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CME Credit Offered
CME Credit Offered
Abstract Award
Abstract Award
Recording available 2/16-5/2
Recording available 2/16-5/2
AIUM Credit
AIUM Credit
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Foundation Awardee
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Abstract Award
Abstract Award
Foundation Awardee
Foundation Awardee

Poster Session 1

Category: Neonatology

Poster Session 1

(354) Outcomes of congenital heart disease deliveries at a freestanding children's hospital

Wednesday, February 11, 2026
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM  

    Submitting Author and Presenting Author(s)

  • Sarah J. Kopp, BS, MD

    Resident Physician
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

    • Coauthor(s)

  • MH

    Mounira A. Habli, BS, MD, MS

    Associate Professor
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

  • TT

    Taylor M. Trussell, BS, MD

    Cardiology Clinical Fellow
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

  • AD

    Allison Divanovic, BA, MD

    Professor of Pediatrics
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

  • JA

    Jeffrey Alten, MD

    Professor of Pediatrics
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

  • JC

    James F. Cnota, MD, MS

    Professor of Pediatrics
    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
    Cincinnati Children's, Ohio, United States

Objective:
Special delivery units (SDU) at freestanding pediatric hospitals enable infants with life-threatening conditions, such as critical congenital heart defects (CCHD), to be born where they will receive specialty postnatal care. Outcomes data are limited. In pregnancies complicated by CCHD, we compared maternal/infant outcomes of deliveries at our institution’s SDU and local level III delivery units. We also assessed how social drivers of health (SDoH) influenced SDU eligibility, given that medical comorbidities primarily determine delivery location.

Study Design:
Retrospective cohort study of mother-infant dyads with prenatal diagnoses of CCHD born between 2019-2025. Infant and maternal variables are detailed in Tables 1 and 2. We evaluated SDoH with geo-coded deprivation index, insurance type, and maternal ethnicity/race. Descriptive statistics were presented as median (interquartile range) or percentages and frequencies. Continuous variables were compared between delivery location using Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test. Categorical variables were compared using Chi-squared test.

Results:

Among 384 dyads, 91% of the 285 eligible mothers delivered at SDU. Aortic coarctation/hypoplasia was the most common CCHD (n=142, 37%). Outcomes are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. Mothers with higher deprivation index scores were less likely to be eligible for SDU delivery (p=0.032). There was a significant difference between insurance type and SDU eligibility, with higher rates of private insurance at SDU (40% vs 34%). Maternal race/ethnicity was not associated with eligibility.

Conclusion:

SDU is associated with more frequent vaginal delivery and improved early infant outcomes, though not with later infant hospitalization measures. Breastmilk provision was higher, suggesting that the dyad interaction may enhance SDU value. SDU eligibility, reflecting maternal delivery risk, is associated with some measures of SDoH and may contribute to health disparities.