Reproductive Risk Factors, Pregnancy Characteristics and Obstetric Outcome in Female Doctors

Objectives: To compare maternal risk factors, pregnancy characteristics and outcome in female doctors, teachers, and the general obstetric population. Design: We analyzed obstetric outcomes among 331 female doctors and 656 teachers with singleton pregnancies who gave birth at Fatima Memorial Hospital from March 2000 to December 2006. The general obstetric population (n = 21, 997) was selected as the reference group and logistic regression analysis was used to assess pregnancy outcomes in each group separately. Results: Reproductive risk factors among female doctors and teachers were similar to those in the general obstetric population with the exception of advance maternal age, number of previous terminations, obesity, infertility treatment and pre-eclampsia. Interestingly, the number of operative deliveries did not vary between the groups. Pregnancy outcome among the doctors and teachers was comparable with that in the general population. Conclusions: Although doctors and teachers appear to represent a group of health-conscious women, obstetricians don’t vary their management of pregnant doctors and teachers during pregnancy and labour.