Objective To investigate prevalence and risk factors for symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (sPOP) and sPOP concomitant with urinary incontinence (UI) in women 20 years after one vaginal delivery or one caesarean delivery.Design Registry-based national cohort study.Setting Women who returned a postal questionnaire in 2008 (response rate 65.2%).Population Singleton primiparae with a birth in 1985-88 and no further births (n = 5236).Methods The SWEPOP study used validated questionnaires about sPOP and UI.Main outcome measures Prevalence rate and risk of sPOP with or without concomitant UI.Results Prevalence of sPOP was higher after vaginal delivery compared with caesarean section (14.6 versus 6.3%, odds ratio [OR] 2.55; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.98-3.28) but was not increased after acute compared with elective caesarean section.Episiotomy, vacuum extraction and second-degree or more laceration were not associated with increased risk of sPOP compared with spontaneous vaginal delivery. Symptomatic POP increased 3% (OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01-1.05) with each unit increase of current BMI and by 3% (OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.02-1.05) for each 100 g increase of infant birthweight. Mothers £160 cm who delivered a child with birthweight ‡4000 g had a doubled prevalence of sPOP compared with short mothers who delivered an infant weighing <4000 g (24.2 versus 13.4%, OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.19-3.55). Women with sPOP had UI and UI > 10 years more often than women without prolapse. ConclusionThe prevalence of sPOP was doubled after vaginal delivery compared with caesarean section, two decades after one birth. Infant birthweight and current BMI were risk factors for sPOP after vaginal delivery.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors for urinary incontinence (UI) 20 years after one vaginal delivery or one caesarean section.Design Registry-based national cohort study.Setting Women who returned postal questionnaires (response rate 65.2%) in 2008.Population Singleton primiparae who delivered in the period [1985][1986][1987][1988] with no further births (n = 5236).Methods The Swedish Pregnancy, Obesity and Pelvic Floor (SWEPOP) study linked Medical Birth Register (MBR) data to a questionnaire about UI.Main outcome measures Prevalence of UI and UI for more than 10 years (UI > 10 years) were assessed 20 years after childbirth.Results The prevalence of UI (40.3 versus 28.8%; OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.45-1.92) and UI > 10 years (10.1 versus 3.9%; OR 2.75; 95% CI 2.02-3.75) was higher in women after vaginal delivery than after caesarean section. There was no difference in the prevalence of UI or UI > 10 years after an acute caesarean section or an elective caesarean section. We found an 8% increased risk of UI per current body mass index (BMI) unit, and age at delivery increased the UI risk by 3% annually.Conclusions Two decades after one birth, vaginal delivery was associated with a 67% increased risk of UI, and UI > 10 years increased by 275% compared with caesarean section. Our data indicate that it is necessary to perform eight or nine caesarean sections to avoid one case of UI. Weight control is an important prophylactic measure to reduce UI.

There is currently little information on changes in vitamin D status during pregnancy and its predictors. The aim was to study the determinants of change in vitamin D status during pregnancy and of vitamin D deficiency (<30 nmol/L) in early pregnancy. Blood was drawn in the first (T1) and third trimester (T3). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) (N = 1985) was analysed by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. Season-corrected 25(OH)D was calculated by fitting cosine functions to the data. Mean (standard deviation) 25(OH)D was 64.5(24.5) nmol/L at T1 and 74.6(34.4) at T3. Mean age was 31.3(4.9) years, mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.5(4.2) kg/m2 and 74% of the women were born in Sweden. Vitamin D deficiency was common among women born in Africa (51%) and Asia (46%) and prevalent in 10% of the whole cohort. Determinants of vitamin D deficiency at T1 were of non-North European origin, and had less sun exposure, lower vitamin D intake and lower age. Season-corrected 25(OH)D increased by 11(23) nmol/L from T1 to T3. The determinants of season-corrected change in 25(OH)D were origin, sun-seeking behaviour, clothing style, dietary vitamin D intake, vitamin D supplementation and recent travel <35° N. In conclusion, season-corrected 25(OH)D concentration increased during pregnancy and depended partly on lifestyle factors. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was low but common among women born in Africa and Asia. Among them, the determinants of both vitamin D deficiency and change in season-corrected vitamin D status were fewer, indicating a smaller effect of sun exposure.

