[Course of pregnancies and labors in a department of general surgery. A prospective study of pregnancies during a 1-year period at Hørsholms hospital].

The complications of pregnancy and delivery in a material consisting of 841 women without obstetric risk factors were investigated. The deliveries were planned to take place in a department of general surgery with a specialist obstetrician. Seventy-five women (8.9%) were transferred to a specialized obstetric department before delivery, 14 women (1.7%) because of imminent premature delivery. In addition, 69 women were transferred because of removal or their own wish for transfer. A total of 631 patients (90.5%) were delivered vaginally and 66 (9.5%) were delivered abdominally. In thirty-five of these, caesarean sections were performed during the course of delivery. In 34 deliveries (5.1%) vacuo extraction was used. Among 181 women (27.1%), unexpected complications occurred, 80 of these women (12.0%) requiring emergency treatment. A total of 697 infants were delivered. One infant died before delivery because of placental separation. Twenty-two infants (3.2%) were transferred to a paediatric department during the neonatal period, three because of asphyxia. Three of the liveborn infants (0.4%) had Apgar scores at 1 minute between 0 and 3, 40 infants (5.7%) had scores between 4 and 6. After 5 minutes, no infants had Apgar scores between 0 and 3, but three infants had scores between 4 and 6. It is concluded, that the low perinatal mortality and morbidity might indicate, that deliveries in a department of general surgery are safe, provided a specialist obstetrician is available and the rules of referral strictly observed.