The unbooked mother at Tygerberg Hospital. A prospective controlled study.

A prospective controlled study was carried out at Tygerberg Hospital to ascertain the difference between booked and unbooked mothers with regard to social and medical aspects and knowledge of the medical system. Thirty unbooked mothers were compared with 77 booked mothers. The general picture that emerged was that the unbooked mother is young, unmarried and unemployed, has a low income and has no permanent relationship with the father of the infant. However, she knows where the antenatal clinic is and that she should and when she should attend. The reasons for not attending were non-specific. There was no difference between the two groups as regards level of education. The obstetric complications in the unbooked group were premature labour, premature rupture of the membranes and intra-uterine death. These did not occur in the control group. It is suggested that an important difference between booked and unbooked patients is personality and attitude towards pregnancy and parenthood.