Background: We have made a survey of activities, skills, staffing and emergency services in Norwegian units for obstetrics and gynaecology.
Material and methods: A questionnaire was sent to all 43 units in February 2003.
Results: All units replied; 42 reported to have delivery service with emergency staffing. The reported annual number of births varied from 100 to 5600 (median 825, mean 1258). There was a large difference in the number of doctors on call in relation to annual number of births, with the larger units having a higher number of births per doctor on call. 60% of deliveries took place in units with a specialist always available. The numbers of doctors in each unit varied from 1 to 48 (median 8, mean 11). The outpatient activity was higher in local hospitals. Physicians with doctorates were mostly to be found in university hospitals.
Interpretation: The survey demonstrates a large variation in emergency services, distribution of posts and academic skills. This may reflect different functions and geographic conditions, though there are also large differences among comparable institutions.