A Three‐Tier Model for the Delivery of Rural Obstetrical Care Using a Nurse Midwife and Family Physician Copractice

Bibliographic Data

ID19432632
AuthorsWilliam J Hueston (0000-0001-8545-317X, University of Kentucky), Mary Murry (Morehead State University)
Year1992
Volume8
Issue4
Pages283-290
Publication date1992-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Rural Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0890-765X • E-ISSN: 1748-0361
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1748-0361.1992.tb00369.x
PMID10122983
OpenAlexW1998528604
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited11

To meet the needs of a large indigent rural population, a rural regional referral hospital in northeastern Kentucky developed a maternity program that utilizes nurse midwives and family physicians as the primary medical providers with support from obstetricians. After five years, the number of deliveries at the hospital has increased almost 30 percent, and the maternity center is now responsible for more than 70 percent of all deliveries at the medical center. Accounting for the large increase in the number of deliveries is an increasing number of women from surrounding areas who now utilize the maternity center and the hospital for their obstetric care. During the same time, there has been a corresponding decrease in deliveries to women with no prior prenatal care and a shift toward obtaining earlier prenatal care in the hospital service population. Results of the study suggest that combining the skills of nurse midwives and family physicians with surgical backup provided by a consulting obstetrician is an effective means of meeting the health care needs of an indigent, underserved rural population

Environmental health · Family medicine · Population · Prenatal care · Referral · Global Health Workforce Issues · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Nursing

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub