A medical audit is defined as a systematic and critical analysis carried out by doctors looking at the things that doctors do. The concept of auditing is relatively new to the medical profession. It is indeed an excellent instrument to institute change to medical practices which have been "institutionalized". A properly carried out audit can provide highly revealing data that can often sway an administrator to institute change. At the University Hospital Kuala Lumpur we chose to audit the paediatric attendances at high risk deliveries. High risk deliveries were defined as any delivery to which the obstetrician requested a paediatric attendance prior to delivery. A paediatrician must be on hand at all high risk deliveries to ensure proper resuscitation of the new born. The aim of the audit was to determine if paediatric attendance at high risk deliveries were optimal at the University Hospital. (Copied from article).
At the University Hospital only 24.3% of Malays, 3.8% Chinese and 5.9% Indians are fully breast fed at 6-8 weeks postnatally. The majority of Chinese infants are exclusively on infant formula (68.6%) and this holds true for the Indians (52.9 %).These figures were obtained 3-4 months after the introduction of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative at the University Hospital. Comparing our data with previous studies we believe that there has been a decline in breast feeding in urban Kuala Lumpur, especially amongst the Indians and Chinese.