Strategic planning of obstetric services: the Australian way

This paper presents a number of documents developed at State and Territory Government level including the 'Shearman Report' concerning the strategic planning of obstetrical services. The papers are presented in chronological order. The aims, objectives and implementation arising from the reports are discussed including the mechanism by which the various studies were undertaken. The author acknowledges the existence of the many other reports relating to strategic planning for obstetrical services which were not able to be discussed due to the constraints of the presentation.