Lack of consultant obstetrician is not associated with worse outcomes in babies, UK study shows

No difference was found in maternal or neonatal morbidity according to whether a baby was delivered in normal working hours with a consultant present on the labour ward or delivered out of hours when care was managed by other members of the obstetric team, a UK study has shown.1

Concerns have arisen that a lack of senior obstetricians on labour wards outside normal hours may lead to poorer outcomes in babies delivered during these times.

To investigate any differences in obstetric outcomes and interventions between babies born out of hours and those born in normal working hours, researchers carried out a multicentre cohort study using electronic patient data from 19 obstetric units from across the United Kingdom from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. …