Potential Impact of Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospitalists on Safety of Obstetric Care

Staffing models are critical aspects of care delivery. Provider staffing on the labor and delivery unit has recently received heightened attention. Based on the general medicine hospitalist model, the obstetrics and gynecology hospitalist or laborist model of obstetric care was introduced more than a decade ago as a plausible model-of-care delivery to improve provider satisfaction, with the goal of also improving safety and outcomes through continuous coverage by providers whose sole focus was on the labor and delivery unit without other competing clinical duties. It is plausible that this model of provider staffing and care delivery will increase safety.