title: Acute childbirth morbidity: its measurement using hospital charges.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An analytic descriptive analysis of acute childbirth morbidity was carried out at Duke University Medical Center, comparing patients delivered by primary cesarean section with those delivered vaginally.
  
  
  METHODS
  All primary cesarean deliveries and vaginal deliveries from July 1, 1981, through June 30, 1986, were combined with maternal and infant charge data. A total of 7256 patients were analyzed. A description of the charges for the associated diagnoses was carried out. A morbidity index was used to identify differences in predicted median hospital charges with 95% confidence intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ratio of mean primary cesarean delivery to mean vaginal delivery total charges was 2.5:1. The magnitude of the mean hospital charges was inversely related to the frequency of the indication with the lowest charges associated with dystocia and the highest with multiple pregnancy. Antepartum risk factors (increased maternal age, patient referral) were associated with increases in maternal and infant morbidity as measured by the morbidity index. Chronic maternal hypertension resulted in decreased maternal morbidity but increased infant morbidity when primary cesarean delivery was used. Although preterm delivery was associated with large increases in charges, it was not significantly altered by using primary cesarean delivery. Risk factors associated with the management of abnormalities of labor were associated with decreases in maternal and infant morbidity when primary cesarean delivery was used.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of acute childbirth morbidity, as measured by hospital charges, showed marked variation of diagnosis and risk-specific charges for patients delivered by primary cesarean section.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hage
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Helms
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Stead
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neyland
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Hammond
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009017:Morbidity; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies