A Survey on Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes During OBGYN Residency Training

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes and describe possible risk factors among female residents in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) residency programs in the United States (US).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that utilized a standardized survey via an on-line questionnaire website (Survey Monkey). The surveys were sent to all OB/GYN program coordinators in the US, who were instructed to send emails to their residents in December 2022, March 2023, and June 2023. All statistical analyses were performed on Microsoft Excel. The descriptive analysis was performed to report the survey results.

Results: Total 5,859 OB/GYN resident positions were available at the time of first survey distribution; only 117 responded (response rate 2.0%). Of those who responded. One did not meet the inclusion criteria and was excluded from the data analysis. For 116 residents, 52.59% (61/116) were 29-31 years old; 77.59% (90/116) were White; 47.41% (55/116) were in Mideast area; and 65.52% (76/116) had normal BMI (see Table 1). 24.14% (28/116) were pregnant at some time during their residency. 59.26% (16/27) residents reported any adverse pregnancy outcomes during the residency and 44.44% (12/27) of them needed to be followed by MFM. Among those 16 residents, 37.50% (6/16) reported hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; 25.0% (4/16) gestational diabetes; 25.0% (4/16) preterm labor; 25.0% (4/16) due to non-reassuring fetal heart tracing; and 12.5% (2/16) due to advanced maternal age (see Table 2).

Conclusions: Female OB/GYN residents in the US had higher than average adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to the general population. Considering the very low response rate, further study should be warranted to identify the possible risk factors.

Table 1 legends: *New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont), Mideast (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin), Plains (Iowa, Kansas. Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota), Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia), Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas), Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming), Far West (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington)