The birth characteristics and outcomes for low risk primiparous women. Values in percentages. Intervention rates for multiparous women were highest among women who gave birth in a private hospital with a private obstetrician and lowest in public women with intermediate rates for women with a private obstetrician in a public hospital. They were also more likely to have an elective or an emergency caesarean section. The birth characteristics and outcomes among 'low risk' multiparous women.
Values are in percentages.
However, there is also a gradient across the rows of the table with lower instrumental birth rates among public patients. This demonstrates how women cared for by a private obstetrician were more likely to begin interventions during labour and were also more likely to have operative intervention at the time of birth. These patterns of increased intervention at birth associated with intervention during labour were seen for both first time mothers and multiparas. Figure 3 . shows the most likely birth outcome following an epidural for 'low risk' primiparous women. We found that among private women who had a private obstetrician in a private hospital and had an epidural the most likely birth outcome was an instrumental delivery with an episiotomy.