Association Between Interpregnancy Interval and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Women With a Previous Stillbirth: An International Cohort Study (Abstracted from Lancet 2019;393:1527–1535) Interpregnancy interval (IPI; the length of time between pregnancies) is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in infants and their mothers. The World Health Organization recommends women wait at least 2 years after a live birth and 6 months after miscarriage or abortion before conceiving again, but there is no recommendation for the best IPI after stillbirth.

Time From Neuraxial Anesthesia Placement to Delivery Is Inversely Proportional to Umbilical Arterial Cord pH at Scheduled Cesarean Delivery (Abstracted from Am J Obstet Gynecol 2019;220:389.e1–389.e9) Risks to the fetus during cesarean delivery, although rare, can include neonatal depression and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy during nonemergent cesarean delivery. It is known that neuraxial anesthesia–related hypotension can contribute to uterine hypoperfusion and decreased umbilical arterial pH at cesarean delivery.

Association of State Medicaid Expansion Status With Low Birth Weight and Preterm Birth (Abstracted from JAMA 2019;321(16):1598–1609) Prematurity and low birth weight contributed an estimated 36% to infant mortality in 2013 and are associated with adverse consequences, including increased risk of infant mortality and chronic health conditions throughout the infant's life. In the United States, rates of prematurity and birth weight are higher than in most developed nations, with black infants twice as likely than white infants to be born at low birth weight and 1.5 times as likely to be premature compared with white infants.

Preventability Review of Severe Maternal Morbidity (Abstracted from Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2019;98(4):515–522) Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is defined as life-threatening complications in pregnancy, or within 42 days of the termination of the pregnancy. The rate of SMM is rising globally, and minorities have higher rates; in high-resource countries, the reported prevalence is reported as 3.8 to 13.8 per 1000 deliveries.

Monthly Sulfadoxine–Pyrimethamine Versus Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy: A Double-blind, Randomised, Controlled, Superiority Trial (Abstracted from Lancet 2019;393:1428–1439.) In Africa, malaria in pregnancy presents a risk to 50 million women each year due to Plasmodium falciparum infection. Although women in endemic areas are typically asymptomatic when infected with malaria parasites, the infection is associated with maternal anemia and adverse birth outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality.

Vaginal Progesterone, Oral Progesterone, 17-OHPC, Cerclage, and Pessary for Preventing Preterm Birth in At-Risk Singleton Pregnancies: An Updated Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis (Abstracted from BJOG 2019;126(5):556–567) Around the world, approximately 15 million pregnancies each year end in preterm birth (before 37 weeks' gestation), a major contributor to child morbidity and mortality. To reduce the risk of preterm birth for women at increased risk, interventions include progesterone, cervical cerclage, and cervical pessary.

Population-Based Trends in Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis for Ultrasound-Based Indications: Two Decades of Change From 1994 to 2016 (Abstracted from Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2019;53:503–511) Ultrasound examination, particularly the midtrimester morphology scan, and fetal chromosome analysis provide opportunities for specialist assessment, genetic testing, and perinatal management of pregnancies complicated by fetal anomalies. Advances such as fetal nuchal translucency measurement as part of the combined first-trimester screening (CFTS) test for trisomies 21, 13, and 18; maternal plasma cell-free (cf) DNA-based screening for common aneuploidies; and prenatal diagnosis with chromosomal microarray (CMA) analysis have helped further genetic testing of fetal anomalies.

CFTR Variants and Renal Abnormalities in Males With Congenital Unilateral Absence of the Vas Deferens (CUAVD): A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies (Abstracted from Genet Med 2019;21(4):826–836.) Congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD) is a urological disease classified into 3 subtypes: congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD), congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens (CUAVD), and congenital bilateral partial aplasia of the vas deferens. The most common subtype is CBAVD (prevalence of 1%–2%), but CUAVD (prevalence of 0.5%–1.0%) also may be discovered during evaluations for infertility or surgical procedures involving male genitalia.

In Search of Mobile Applications for Patients With Pelvic Floor Disorders (Abstracted from Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2019;25: 252–256) Multiple medical societies have issued guidelines emphasizing the importance of patient education, behavioral therapy, and/or exercise regimens in the initial treatment and management of women with pelvic floor disorders. Even with these well-established recommendations, however, it is often difficult to engage patients and maintain adherence to treatment plans.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair Using the Uphold Vaginal Support System: 5-Year Follow-up (Abstracted from Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2019;25: 200–205) Use of mesh-augmented pelvic organ prolapse repair is widely debated. Outcome measures of mesh-augmented repair such as symptom relief, prolapse recurrence, and complications largely derive from short-term evaluations with follow-up time ranging from 1 to 3 years.