The clinical practice pattern of postterm pregnancy in Korea

Min, Jung Ae; Choi, Suk Joo; Jung, Kyung Lan; Oh, Soo Young; Kim, Jong Hwa; Roh, Cheong Rae

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to survey the clinical practice pattern of postterm pregnancy in Korea.
METHODS
A questionnaire was mailed to 1114 physicians who are registered in Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (KSOG) and work in primary and secondary hospital as well as tertiary care center. The questions included information about the practice pattern implicating definition of postterm pregnancy, the time and the method of routine fetal surveillance and induction of labor as well as demographic information such as age, sex, location, professional part and the number of delivery. We got 23.2% (258/1114) of surveys returned and analyzed the data.
RESULTS
Seventy-four percent (73.6%) of the respondents define 42 weeks gestation or greater to be postterm. However, 84.5% consider induction of labor at 41 weeks of gestation. Sixty-eight percent (68.3%) of the respondents start postterm pregnancy fetal testing at 40 weeks and 59.3% of them perform testing every week. For fetal surveillance testing, 85.7% of the respondents use NST and 39.5% of them use modified BPP. As for induction of labor, 65% of practitioners use oxytocin and 45% of them use prostaglandins (misoprostol and dinoprostone) when inducing both nulliparous and multiparous women with unfavorable cervix.
CONCLUSION
Most of the respondents (84.5%) routinely induce low-risk singleton pregnancy at 41 weeks gestation, whereas the majority of them (73.6%) define postterm pregnancy beyond 42 weeks gestation.