Classification system for causes of perinatal deaths

Objective: To test the recently developed classification system for causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in data-rich settings (high-income and upper-middle income countries). This system combines key features of best performing HIC classification systems into a single system that reflects recent research:

• Ensuring alignment with the principles of the newly developed ICD-PM
• Reflecting expert-consensus characteristics of an effective global system
• Reflecting our analysis of systems currently in use and their alignment with the critical characteristics
• Incorporating recent findings on placental contributors to death
• Incorporating a minimum data set for perinatal deaths

Phase 1 case selection will occur through a purposive sample of 20 cases each from the Netherlands and Australia (40 total) to ensure review of the system functionality in terms of instructions for use and definitions across a range of case scenarios and to pilot test the data collection system.

Phase 2 case selection

Part a) Applying the systems ISA, ICD- PM, CODAC and PSANZ to perinatal deaths across each participating site (Australia, UK, USA and Brazil). This will involve each participating team to identify 100 consecutive cases of perinatal deaths from the most recent time period which fall into the case inclusion criteria.

Part b) Agreement study: AU, US and Brazil teams will be classifying the same 250 mater cases.

Research Team: Vicki Flenady, Ian Gallimore, Susannah Hopkins Leisher, Chrissie Astell, Guilherme de Jesús, Mu Cheng.