Transporting placentas together with asphyxiated babies to be cooled: preliminary findings from regional survey

Objective. Our objective was to investigate pediatricians’ and gynecologists’ knowledge regarding the importance of placentas and their inclination to transport placenta with the baby as they call for neonatal emergency transport service.
Materials and Methods. We elaborated a survey which was submitted to neonatologists and obstetricians of 7 hospitals (1 tertiary center and 6 primary centers) from the Liguria region. The questionnaire, which included eight questions, was submitted telephonically.
Results. The response rate was 84%: 94 patients underwent the questionnaire. Only 29.8% had ever participated in a training event focusing on the potential help of the placenta in clarifying the nature of perinatal asphyxia. The most frequent (72.5%) placental alteration reported was fetal vascular malperfusion. Almost all the participants (97.8%) knew placental alterations can be associated with MRI brain lesions. Eighty-nine % of our population judged the placenta helpful in understanding the causes of perinatal asphyxia, 87.2% recognized its medico-legal relevance. The attention to undergo placental transport was inhomogeneous: 61.7% of patients in the spoke centers usually asked for placenta while in Center 6 and 7 only 14.3% offered transport; no pediatrician of Center 4 did so.
Conclusions. The majority of patients had never participated in a training event about “placentas in neonatal asphyxia”, the majority of those who had participated were gynecologists. Clinicians demonstrated they were well informed about the importance of placental analysis from a clinical and from a medico-legal point of view although only a minority offered transport of the placenta together with the asphyxiated newborn.