An audit of prescribing in an obstetric service.

An audit of drug prescribing was carried out in an obstetric service. Sixty-five different drugs were prescribed in 976 separate prescriptions. Nitrazepam and paracetamol accounted for 75 per cent of all prescriptions. Many of the prescriptions were incomplete. In 83 per cent of cases the drugs prescribed were not referred to in the patients' case notes, suggesting that their prescription did not form part of a therapeutic plan for the patient.