Intrapartum transfer from a birth centre to a hospital - reasons, procedures, and consequences

Investigation of the reasons for the transfer of women from a birth centre to a hospital in the course of childbirth as well as modalities and effects.

In the prospective investigation from September 1, 1999 to August 31, 2001, information was collected for all women in Berlin and Bavaria transferred intrapartum from a birth centre to a hospital concerning the reason for the transfer, stage of delivery at the start of transfer, details of the transport, accompaniment, state of mother and medical diagnosis on arrival at the hospital, further progress of delivery, and the condition of the baby postnatum. Comparison groups were formed by all birth centre deliveries in Berlin and Bavaria 1999/2000 (n = 3060) and hospital deliveries in Berlin and Bavaria 1998/1999 (selected data, n = 89 696 births).

Three hundred and sixty transfer cases could be evaluated, and a majority of these were nulliparous. The most frequent reasons for transfer were prior premature rupture of membranes and failure to progress in labor. Fifty-seven percentages of the women who were transferred subsequently delivered spontaneously, with an episiotomy rate of approximately 30%. 1-min Apgar value < or = 7 were frequently in nulliparous and multiparous patients in the transfer group than in the comparison groups, as were 5-min Apgar values < or = 7 and pH < 7.10 in arterial cord blood in particular for nulliparous in the transfer group. Hospitalisation of neonates born to the transfer group and in particular the nulliparous was significantly more common.

Women delivering in a birth centre represent in general a low-risk group as a result of careful preselection by the centres. However, some neonatal data and the high rate of operative deliveries (cesarean section, forceps, and vaginal extraction) indicate that the intrapartum-transferred women, in particular when nulliparous, represent than a special high-risk group.