INTRODUCTION: Research has shown good outcomes among individual low-risk women who receive perinatal care from midwives, yet little is known about how hospital-level variation in midwifery care relates to procedure use and maternal health. This study aimed to document the association between the hospital-level proportion of midwife-attended births and obstetric procedure utilization. METHODS: This analysis used 2 data sources: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database data for New York in 2014, and New York State Department of Health data on the percentage of midwife-attended births at hospitals in the state in 2014. Using logistic regression, we estimated the association between the hospital-level percentage of midwife-attended births and 4 outcomes among low-risk women: labor induction, cesarean birth, episiotomy, and severe maternal morbidity. RESULTS: Hospital-level percentage of midwife-attended births was not associated with reduced odds of labor induction or severe maternal morbidity. Women who gave births at hospitals with more midwife-attended births had lower odds of giving birth by cesarean (eg, adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.82 at a hospital with 15% to 40% of births attended by midwives, compared to no midwife-attended births) and lower odds of episiotomy (eg, aOR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.23-0.74 at a hospital with more than 40% of births attended by midwives, compared to no midwife-attended births). DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that hospitals with more midwife-attended births have lower utilization of some obstetric procedures among low-risk women; this raises the possibility of improving value in maternity care through greater access to midwifery care.
INTRODUCTION: Research has shown good outcomes among individual low-risk women who receive perinatal care from midwives, yet little is known about how hospital-level variation in midwifery care relates to procedure use and maternal health. This study aimed to document the association between the hospital-level proportion of midwife-attended births and obstetric procedure utilization. METHODS: This analysis used 2 data sources: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database data for New York in 2014, and New York State Department of Health data on the percentage of midwife-attended births at hospitals in the state in 2014. Using logistic regression, we estimated the association between the hospital-level percentage of midwife-attended births and 4 outcomes among low-risk women: labor induction, cesarean birth, episiotomy, and severe maternal morbidity. RESULTS: Hospital-level percentage of midwife-attended births was not associated with reduced odds of labor induction or severe maternal morbidity. Women who gave births at hospitals with more midwife-attended births had lower odds of giving birth by cesarean (eg, adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.82 at a hospital with 15% to 40% of births attended by midwives, compared to no midwife-attended births) and lower odds of episiotomy (eg, aOR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.23-0.74 at a hospital with more than 40% of births attended by midwives, compared to no midwife-attended births). DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that hospitals with more midwife-attended births have lower utilization of some obstetric procedures among low-risk women; this raises the possibility of improving value in maternity care through greater access to midwifery care.
Authors: Denise Colter Smith; Julia C Phillippi; Nancy K Lowe; Rachel Blankstein Breman; Nicole S Carlson; Jeremy L Neal; Eric Gutierrez; Ellen L Tilden Journal: J Midwifery Womens Health Date: 2019-09-25 Impact factor: 2.388
Authors: Lisa M Korst; Kimberly D Gregory; Lisa A Nicholas; Samia Saeb; David J Reynen; Jennifer L Troyan; Naomi Greene; Moshe Fridman Journal: Matern Health Neonatol Perinatol Date: 2021-01-06