Discontinuity in General Physician Care During Pregnancy

The aging of the general physician workforce in developed countries is expected to lead to increased practice closures. Hence, concerns arise regarding the health effects of such closures, particularly for patients facing them during critical life stages such as pregnancy. However, no study exists to date on the health effects of general physicians’ (GP) practice closures during pregnancy. I assess the effects of such closures during pregnancy on birth outcomes in Denmark. I compare the birth outcomes of mothers experiencing practice closures within nine months post-conception to those facing closures nine months pre-conception. I find a small to medium-sized adverse effect of discontinuity in care on birth outcomes. Closures increase the share of births of fetuses who are small for their gestational age. The negative effect on birth weight is especially pronounced when the closure happens in the last trimester of pregnancy. Consistently, mothers affected by GP practice closures during pregnancy experience small disruptions in healthcare provision at the extensive and at the intensive margin.