Monday, September 22, 2008
Reference needed
I am trying to find a reliable reference for the average length of a prenatal visit with an OB (not the time waiting in the office, but actual time spent with the physician). I know I've come across at least one source before, but can't seem to find it. I'd also like to find the average length of prenatal visits with both hospital based- and home birth midwives, if that has been studied. Can anyone help me with this?
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Suzanne Arms book, "Birthing the Future" has this information in it, though I can't remember her cited study or the time...
ReplyDeleteI know I have more, but will have to get back to you.
Faith Gibson in California once told me 6 minutes, but you'd need to check with her ... http://www.collegeofmidwives.org
ReplyDeleteIf you pose this question over at mothering.com, I'll bet you'll have the answer rather quick - those women know everything about this stuff! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I've seen this recently in Expecting Trouble: What expectant parents need to know about prenatal care in America, by Thomas H. Strong. I don't have the book with me so can't look up exact reference, but time was shockingly short for OBs.
ReplyDeleteHi there - I don't have a reference to site but I worked in a MW clinic in S ontario - we would book 1hr visits for initial and final visits and 30 min for other prenatals in the clinic. If the client was planning a homebirth she would have a prenatal homevisit around 36-37 weeks. All clients would have pp home visits at day 1,3,5,7,10. these visits are usually 30-45 min
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear the outcome of the studies. I've ranted about this many times. My OB appts were so short--5 minutes tops with the actual OB. When I switched to homebirth, my midwife would come over and stay for HOURS. One of her visits she was here at least 5 hours while we talked, bonded and watched movies (BOBB and Born in the USA). I loved knowing her as a real person.
ReplyDeleteI found it - p. 107 of Marsden Wagner's born in the USA, the study said 24 mins for midwives, 10 for obs. The study is called office visits by women: the national ambulatory medical care survey (Hyattsvile, Md., National Centre for Health Statistics, 1980.
ReplyDeleteRixa,
ReplyDeleteTry the website for a practice of midwives out here in Utah. www.betterbirth.com
I'd like to know the answer to this. An estimate of my personal experience: I bet I've not spent more than 60 minutes total with my OB's (as apposed to the NP in the office) over the course of 3 pregnancies. And their time attending me in birth is less than that!
ReplyDeleteMy experience has been about 2 to 3 minutes with an OB and abut 2 to 3 HOURS with a midwife, each visit, everytime.
ReplyDelete(also about how long those two types of caregivers take when making major decisions for you)
I posted on this subject last year when I read an article from Lamaze about it. The post is here. The Lamaze research summary said two hours of prenatal care (10-15 minute per visit) throughout the course of a pregnancy for traditional medical care and 20 hours for group prenatal care.
ReplyDeleteThe actual source was:
Ickovics, J. R., Kershaw, T. S., Westdahl, C., Magriples, U., Massey, Z., Reynolds, H., et al. (2007). Group prenatal care and perinatal outcomes: A randomized controlled trial. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 110(2), 330-339.
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Best wishes,
Molly