Prepregnancy Emergency Department Use and Risks of Severe Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity in Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Emergency department (ED) use during pregnancy may be associated with worse obstetrical outcomes, possibly because of differences in access to health care. It is not known whether ED use before pregnancy is associated with serious adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes.

Objective

To study the association between prepregnancy ED use and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes.

Design, setting, and participants

This population-based cohort study was conducted in Ontario, Canada, and included all livebirths and stillbirths from April 2003 to January 2020.

Exposures

Main exposure was any ED encounter within 90 days preceding the start of the index pregnancy.

Main outcomes and measures

Primary outcome was a composite of severe maternal morbidity (

SUBMITTER: Varner CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9440393 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature