A personal audit of private obstetric practice

This is a retrospective review of 7398 deliveries under the direct care of the author over 25 years, from data input on personal handheld computers at the time of delivery. A more detailed look at 409 deliveries over 2.5 years where all the case notes were studied was also undertaken. The rate of cesarean section is outlined. For the last 10 years of the study, the rate of cesarean section was maintained at 19%. This was in quite an elderly population. Two main factors seemed responsible for the relatively low rate of cesarean: vaginal births after cesarean (VBACs) and rotational Kiwi deliveries.