Important components of antenatal care: midwives' and obstetricians views

This study sought the views of midwives and obstetricians about what they considered to be important aspects of routine antenatal care. Midwives and obstetricians were randomly selected from the NSW membership lists of the Australian College of Midwives and the The Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, respectively. Seventy-eight percent of midwives (n = 196) and 52% of obstetricians (n = 114) completed a questionnaire which itemised components of routine care derived from the National Health and Medical Research Council's Guidelines for Antenatal Care. Participants were asked to rate each of the 77 components on a 4-point scale as either: very important; desirable but not essential; not necessary; or, don't know. Twenty-four (31%) of the components were rated as very important by at least 90% of midwives and 19 (22%) were rated as very important by at least 90% of obstetricians. 'Recording details of previous pregnancy complications' was the component most commonly rated as being very important by both groups. On 37 (48%) of the components there was a significant difference between midwives and obstetricians in terms of whether or not they rated the component as very important (p < 0.01). There were considerable differences between midwives' and obstetricians' views about the important components of routine antenatal care and a substantial proportion of both groups did not consider many of the components listed in the guidelines to be essential in routine care. The findings suggest that a revision of the current antenatal care guidelines is necessary.