Elective Birth, Elective Complications; Are We Putting Babies at Risk When Born Prior to Full Gestation

This educational activity consists of recorded presentations from 20th Annual National Conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 4-6, 2011.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that no elective delivery should be performed before the gestational age of 39 weeks. These deliveries are associated with increased neonatal morbidity, neonatal intensive care unit admissions, and associated hospital costs compared to deliveries occurring at 39–40 weeks. This presentation will address the impact of elective deliveries occurring prior to 39 weeks' gestation in the absence of medical or obstetrical indications.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this educational activity, participants should be able to

1. Recognize the increase in nonmedically indicated (elective) deliveries before 39 weeks’ gestation and identify the contributing factors.
2. List and describe successful initiatives at hospital, health system, and statewide levels to reduce elective deliveries before 39 weeks’ gestation.
3. State the potential risks and rate of ICU admission for babies who are electively delivered premature at or before 39 weeks’ gestation.
4. List the types of fetal development that continues to occur between 35 and 41 weeks’ gestation and the potential impact if birth is elective at or before 39 weeks.

Faculty
Daniel V. Landers, MD, FACOG
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health
Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division
University of Minnesota Medical School
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Disclosures
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• Completing the entire activity
• Completing the Pre- and Post-Activity Assessments, Activity Evaluation, and Application for Certificate of Credit forms

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Sponsor
This activity is sponsored by OptumHealth Education.

Commercial Support
This activity is supported by Allos Therapeutics, Amgen, Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., Eisai, Novartis Oncology, Shire, Cephalon Oncology, Genentech, genzyme, Millennium, Novartis, Roche, sanofi aventis, National Marrow Donor Program, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Purdue, American Regent, CardioDx, cord blood registry, HeartWare, Janssen, and XDx.

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