Is outcome for general practitioner obstetricians influenced by workload and locality?

Maternal and perinatal morbidity and transfer patterns were examined to assess the influence of the number of deliveries performed by each general practitioner obstetrician and the distance from specialist care. There were statistically significant differences in transfer patterns between urban and rural practitioners and between those practitioners delivering fewer than twenty per year and those delivering twenty or more per year. Antenatally, rural practitioners transferred more of their patients to the base hospital and those practitioners delivering fewer than twenty per year had higher transfer rates than those delivering twenty or more per year. During labour the transfer rate was lowest for rural practitioners delivering more than 20 babies per year. Urban practitioners in comparison to rural practitioners delivered a significantly greater proportion of women who were considered to have a moderate or high obstetric risk. No association was found between the number of deliveries undertaken by general practitioners both urban and rural and maternal and neonatal morbidity. The proportion of women and neonates who had a score which indicated a less favourable outcome for maternal and neonatal morbidity, was higher for urban practitioners than for rural practitioners.