Indications for Transfer and Care Pathways of Inuit Transferred to a Tertiary Centre for Childbirth in Québec,...

Childbirth evacuation, the transfer of patients from rural and remote communities to urban centres for pregnancy care or childbirth, can be associated with numerous adverse health outcomes and contributes to widening health disparities between Inuit and non-Indigenous populations in Québec. We examined the indications and outcomes of childbirth evacuations among Inuit from Nunavik, Northern Québec transferred to a southern tertiary care centre.

A 5-year retrospective chart review included 677 pregnancies of 597 Inuit with obstetric indications transferred to a tertiary care centre between 2015 and 2019.

The most common reasons for transfer were diabetes (70/677, 10.3%), hypertension (69/677, 10.2%), abnormal prenatal screen/soft markers (57/677, 8.4%), and threatened preterm labour (55/677, 8.1%). Of the 534 (78.9%) Inuit who gave birth at the tertiary centre, 84.1% (449/534) were vaginal births. Overall, 27.0% (144/534) had obstetric complications, with postpartum hemorrhage (58/534, 10.9%) and retained placenta (34, 6.37%) being the most common. Of the 549 neonates, 9 were stillbirths (1.6%), and 69 neonates (12.6%) required admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Approximately 3.4% (18/534) had complications within the postpartum period, with the most common being retained products of conception (4/18, 22.2%) and postpartum preeclampsia (4/18, 22.2%).

A relatively young and multiparous population, Inuit from Nunavik have unique health profiles and care needs. Further investment in health care capacity in Nunavik, alongside locally adapted, prevention-focused perinatal health programming, might improve perinatal health profiles and reduce the rates of childbirth evacuation.