Trends in outcome measurements
Table 1 shows the trends in the primary outcomes, both 5-minute Apgar score of <7 and <4. An Apgar score <7 was present in 1.20% of all liveborn singletons, and significantly increased by 36.5% over the years (from 1.04% in 2010 to 1.42% in 2019 (p <0.0001)). A 5-minute Apgar score <4 was recorded in 0.18% of all liveborn infants. The Apgar score <4 increased significantly by 11.8% over time (from 0.17% in 2010 to 0.19% in 2019, p =0.0003).
Table 2 shows the trends in the secondary outcome measurements. Neonatal mortality within the first week of life was 0.049%, and within the first month was 0.059%. Both remained stable over the study period. The percentage of infants being admitted to the NICU for 24 hours or more increased by 19.3% from 0.57% in 2010 to 0.68% in 2019 (p <0.0001). Arterial umbilical cord blood pH’s were available in 9.6% of all liveborn infants during the whole study period. The availability increased from 6.8% in 2010 to 10.8% in 2019 (p<0.001). Over the years, we observed a significant increase in proportion of infants with an umbilical artery pH <7.1 and pH <7.0 (both p <0.0001).