[Assessment of mortality morbidity conference in obstetrics: literature review]. / Évaluation de l'impact des revues de morbi-mortalité en obstétrique: revue de la littérature.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To assess this effectiveness of morbi-mortality conference (MMC) in improving quality of care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review was carried out by searching Medline, Pascal and Cochrane databases, Google scholar and websites of French obstetrics professional societies, until July 2011. Search terms included morbidity, mortality, conference, and obstetrics. The eligible reports of assessment of MMC in obstetrics have been analysed by four reviewers with a standardized form. RESULTS: Among 319 records identified, four observational studies published between 2009 and 2011 were included. The objective of these MMC was students' training (n=2), quality of care improvement (n=1), or both (n=1). The MMC organization was heterogeneous. The impact of MMC was assessed using qualitative (n=2), semi-quantitative (n=1) or quantitative (n=1) method. None of these studies showed a significant impact of MMC on students' training or quality of care. CONCLUSION: Available evidence is insufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of MMC in improving quality of obstetrics care.