Downloaded from http://fn.bmj.com/ on December 9, 2014 - Published by group.bmj.com
PostScript
CORRESPONDENCE
Perinatal Outcomes Professor Marlow and colleagues contrast outcomes for extremely preterm babies in relation to place of birth.1 In extremely preterm babies, mortality is high. In table 2, all deaths are compared between three groups: babies born in level 2 units, babies whose mothers were transferred from level 2 to level 3 units ante-
natally and babies born in level 3 units without transfer, those whose mothers booked in level 3 unit hospitals. Mortality was lowest in babies whose mothers had been transferred (200 of 440, 45%), was higher in babies whose mothers had booked at a level 3 unit (532 of 947, 56%), and was highest in the babies whose mothers booked at a level 2 unit, were not transferred, and delivered in the level 2 unit (524 of 829, 63%). These are the data; what one makes of them is complex. It seems clear from the above that the mothers transferred at some point during the pregnancy constituted a relatively low risk group, in that their babies did noticeably better, in terms of survival, than the other two groups. This was also the group of babies with the lowest morbidity. This strongly suggests that the two remaining groups are not entirely comparable. It is likely that the babies born at level 2 units were somewhat higher risk than average. If this is the case, it is likely that the difference, between the remaining babies booked
Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed November 2014 Vol 99 No 6
and delivered in level 2 and those booked and delivered in level 3, is an overestimate. Peter Ehrhardt Correspondence to Dr Peter Ehrhardt, Higher Green End, Shaw Lane, Todmorden OL14 8SH, UK; Peter. [email protected] Competing interests None. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
To cite Ehrhardt P. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F521. Accepted 9 September 2014 Published Online First 23 September 2014 Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F521. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2014-307338
REFERENCE 1
Marlow N, Bennett C, Draper ES, et al. Perinatal outcomes for extremely preterm babies in relation to place of birth in England: the EPICure 2 study. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F181–F188.
F521
Downloaded from http://fn.bmj.com/ on December 9, 2014 - Published by group.bmj.com
Perinatal Outcomes Peter Ehrhardt Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014 99: F521 originally published online September 23, 2014
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307338 Updated information and services can be found at: http://fn.bmj.com/content/99/6/F521
These include:
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Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
PostScript
CORRESPONDENCE
Perinatal Outcomes Professor Marlow and colleagues contrast outcomes for extremely preterm babies in relation to place of birth.1 In extremely preterm babies, mortality is high. In table 2, all deaths are compared between three groups: babies born in level 2 units, babies whose mothers were transferred from level 2 to level 3 units ante-
natally and babies born in level 3 units without transfer, those whose mothers booked in level 3 unit hospitals. Mortality was lowest in babies whose mothers had been transferred (200 of 440, 45%), was higher in babies whose mothers had booked at a level 3 unit (532 of 947, 56%), and was highest in the babies whose mothers booked at a level 2 unit, were not transferred, and delivered in the level 2 unit (524 of 829, 63%). These are the data; what one makes of them is complex. It seems clear from the above that the mothers transferred at some point during the pregnancy constituted a relatively low risk group, in that their babies did noticeably better, in terms of survival, than the other two groups. This was also the group of babies with the lowest morbidity. This strongly suggests that the two remaining groups are not entirely comparable. It is likely that the babies born at level 2 units were somewhat higher risk than average. If this is the case, it is likely that the difference, between the remaining babies booked
Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed November 2014 Vol 99 No 6
and delivered in level 2 and those booked and delivered in level 3, is an overestimate. Peter Ehrhardt Correspondence to Dr Peter Ehrhardt, Higher Green End, Shaw Lane, Todmorden OL14 8SH, UK; Peter. [email protected] Competing interests None. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
To cite Ehrhardt P. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F521. Accepted 9 September 2014 Published Online First 23 September 2014 Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F521. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2014-307338
REFERENCE 1
Marlow N, Bennett C, Draper ES, et al. Perinatal outcomes for extremely preterm babies in relation to place of birth in England: the EPICure 2 study. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014;99:F181–F188.
F521
Downloaded from http://fn.bmj.com/ on December 9, 2014 - Published by group.bmj.com
Perinatal Outcomes Peter Ehrhardt Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2014 99: F521 originally published online September 23, 2014
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307338 Updated information and services can be found at: http://fn.bmj.com/content/99/6/F521
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
