Welcome to our regular page of highlights from the RANZCOG peer-reviewed academic journal, ANZJOG.

First up is the news that the 2015 Journal Citation Reports¹ were released in June and I am very pleased to report that ANZJOG’s 2015 Impact Factor is 1.738 – an increase to the 1.510 Impact Factor of 2014. The journal’s ranking in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology category is 43/80. This excellent increase was achieved under the editorship of my predecessor, Prof Jan Dickinson; the Associate Editors and I extend our congratulations to her.

We are sorry to announce that Dr Gerry Wain, who is retiring from gynaecological oncology practice, is also retiring from the Editorial Board, though we wish him a long and enjoyable retirement. Gerry has served as Associate Editor in his specialty since 2010, and has made a huge contribution to the journal in this area. The June issue of ANZJOG has a section devoted to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health, with a guest editorial from Profs Jacqueline Boyle and Sandra Eades, and four original contributions. Our guest editors, who have enormous experience in the area of Indigenous women’s health, conclude that there have been improvements at all levels of healthcare, but that inequalities persist, and ‘the reasons for these inequalities are complex’.² They make a number of suggestions for how better outcomes might be achieved.

A study by Whish-Wilson et al³ of urban Victorian Indigenous women attending a Melbourne hospital for pregnancy care shows similar outcomes to non-Indigenous women with regard to low birthweight and preterm birth, and the incidence of diabetes in pregnancy was lower among Indigenous women attending for antenatal care than among non-Indigenous. However, smoking in pregnancy and obesity remain major problems for Indigenous women in this cohort. From Western Australia (WA) Diouf et al⁴ also report high levels of smoking among Indigenous women who attended for antenatal and intrapartum care across the state in 1986–2009, a higher incidence of diabetes in pregnancy, and higher risks of stillbirth, neonatal death and preterm birth than among non-Indigenous women, although there was an encouraging trend towards fewer teenage pregnancies and lower incidences of pre-eclampsia and antepartum haemorrhage. Also from WA, Bower et al⁵ report on the impact of the introduction of folate fortification of flour for bread-making on the red cell folate levels of a cohort of Aboriginal women and men, finding that levels have risen since a similar pre-fortification study. All participants reported eating shop-bought fortified bread at least once a week, and no participant was folate-deficient in the current study. The authors also report a 68 per cent decline in the incidence of neural tube defects as recorded in the WA Register of Developmental Anomalies, an impressive result.

Finally, among articles on Indigenous women’s health, Kandasamy et al⁶, in an opinion piece, note that stillbirth (SB) rates have remained unchanged across Australia over the past decade and that figures for Indigenous births are twice those of non-Indigenous. Fetal autopsy is essential to determining possibly preventable causes of SB and the authors believe there is a need to identify both facilitators and barriers to obtaining consent for autopsy from Indigenous women and their families, in a culturally safe and appropriate manner, if progress is to be made in this area.

Submissions to ANZJOG in recent months have trended strongly towards obstetric topics rather than gynaecological, and this can be seen in this issue by the number of obstetric Original Manuscripts – ten plus three in the Indigenous health section, versus one gynaecological. Topics covered in the obstetric articles include thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy,⁷ outcomes for MCDA twins following laser therapy for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome,⁸ the mixed and sometimes inaccurate information being given by professionals to the parents of extremely preterm babies⁹ and an interesting article on gestational surrogacy.¹⁰

Our one gynaecological Original Manuscript describes a case series of women with spontaneous regression of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia¹¹ and a Short Communication looks at micronised progesterone for menopausal hormonal therapy.¹² There is also a thoughtful review on a gynaecological topic: the controversy surrounding the use of dexamethasone for the prevention of female virilisation in congenital adrenal hyperplasia.¹³

I have also instituted a new section, Sexual and Reproductive Health, with the inaugural article describing variations in the post-abortion initiation of long-acting reversible contraception in a cohort of New Zealand women.¹⁴

The August issue of ANZJOG will include five articles on the subject of diabetes and pregnancy, a topic on which we are currently receiving a large number of submissions. We will also return to a more balanced number of a variety of gynaecological topics.

1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subject/code/000090/homepage/new_2015_ impact_factors_in_obstetrics___ gynecology.htm?elq_mid=10186&elq_ cid=1562465.
2. Boyle J, Eades S. Closing the gap in Aboriginal women’s reproductive health: some progress, but still a long way to go. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 223-224. doi:10.1111/ajo.12470.
3. Whish-Wilson T, Tacey M, McCarthy E, Howat P. Indigenous birth outcomes at a Victorian urban hospital, a retrospective 5-year cohort study 2010-2014. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 238-244. doi:10.1111/ajo.12439.
4. Diouf I, Gubhaju L, Chamberlain, et al. Trends in maternal and newborn health characteristics and obstetric interventions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers in Western Australia from 1986 to 2009. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 245-251. doi:10.1111/ajo.12416.
5. Bower C, Maxwell S, Hickling S, et al.Folate status in Aboriginal people before and after mandatory fortification of flour for bread-making in Australia. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 233-237. doi:10.1111/ajo.12425.
6. Kandasamy Y, Kilcullen M, Watson D. Fetal autopsy and closing the gap. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 252-254. doi:10.1111/
   ajo.12421.
7. Blumenthal NJ, Byth K, Eastman CJ. Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and thyroid antibodies in a private obstetrical practice in Sydney. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 307-311. doi:10.1111/ajo.12462.
8. Wilson I, Henry A, Hinch E, et al. Audit of immediate outcomes for MCDA twins following laser therapy for twin–twin transfusion syndrome at the NSW Fetal Therapy Centre. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 289-294. doi:10.1111/ajo.12464.
9. Boland RA, Davis PG, Dawson JA, Doyle LW. What are we telling the parents of extremely preterm babies?. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 274-281. doi:10.1111/ajo.12448.
10. Wang AY, Dill SK, Bowman M, Sullivan EA. Gestational surrogacy in Australia 2004-2011: treatment, pregnancy and birth outcomes. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 255-259. doi:10.1111/ajo.12451.
11. Hilton J, Perkins N, Tabrizi SN, Jones RW. A case series of young women with spontaneous regression of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia: Demographics and associated HPV genotypes. 2016;ANZJOG, 56: 312-314. doi:10.1111/ajo.12455.
12. Davis SR, DempsAter G, Bell RJ. The use of micronised progesterone for menopausal hormone therapy, a clinical practice audit. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 323-325. doi:10.1111/ajo.12453. 
13. Heland S, Hewitt JK, McGillivray G, Walker SP. Preventing female virilisation in congenital adrenal hyperplasia: The controversial role of antenatal dexamethasone. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 225-232. doi:10.1111/ajo.12423.
14. Rose SB, Garrett SM. Regional variation in postabortion initiation of long-acting reversible contraception in New Zealand. ANZJOG, 2016;56: 315-322. doi:10.1111/ajo.12463.