CESAREAN-SECTION RATES AND PERINATAL OUTCOMES IN RESIDENT AND MIDWIFEATTENDED LOW-RISK DELIVERIES

Cesarean section rates and perinatal outcomes of low risk pregnancies were evaluated in two different Turkish state hospitals. In this retro spective study, we compared cesarean section rates of 1668 low risk an d non-private pregnancies managed by residents (group 1) and midwives (group 2), 53.3% and 46.6%, respectively. All patients belonged to a l ow socioeconomic class and none of them paid hospital costs themselves . Patient characteristics, mode of delivery and perinatal outcome info rmation were studied by blind reviewers. Although patient characterist ics and perinatal outcomes among the two groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05), the cesarean section rate was three times hig her in the resident group (9.88% vs. 3.08%) and this difference was st atistically significant (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that reduci ng the expanded use of cesarean section for low risk pregnancies in te aching hospitals would not have an adverse effect on perinatal outcome .