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Objective To study the effect of one vaginal delivery (VD) compared with one caesarean section (CS) on the prevalence, severity and bothersomeness of urinary incontinence (UI) subtypes-stress (SUI), urge (UUI) and mixed (MUI)-20 years after delivery.Design Registry-based national cohort study.Setting Women who returned postal questionnaires (response rate 65.2%) in 2008.Population Primiparae with one birth in 1985-88 (n = 5236) and no further births.Methods Medical Birth Register data were linked to a questionnaire. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis were used to obtain adjusted prevalences and odds ratios (adjOR).Main outcome measures Prevalence, risk factors, severity, bothersomeness of UI subtypes.Results The prevalence of SUI, UUI and MUI was 15.3, 6.1, 14.4%, respectively, and was higher for all subtypes after VD versus CS. Moderate to severe incontinence was more prevalent after VD (21.3%) compared with CS (13.5%; adjOR 1.68, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.40-2.03). Bothersome incontinence differed between MUI (38.9%), UUI (27.1%) and SUI (18.0%). The prevalence of bothersome UI was higher after VD compared with CS (11.2 versus 6.3%; adjOR 1.85, 95% CI 1.42-2.39) and consulting a doctor for UI was reported more often after VD than CS. Bothersome MUI occurred in 40.0% of incontinent women after VD compared with 29.9% after CS (adjOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.07-2.54). Symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse was an important modifier of UI with regard to its prevalence, duration, type and bothersomeness.Conclusion The prevalence of SUI, UUI and MUI was higher and moderate to severe UI and bothersome UI were reported more often after VD than CS 20 years after one delivery.Keywords Bothersomeness, caesarean section, epidemiology, mixed urinary incontinence, severity, stress urinary incontinence, urge urinary incontinence, vaginal delivery.Please cite this paper as: Gyhagen M, Bullarbo M, Nielsen TF, Milsom I. A comparison of the long-term consequences of vaginal delivery versus caesarean section on the prevalence, severity and bothersomeness of urinary incontinence subtypes: a national cohort study in primiparous women. BJOG 2013;120:1548-1555.

BackgroundWe investigated the associations between vitamin D status in early and late pregnancy with neonatal small for gestational age (SGA), low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery. Furthermore, associations between vitamin D status and pregnancy loss were studied.MethodsSerum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) was sampled in gestational week ≤ 16 (trimester 1 (T1), N = 2046) and > 31 (trimester 3 (T3), N = 1816) and analysed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Pregnant women were recruited at antenatal clinics in south-west Sweden at latitude 57–58°N. Gestational and neonatal data were retrieved from medical records. Multiple gestations and terminated pregnancies were excluded from the analyses. SGA was defined as weight and/or length at birth < 2 SD of the population mean and LBW as < 2500 g. Preterm delivery was defined as delivery < 37 + 0 gestational weeks and pregnancy loss as spontaneous abortion or intrauterine fetal death. Associations between neonatal outcomes and 25OHD at T1, T3 and change in 25OHD (T3-T1) were studied using logistic regression.ResultsT1 25OHD was negatively associated with pregnancy loss and 1 nmol/L increase in 25OHD was associated with 1% lower odds of pregnancy loss (OR 0.99, p = 0.046). T3 25OHD ≥ 100 nmol/L (equal to 40 ng/ml) was associated with lower odds of SGA (OR 0.3, p = 0.031) and LBW (OR 0.2, p = 0.046), compared to vitamin D deficiency (25OHD < 30 nmol/L, or 12 ng/ml). Women with a ≥ 30 nmol/L increment in 25OHD from T1 to T3 had the lowest odds of SGA, LBW and preterm delivery.ConclusionsVitamin D deficiency in late pregnancy was associated with higher odds of SGA and LBW. Lower 25OHD in early pregnancy was only associated with pregnancy loss. Vitamin D status trajectory from early to late pregnancy was inversely associated with SGA, LBW and preterm delivery with the lowest odds among women with the highest increment in 25OHD. Thus, both higher vitamin D status in late pregnancy and gestational vitamin D status trajectory can be suspected to play a role in healthy pregnancy.

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Late FI and AI prevalences were higher after VD compared with CS. Perineal tear (≥second degree) versus no tear doubled the prevalence of FI. FI prevalence was similar after a CS and a VD combined with episiotomy.