Placenta previa: antepartum conservative management, inpatient versus outpatient.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to compare outcomes of patients with placenta previa managed expectantly in either an inpatient or outpatient setting.

METHODS

Records for 238 patients coded as having placenta previa over the 12-year period from 1981 through 1992 were reviewed, and outcomes were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 104 patients were managed conservatively (i.e., delivered > 7 days after diagnosis). Fifty-five patients were hospitalized and 49 were followed up as outpatients. There was no significant difference in gestational age or birth weights at delivery. Likewise, the average lowest postpartum hemoglobins were similar. Infant morbidity was similar when incidences of respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, and intraventricular hemorrhage were compared.

CONCLUSIONS

Although there may have been other circumstances segregating patients to hospital care or home care, there was no apparent difference in the outcome of the two groups.