Obstetric characteristics and neonatal outcome of unplanned out-of-hospital term deliveries: a prospective, case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the obstetric characteristics and neonatal outcomes in unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries. STUDY DESIGN: Obstetric characteristics and neonatal outcomes were compared between 151 consecutive parturients with unplanned, out-of-hospital term deliveries and 151 hospital term deliveries. RESULTS: Women who delivered out of hospital tended to be older (32±5.5 vs. 28 ± 5.0 years, p = 0.046) and less educated (4.4±5.1 vs. 6.5 ± 5.0 years, = 0.005) as compared to women who delivered in the hospital. Unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries resulted in statistically significant higher rate of low-birth-weight newborns ( 35 (OR=6.2, 95% CI 2.3-16.7, p < 0.001) and high parity (OR= 7.9, 95% CI 4.9-12.9, p < 0.001) were found to be independent risk factors for an unplanned out-of hospital delivery. CONCLUSION: Unplanned out-of-hospital birth is an important risk factor for such complications as postpartum hemorrhage, low birth weight and adverse neonatal outcome.