Background: The cost of liability insurance for obstetrical care and the fear of eventual litigation are reasons commonly cited by family physicians for not delivering babies.
Methods: Separate surveys were mailed to residency directors and third-year residents in Florida family practice residency programs to determine the attitude and practice plans of recently trained family physicians in regard to obstetrics.
Results: Three hundred twenty residents completed civilian family practice residency programs in Florida from 1986 through 1990. Only nine (2.8%) delivered babies the first year after residency. The major reasons that third-year residents gave for not planning to deliver babies included fear of being sued and the cost of malpractice insurance. Residents' estimates of first-year insurance costs were 350% higher than actual premiums. Furthermore, residents believed that the risk of being sued for the obstetrics portion of their practice would exceed the risk for the nonobstetric portion.
Conclusions: Residents' estimates of the cost of malpractice insurance and their malpractice risk for delivering babies appear to be greatly exaggerated. These views are primarily obtained from nonresidency sources.