answer: A diagnosis of PCOS and BMI ≥30 kg/m2 is a high-risk phenotype for a prospective risk of T2D diagnosis across Nordic countries.

What Is Known Already: The risk of T2D in women with PCOS is increased. The risk of T2D is related to BMI and the magnitude of risk in normal weight women with PCOS has been discussed.

Children with Hirschsprung's disease have high morbidity in the first 5 years of life.

Background: Hirschsprung's disease is a rare congenital anomaly of the colon with absence of the ganglionic nerve cells. The treatment of the anomaly is surgical.

Methods: This population-based data-linkage cohort study was part of the EUROlinkCAT project and investigated mortality and morbidity for the first 5 years of life for European children diagnosed with Hirschsprung's disease.

Ethnic background as a risk factor for permanent brachial plexus birth injury: A population-based study.

Introduction: Brachial plexus birth injury is the most common birth injury causing permanent disability in Finland. This study aimed to assess risk factors of a permanent brachial plexus birth injury and calculate the incidence.

Material And Methods: This is a retrospective population-based study including all deliveries between 2006 and 2022 in Southern Finland.

Hospital care in the first 10 years of life of children with congenital anomalies in six European countries: data from the EUROlinkCAT cohort linkage study.

Objective: To quantify the hospital care for children born with a major congenital anomaly up to 10 years of age compared with children without a congenital anomaly.

Design, Setting And Patients: 79 591 children with congenital anomalies and 2 021 772 children without congenital anomalies born 1995-2014 in six European countries in seven regions covered by congenital anomaly registries were linked to inpatient electronic health records up to their 10th birthday.

Main Outcome Measures: Number of days in hospital and number of surgeries.

Prevalence of craniosynostosis in Finland, 1987-2010: A population-based study.

Background: Craniosynostosis is a prevalent craniofacial malformation in Finland; however, comprehensive population-based epidemiological data are limited. This study aimed to estimate the total and birth prevalence of craniosynostosis in Finland from 1987 to 2010 and examine temporal trends.

Methods: We collected the data from nationwide registers maintained by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and Statistics Finland, as well as treating hospitals, encompassing live births, stillbirths, terminations for fetal anomalies, and infant deaths with suspected or diagnosed craniosynostosis or skull deformation.

Higher risk of cerebral palsy, seizures/epilepsy, visual- and hearing impairments, cancer, injury and child abuse in children with congenital anomalies: Data from the EUROlinkCAT study.

Aim: The aim is to examine the risk of cerebral palsy, seizures/epilepsy, visual- and hearing impairments, cancer, injury/poisoning and child abuse in children with and without a congenital anomaly up to age 5 and 10 years.

Methods: This is a population-based data linkage cohort study linking information from the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies network (EUROCAT) and birth registries to hospital discharge databases. We included 91 504 live born children with major congenital anomalies born from 1995 to 2014 from nine EUROCAT registries in five countries and 1 960 727 live born children without congenital anomalies (reference children).

Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone agonist (GnRHa) during chemotherapy and post-cancer childbirths - a Nationwide population-based cohort study of 24,922 women diagnosed with cancer in Sweden.

Background: Worldwide, an increasing number of women with cancer are receiving Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone agonist (GnRHa) co-treatment during chemotherapy aiming at ovarian protection. There is divergence among guidelines, and some have recommended GnRHa co-treatment for women with breast cancer, however, the effect of GnRHa on future fertility is uncertain.

Methods: In this population-based cohort study we included all women diagnosed with cancer at ages 15-45 between July 2005 and March 2017 in Sweden, identified in the Swedish Cancer Register.

Previous cancers in women diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency: A nationwide population-based case-control study.

Introduction: To investigate the occurrence of previous cancer diagnoses in women suffering from premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and compare it with the general population, shedding light on the association between cancer, cancer treatments, and POI.

Material And Methods: We conducted a nationwide case-control study based on registry data from various sources, including the Social Insurance Institution, Finnish Population Information System, and Finnish Cancer Registry spanning from 1953 to 2018. Our participants comprised all women in Finland who, between 1988 and 2017, received hormone replacement therapy reimbursement for ovarian insufficiency before the age of 40 years (n = 5221).

Maternal and neonatal complications of shoulder dystocia with a focus on obstetric maneuvers: A case-control study of 1103 deliveries.

Introduction: Shoulder dystocia is a severe obstetric emergency that can cause substantial neonatal and maternal complications. This study aims to assess the performed obstetric maneuvers and their frequency, success, and association with maternal and neonatal complication rates.

Material And Methods: The study population was collected among all deliveries in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa between 2006 and 2015 (n = 181 352) by searching for ICD-10 codes for shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injury and clavicle fracture.

Associations between pregnancy-related factors and birth characteristics with risk of rare uterine cancer subtypes: a Nordic population-based case-control study.

Purpose: Uterine sarcomas are a rare group of uterine malignancies. Due to the low incidence and changes in uterine sarcoma classification, risk factors are not well characterized. Our objective was to evaluate risk factors for uterine sarcoma and compare risk factors between uterine sarcoma, malignant mixed Mullerian tumors (MMMTs), and type I endometrial carcinomas.

Timing of Cardiac Surgical Interventions and Postoperative Mortality in Children With Severe Congenital Heart Defects Across Europe: Data From the EUROlinkCAT Study.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the timing of the first cardiac surgery, the number of cardiac surgeries performed, and 30-day postoperative mortality rate for children with severe congenital heart defects (sCHDs) in their first 5 years of life.

Methods And Results: This was a population-based data linkage cohort study linking information from 9 European congenital anomaly registries to vital statistics and hospital databases. Data were extracted for 5693 children with sCHDs born from 1995 to 2004.

Antenatal corticosteroid treatment and infectious diseases in children: a nationwide observational study.

Background: Antenatal Corticosteroid Treatment (ACT) improves the outcome of preterm infants, but may influence immune system development and risk of immune-related diseases. We investigated whether ACT is associated with infectious diseases in children born at term (≥37 gestational weeks), and very-to-moderate (<34 gestational weeks), and late (34-36 completed gestational weeks) preterm.

Methods: All singleton live births in Finland between 01/01/2006 and 31/12/2021, were followed-up until 31/12/2021.

Antiasthmatic prescriptions in children with and without congenital anomalies: a population-based study.

Objectives: To explore the risk of being prescribed/dispensed medications for respiratory symptoms and breathing difficulties in children with and without congenital anomalies.

Design: A EUROlinkCAT population-based data linkage cohort study. Data on children with and without congenital anomalies were linked to prescription databases to identify children who did/did not receive antiasthmatic prescriptions.

Developing and testing a protocol using a common data model for federated collection and analysis of national perinatal health indicators in Europe.

International comparisons of the health of mothers and babies provide essential benchmarks for guiding health practice and policy, but statistics are not routinely compiled in a comparable way. These data are especially critical during health emergencies, such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) project aimed to promote the exchange of population data in Europe and included a Use Case on perinatal health.