TY - JOUR
T1 - “I had given up on being a mother”
T2 - a survey of 183 women’s experience of transabdominal cerclage (TAC)
AU - Carter, Jenny
AU - Deery, Joanne
AU - Chandiramani, Manju
AU - Shennan, Andrew
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank members of the UK TAC Support Facebook Group for participating in this project and sharing their experiences.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/10/24
Y1 - 2023/10/24
N2 - Background: Transabdominal cerclage (TAC) is a relatively uncommon intervention for preventing preterm birth. This study aimed to investigate the experience of women who had undergone this procedure. Methods: The survey was designed in collaboration with a preterm birth studies public and patient involvement (PPI) group and ethical approval was granted by KCL BDM Research Ethics Panel (LRS-19/20-13205). Members of closed Facebook group, UK TAC Support, were invited to complete an online questionnaire about their experience of TAC, and pregnancies before and after having it placed. The survey was open between December 2019 and May 2020. Open and closed questions provided both qualitative and quantitative data for analysis, which was carried out using NVivo Pro 2020 v.1.4.1 qualitative data management software and SPSS Statistics 27 (IBM). Results: One hundred eighty-three participants completed the survey, having had TAC procedures carried out in 36 hospitals. Altogether, participants had experienced 287 preterm births (PTB) and late miscarriages (LM), equating to an average of 1.6 each (range 0–5), including 18 stillbirths. TAC was indicated in 123 (67%) for previous PTB and/or LM, 29 (16%) for cervical surgery and 31 (17%) for both. 151 (83%) TAC procedures were open, 32 (17%) laparoscopic. 86% (n = 157) were placed outside pregnancy. Of those placed in pregnancy, gestation at TAC ranged from 7 to 16 weeks. When comparing earliest pre- and post-TAC pregnancy gestation (excluding first trimester losses), median gestational weeks gained following TAC was 15.5 weeks (SD 6.89). Qualitative themes included: the struggle to get treatment; lack of TAC knowledge amongst clinicians; gratitude, hope and feeling protected; possible detrimental effects of TAC. Conclusions: This very high-risk group found having a TAC gave great reassurance and hope, and were very grateful to have found the care they needed. However, they often struggled to get this support, frequently due to lack of clinician awareness. This may improve following roll-out of NHS England’s Saving Babies Live Care Bundle and NHS commissioning guidelines for care of women at risk of PTB.
AB - Background: Transabdominal cerclage (TAC) is a relatively uncommon intervention for preventing preterm birth. This study aimed to investigate the experience of women who had undergone this procedure. Methods: The survey was designed in collaboration with a preterm birth studies public and patient involvement (PPI) group and ethical approval was granted by KCL BDM Research Ethics Panel (LRS-19/20-13205). Members of closed Facebook group, UK TAC Support, were invited to complete an online questionnaire about their experience of TAC, and pregnancies before and after having it placed. The survey was open between December 2019 and May 2020. Open and closed questions provided both qualitative and quantitative data for analysis, which was carried out using NVivo Pro 2020 v.1.4.1 qualitative data management software and SPSS Statistics 27 (IBM). Results: One hundred eighty-three participants completed the survey, having had TAC procedures carried out in 36 hospitals. Altogether, participants had experienced 287 preterm births (PTB) and late miscarriages (LM), equating to an average of 1.6 each (range 0–5), including 18 stillbirths. TAC was indicated in 123 (67%) for previous PTB and/or LM, 29 (16%) for cervical surgery and 31 (17%) for both. 151 (83%) TAC procedures were open, 32 (17%) laparoscopic. 86% (n = 157) were placed outside pregnancy. Of those placed in pregnancy, gestation at TAC ranged from 7 to 16 weeks. When comparing earliest pre- and post-TAC pregnancy gestation (excluding first trimester losses), median gestational weeks gained following TAC was 15.5 weeks (SD 6.89). Qualitative themes included: the struggle to get treatment; lack of TAC knowledge amongst clinicians; gratitude, hope and feeling protected; possible detrimental effects of TAC. Conclusions: This very high-risk group found having a TAC gave great reassurance and hope, and were very grateful to have found the care they needed. However, they often struggled to get this support, frequently due to lack of clinician awareness. This may improve following roll-out of NHS England’s Saving Babies Live Care Bundle and NHS commissioning guidelines for care of women at risk of PTB.
KW - Cerclage
KW - Preterm birth
KW - Survey
KW - TAC
KW - Transabdominal cerclage
KW - Women’s experience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174840763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12884-023-06001-w
DO - 10.1186/s12884-023-06001-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 37875796
AN - SCOPUS:85174840763
SN - 1471-2393
VL - 23
JO - BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
JF - BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
IS - 1
M1 - 751
ER -