The selection of patients at the Groote Schuur Maternity Hospital.

The Peninsula Maternity and Neonatal Service (PMNS) was established on 1 January 1980 as a result of the regionalization of obstetric and neonatal services in the Cape Peninsula. Some 20000 deliveries per annum occur in the 5 maternity hospitals and 3 Midwife Obstetric Units (MOUs) under the aegis of the PMNS. As part of the reorganization of the service the booking and referral criteria have been revised, taking into account the function of the Groote Schuur Hospital Maternity Block as the high-risk unit. The concept of risk in perinatology is discussed. The booking and referral criteria are detailed under the headings of booking criteria for hospital and for MOUs and referral criteria from the MOU to hospital -- antenatally, in labour, in the puerperium and for neonatal problems.