Family practice obstetrics in a teaching hospital. Does a tertiary care environment make a difference?
OBJECTIVE
To determine referral rates, to study the nature of consultations with obstetricians, and to examine how both patient and physician characteristics affect referrals.


METHODS
Case series. Retrospective review of hospital records.


METHODS
Victoria Hospital, a tertiary care centre affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont.


METHODS
Five hundred forty-two women admitted consecutively for delivery under the care of family physicians from October 1, 1990, to September 31, 1991.


METHODS
The number and types of obstetrical consultations obtained for the study population.


RESULTS
Of the 50.7% of cases requiring consultation, half were delivered by obstetricians. The most common reasons for consultation were failure to progress in labour, induction of labour, posterior presentation, fetal distress, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. The most common reasons for obstetricians to attend delivery were to perform forceps rotations and cesarean sections.


CONCLUSIONS
Parity and risk classification were the two most important factors for predicting whether consultation would occur. The high rate of consultation in this study might relate to ease of access to consultation in a tertiary care environment. More study is needed to examine the reasons for consultation because it seems that some of the situations for which obstetricians were consulted could have been safely managed by family physicians.
Jordan
J M
JM
Department of Family Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London.
Gaspar
D
D
D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D009774:Obstetrics; D009864:Ontario; D010298:Parity; D018579:Patient Selection; D011247:Pregnancy; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment