OBJECTIVE To examine the associations between mode of delivery and public versus privately funded obstetric care within the same hospital setting. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Urban maternity hospital in Ireland. POPULATION A total of 30 053 women with singleton pregnancies who delivered between 2008 and 2011. METHODS The study population was divided into those who booked ...

Teenage pregnancy is recognized in many countries as a health risk associated with a higher rate of maternal and fetal complications, particularly in developing countries with limited obstetric facilities. This study compares the obstetric outcomes of teenagers (age -20 years) with those of 20–29year-old mothers. The data were collected from the records of pregnant women admitted for delivery a...

This article presents findings from a study on women's delivery care-seeking in two regions of Guinea. We explored exposure to interventions promoting birth preparedness and complication readiness among women with recent live births and stillbirths. Using multivariate regression models, we identified factors associated with women's knowledge and practices related to birth preparedness, as well ...

Introduction: We examined the perinatal outcomes in Japanese singleton pregnancies associated with meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) in relation to gestational age at delivery. Methods: We reviewed the obstetric records of all Japanese singleton deliveries after 22 weeks’ gestation managed at Japanese Red Cross Katsushika Maternity Hospital between 2002 and 2008 (n = 11,249). Results: The ...

OBJECTIVE We sought to assess the modern prevalence and risk factors for third- and fourth-degree perineal tears. STUDY DESIGN The study population comprised 38,252 women who delivered in one medical center, from January 2005 through December 2009, and met the following inclusion criteria: singleton pregnancy, vertex presentation, and vaginal delivery. Of these, 96 women (0.25%) sustained thi...

BACKGROUND As part of efforts to reduce maternal deaths in Nigeria, pregnant women are being encouraged to give birth in healthcare facilities. However, little is known about whether or not available healthcare facilities can cope with an increasing demand for obstetric care. We thus carried out this survey as a rapid and tactical assessment of facility quality. We visited 121 healthcare facili...

Emergency department (ED) births are rare. In most cases, patients in labor are triaged directly to the obstetric suite for urgent management, maintaining a continuum of care with their primary providers. Because some births are precipitous and obstetric resources may not be immediately available, the emergency physician must possess the basic skills for intrapartum management of both normal an...

BACKGROUND Obstetric fistula is a worldwide problem that is devastating for women in developing countries. The cardinal cause of obstetric fistula is prolonged obstructed labour and delay in seeking emergency obstetric care. Awareness about obstetric fistula is still low in developing countries. The objective was to assess the awareness about risk factors of obstetric fistulae in rural communit...

To assess coverage and quality of essential obstetric care (EOC) and the appropriateness of using processindicators, a 3-month follow-up study was done in Rufiji district, Tanzania, involving 2 hospitals, 4 health centres, 10 large dispensaries and 10 randomly selected small dispensaries. Data collection was done on process indicators as suggested by UNICEF/WHO/UNFPA (UN) and 'unmet obstetric n...

In the United States obstetric anesthesia has been a major subspecialty of anesthesiology for a long time and is now an integral part of practice of most anesthesiologists1. An obstetric anesthesiologist has become an essential member of the obstetric care team, who closely works with the obstetrician, family practitioner, midwife, neonatologist and Labor and Delivery nurse to ensure the highes...