I note with interest media attention to the comprehensive study recently completed relevant to the safety of midwifery care (in part as an alternative to obstetric medical management) across all pregnancies.
This study confirmed that over an impressively scaled and vigorously qualified study group, the relative safety of midwife managed pregnancies, including labour and delivery was confirmed. This included high risk pregnancies, in which a view has previously been held that obstetric management would be significantly safer. Women were generally no safer with an obstetrician involved in their care.
Interestingly the study also found a significantly reduced proportion of deliveries in which instrumental assistance via forceps etc occurred, without harm to the outcome. Whilst this was not surprising, the fact that the safety of outcomes did not seem harmed by this reduction is.
Further, though in my view, less importantly, it was confirmed that the overall costs associated with pregnancy and labour were on average more than $500.00 less when a midwifery care model was used than otherwise. This is a significant cost difference when the number of woman giving birth each year in Australia is considered.
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