Is maternity care different in family practice? A pilot matched pair study.

In this pilot study, 81 patients booked for delivery by family physicians were matched to patients booked for delivery by obstetricians. Patients in both groups were at low obstetric risk. They were matched by age, parity, blood pressure, gestational age at delivery, and socioeconomic status. Patients booked with family physicians experienced fewer artificial rupture of membranes, inductions of labor, episiotomies, and forceps deliveries than those booked with obstetricians. These patients also spent a shorter time in hospital in spite of longer second stages of labor. Infant outcomes were equivalent in the two groups. A simple method of audit of maternity care that permits comparisons of the care provided by family physicians and obstetricians for obstetrically similar patients is described. This methodology employs matching within a given institution and facilitates the multicentered studies required to obtain the large populations needed to compare the process and outcome of infant and maternal care provided by these two types of physicians.