Obstetrics & Gynecology Track the topics, authors and articles important to you
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Obstetrics & Gynecology 1999;93:338-340
© 1999 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by LEVINE, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by STROM, C. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by LEVINE, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by STROM, C. M.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Pediatrician Attendance at Cesarean Delivery: Necessary or Not?

ELLIOT M. LEVINE, MD, VIVEK GHAI, MD, JOHN J. BARTON, MD and CHARLES M. STROM, MD, PhD

From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Department of Pediatrics, Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

Address reprint requests to: Elliot M. Levine, MD, Illinois Masonic Medical Center, 836 West Wellington Chicago, IL 60657, E-mail: infodoc{at}immc.org

Objective: To determine whether it is necessary for a pediatrician to attend all cesarean deliveries.

Methods: We analyzed a database of 17,867 consecutive deliveries to determine the rates of low Apgar scores in the following three groups of patients: those with vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery using regional anesthesia without fetal indication, and cesarean delivery for fetal indications or using general anesthesia.

Results: There was a significantly higher rate of low Apgar scores in the fetal indications or general anesthesia group when compared with vaginal deliveries. Specifically, 35 (5.8%) of 596 cesareans for fetal heart rate abnormality or using general anesthesia had 1-minute Apgars under 4 in contrast to 115 of 10,270 (1.1%) of vaginal deliveries. There was no significantly increased risk for low Apgar scores in the group of cesareans using regional anesthesia for nonfetal indications (33 of 2057, 1.6%). Results were similar for Apgar scores under 7 at 5 minutes.

Conclusion: Because there is no higher incidence of low Apgar scores in cesarean deliveries using regional anesthesia for nonfetal indications compared with vaginal deliveries, there is no convincing need for pediatrician attendance at such deliveries.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1999 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.