Prevalence and Characteristics of Early Prenatal Care: Results of a Survey of Perinatal Health Networks, France, 2012.

An early prenatal consultation (EPP) should be offered during prenatal care. The perinatal health networks (RSP), organized under a federation (French Federation of Perinatal Health Networks, FFRSP), conducted a prevalence survey on EPP in 2012 among RSPs and participating maternity wards. Women who had given birth were asked to complete a questionnaire after delivery. Of the 40 RSPs in mainland France, 26 participated (65%), involving 253 maternity wards and 1,990 responses. The reported rate of postpartum episiotomy was 40.3% (95% CI: [38.1–42.4%]), with variations across networks ranging from 7.7% to 70.0%. In cases where a postpartum episiotomy was not performed, women reported in nearly two-thirds of cases that it had not been offered to them. Midwives in private practice or working in a maternity ward were the ones who performed the most antenatal checkups. Women with the greatest difficulties had slightly greater access to antenatal checkups than other women (57% vs. 52%; p=0.017). Factors associated with the offer or performance of the EPP, in multivariate analysis, included being a young woman (30–34 years old), a first-time mother, attending childbirth preparation classes, and having received a maternity booklet. This study demonstrated that EPP, in primary health care centers and maternity wards, is more common than in a previous 2010 survey, but is still performed too infrequently. Suggestions for improving its implementation include better informing perinatal health professionals and expectant mothers about its procedures and benefits.

Author(s): Branger B

Publishing year: 2015

Pages: 123-31

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2015, n° 6-7, p. 123-31

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