Role of Usual Healthcare Combined with Telemedicine in the Management of High-Risk Pregnancy in Hangzhou, China

BACKGROUND: Maternal health is an important part of basic public health services in China's medical reform. Effective management is an important guarantee of maternal health. Telemedicine has been widely used in maternal health management. OBJECTIVE: This study explores the role of usual healthcare combined with telemedicine in the management of high-risk pregnancy. METHODS: The study was a retrospective. Data were obtained from Hangzhou Maternity Hospital between October 2012 and September 2016, including 93465 pregnant women who were in usual high-risk pregnancy management (usual group) and 134884 pregnant women who were in telemedicine combined with usual high-risk pregnancy management (telemedicine group). The differences in high-risk scores and pregnancy outcomes between the usual and the telemedicine groups were compared. RESULTS: The high-risk factors were analyzed, and the results showed that the first fixed high-risk factor was scar uterus and the first dynamic high-risk factor was hepatitis B. Comparing the data of two groups, the number of prenatal visits increased significantly in the telemedicine group (p value <0.05). Although the critical proportion of high-risk women was 2.13% in the usual group and 5.88% in the telemedicine group, respectively (p value <0.01), maternal mortality decreased in the telemedicine group (p value <0.05). CONCLUSION: The combination of telemedicine and usual healthcare can urge the pregnant women to carry out antenatal visits on time, which is one of the important factors to improve the outcome of high-risk pregnancy.