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[Antenatal care in Norway--many unnecessary check ups]
1Fødeavdelingen St. Olavs Hospital 7006 Trondheim. bjorn.backe@medisin.ntnu.no
Background:
Until recently antenatal care in Norway has been provided solely by general practitioners. In 1995, it was laid down in law that the communities should offer antenatal care provided by midwives in community health centers. The resulting conflict between midwives and disagreeing general practitioners may have led to an increase in the number of antenatal visits. Also, the utilization of midwife-based antenatal care is unknown.
Material And Methods:
National cross-sectional study including all 54 hospital departments of obstetrics. For all patients number of antenatal visits and parity were recorded. The study included 1,780 women giving birth during the two-week registration period.
Results:
The mean number of antenatal care visits was 12.0 (range 0-44). The difference between primiparous (mean 12.4) and parous women (mean 11.7) was minor. Midwives provided 44% and doctors 56% of the antenatal visits. A total of 279 women (16%) had not seen a midwife during pregnancy; 3% had only seen a midwife and no doctor.
Interpretation:
The recommended reduction in the frequency of antenatal visits is not followed up. The proportion of visits performed by midwives is approaching the 50% level suggested in the guidelines for antenatal care.