Patient satisfaction with the prenatal care provider and the risk of cesarean delivery

ObjectivesThis study was undertaken to assess the relationship between patient satisfaction with the prenatal care provider and a gravid woman's risk of cesarean delivery.Study designMedical records of 586 consecutive deliveries in a single obstetrics department were reviewed. The delivery mode was correlated to the providers' overall patient satisfaction score as measured by an ongoing mail survey. Mann-Whitney U tests and 2-tailed t tests were used.ResultsOn the basis of the prenatal provider, not the delivering physician, the cesarean section delivery rates fell into 3 groups: low rate, average rate, and high rate. There is a significant difference in both the cesarean delivery rate and the patient satisfaction survey scores between the prenatal providers in the high- and low-rate groups.ConclusionHigher patient satisfaction scores is correlated with a lower cesarean delivery rate.