Patterns of Delivery Following in Utero Transfer for Extremely Preterm Birth: A Retrospective Cohort Study From a London Tertiary Centre - Summary - MDSpire
To describe delivery after in utero transfer (IUT) for threatened extremely preterm birth at a London tertiary centre, including delivery rates, transfer-to-delivery intervals, and maternal length of stay.
Approach:
Design and setting: Retrospective cohort study at St George's Hospital, a tertiary neonatal intensive care centre in the London Operational Delivery Network.
Participants: All women accepted for IUT from January 2021 through December 2025 who met the study's gestational-age and clinical criteria.
Data and analysis: Records were reviewed for 126 IUT episodes. Outcomes included delivery at the receiving centre, time to delivery, and maternal length of stay; categorical comparisons used Fisher's exact test.
Key Findings:
There were 126 IUT episodes; 50% of transfers occurred before 26 weeks' gestation.
The most frequently recorded transfer indications were preterm labour (55.5%), maternal sepsis (31.0%), and antepartum haemorrhage (21.4%).
After transfer, 53 of 126 women (42%) delivered at St George's Hospital.
No woman underwent IUT on two occasions during the study.
Interpretation:
The supplied results describe the cohort and the proportion delivering at the receiving centre. The provided context does not include the transfer-to-delivery interval or further outcome results.
Limitations:
The study was retrospective and conducted at a single tertiary centre.
Sepsis was based on clinician-documented suspicion at referral, not a standardised diagnostic definition.
Transfer indications were not mutually exclusive, so women with multiple indications were included in more than one indication comparison.
