The relationship of medical specialization (obstetricians and general practitioners) to complications in pregnancy and delivery, birth injury, and malformation.

In this paper, census data were used to assess the effectiveness in birth delivery of obstetricians and general practitioners.though the data reported require some qualification and additional research, preliminary results indicate that general practitioners report approximately three times more birth injuries and/or malformations (than do obstetricians) at birth. Both groups (obstetricians and general practitioners) report approximately the same number of complications in pregnancy and delivery. It was tentatively concluded that the similarity in diagnosed complications was probably due to diagnostic error. This error, in combination with sample differences and differing delivery techniques, resulted in the consequent differences in rates of birth injury and malformation.