Perinatal Outcomes Among Patients Using OB Teleflex, A Hybrid Prenatal Telemedicine Program

To assess obstetric outcomes among participants of the OB Teleflex program, in which roughly half of prenatal care was virtual, compared to those who were eligible, but elected traditional prenatal care.

This retrospective cohort study of patients who delivered between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022, compared OB Teleflex participation to routine prenatal care. Low-risk patients with a singleton, viable, non-anomalous fetus, and without hypertension requiring medication, were eligible for OB Teleflex and included in the study. Inverse-probability weighting was used to obtain unbiased estimates of the program effect on a composite of adverse outcomes that included primary cesarean delivery, neonatal intensive care unit admission, preterm birth, insufficient gestational weight gain, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Out of 674 patients who delivered at our centre during the study period, 347 were eligible for OB Teleflex and met the study criteria. Of the 347 patients eligible for OB Teleflex, 63 (18%) chose to participate in the program. Those who elected OB Teleflex compared to those who did not, differed by race, parity, and history of cesarean deliveries. In both adjusted and unadjusted analyses of the composite of adverse outcomes, there was no difference between OB Teleflex participants and those receiving standard care.

Hybrid prenatal telemedicine did not differ from standard prenatal care in the rate of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. Programs like OB Teleflex may help to remove barriers from care without worsening birth outcomes. Larger studies are needed to investigate whether hybrid prenatal care can improve outcomes.