[Fetal monitoring sub partu in West Germany. II. Effect of clinic size and clinic type on monitoring practice].

Data from 690 clinics concerning obstetric management and intensive monitoring of the fetus sub partu were classified according to the type of hospital (e. g., municipal clinic, district hospital...) and the size of the hospital based on the number of births per year. On the basis of the annual number of births four groups (I-IV) were formed, each with 172 clinics. While the average number of surgical deliveries (cesarean, forceps, vacuum) is not related to the hospital (Table 3), it is related to the type of hospital (Table 6): the average number of cesarean deliveries is highest in university clinics (n = 24; 14.9%), and on average more forceps (6.5%) than vacuum extractions (5.7%) are performed. In all other hospitals vacuum extraction is clearly preferred (7-8%). The quotient Q of the annual number of births per CTG unit is not constant, but increases with the size of the clinic: In large hospitals (Group IV) significantly more births are monitored with a CTG unit (maximum 607, average 215), so that there is a numerical "monitoring deficit" as compared to smaller departments. The monitoring capability is numerically highest in the university clinics (Q = 147) and lowest in the academic teaching hospitals (Q = 192). The larger the clinic, the more frequently fetal blood is analyzed: the figure in large clinics is 40%. Small clinics are less familiar with this method (approx. 16%). The larger the clinic, the more often intrauterine catheters are used to measure labor; the figure rises from 7% to 29%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)