Objective:

To apply the classification of term delivery of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, describe the frequency of the various categories, and explore neonatal outcomes among groups.

Materials and methods:

A cross-sectional study including pregnant women considered initially healthy with a term pregnancy defined on the basis of the last reliable menstruation and ultrasound performed in the first half of the gestation period in a private, Level III clinic, in Cali, Colombia, in 2013. Deliveries were classified as early term, term and late term. Social and demographic characteristics of the mothers and perinatal outcomes are described. The frequency of each category is described and group comparisons are performed using the variance analysis (ANOVA),and the Kruskal-Wallis or Chi-square test.

Results:

Of 502 births, 200 (39.8 %) were classified as early term, 354 (50.6 %) as full term, and 48 (9.6 %) as late term. There was a higher frequency of contributive insurance coverage and high risk pregnancies in the early term group. Statistically significant differences were observed in terms of low birth weight and average neonatal weight in the early term group, whereas neonatal asphyxia was higher in the late term group. There were no differences in terms of respiratory distress syndrome or length of stay.

Conclusion:

It is feasible to apply the new ACOG term pregnancy classification. The frequency of early term delivery is high in Colombia. There was no evidence of significant differences in neonatal outcomes between the three groups except for higher neonatal asphyxia in the late term group.

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