Provider Attitudes on Regionalization of Maternity Care: A National Survey

To explore provider perspectives surrounding national guidelines proposing regionalization of maternal care.

An 18-item survey focused on provider attitudes and practices surrounding regionalized maternity care was administered to a national sample of practicing obstetricians. We classified respondants reporting less than 500 annual deliveries at their hospital as low-volume providers and those practicing at hospitals performing 500 or more annual deliveries as high-volume providers. We compared responses according to hospital delivery volume using univariate analysis.

Of the 497 physicians surveyed, 278 people responded (56%) with 229 currently practicing obstetrics. The median annual delivery volume amongst respondents was 200 (interquartile range 100-1900) with 146 (63.7%) practicing in low-volume delivery centers. The need for medical or surgical expertise was the most commonly reported indication for maternal transfer (19.7%) and independent of practice setting. Ninety-six percent of providers agreed with the concept of regionalization, but respondents in high-volume centers reported higher familiarity with the levels of maternal care paradigm compared to their low-volume counterparts (81.9% v. 62.3%, p < 0.01). Financial factors (60.3%), geography (48.9%), and access to care (43.2%) were the most cited major barriers to regionalization. High-volume providers endorsed geography as a major barrier more often than low-volume providers (57.8% v. 43.8%, p = 0.04).

Obstetricians may agree with the concept of regionalized maternity care but also identify significant barriers to its implementation. Early and frequent engagement of providers reflecting the diversity of delivery centers in a region is a simple but necessary step in any attempts to designate levels of maternal care.