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Adverse outcomes of labour in public and private hospitals in Australia

Daniel C Chambers
Med J Aust 2009; 191 (10): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb03327.x
Published online: 16 November 2009

To the Editor: Robson and colleagues found higher crude odds of perinatal death in public hospitals — an unsurprising finding, given the maternal demographics in the public system.1 However, after taking into account known risk factors for poor perinatal outcome by “adjusting for the potentially confounding variables available in the NPDC [National Perinatal Data Collection]”, the authors found that the odds ratio actually went up — implying that the pregnancies of mothers in the private system are higher risk. This is implausible.


  • Queensland Centre for Pulmonary Transplantation and Vascular Disease, Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, QLD.



  • 1. Robson SJ, Laws P, Sullivan EA. Adverse outcomes of labour in public and private hospitals in Australia: a population-based descriptive study. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 474-477. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Sutherland GA, Gartland D, Yelland JS, Brown SJ. Adverse outcomes of labour in public and private hospitals in Australia [letter]. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 518-519. <MJA full text>
  • 3. De Lange TE, Budde MP, Heard AR, et al. Avoidable risk factors in perinatal deaths: a perinatal audit in South Australia. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2008; 48: 50-57.

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