Problem-Orientated Antenatal Notekeeping: A Useful Primary Health Care Tool

Abstract

It has recently been demonstrated that about 56 percent of patients delivering in a rural obstetric unit had significant risk factors, and that 85 percent of these could have been detected by meticulous antenatal screening before the onset of labour. These figures show that the average rural obstetric unit in South Africa is dealing with a large percentage of high risk patients. In this work, it is hampered by:
1. Communications problems: i.e. bad roads, long distances. and unpredictable telephones.
2. A serious shortage of medical staff resulting in primary obstetric care being delivered by midwives with minimal medical supervision.