Close ties between obstetric clinics and maternity hospitals are supporting Japan's top-level safety in childbirths, which has led to very low rates both of perinatal mortality and maternal death.
There is a need for obstetric clinics and maternity hospitals to share the burden between them, said Hideo Takemura, vice president of the Japan Association of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and director of Kosaka Women's Hospital in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture.
"Normal childbirths are to be done at regional clinics and hospitals, and childbirths with high risk are to be done at perinatal medical centers and other institutions where many obstetricians work," he said.