After complications during their patient’s vaginal delivery, doctors are more likely to switch to caesarean delivery with the next patient, a study shows.

Likewise, after complications during a caesarean delivery, the next delivery they assist is more apt to be vaginal, US researchers report in Science.

“Physicians rely on heuristics — simplified decision rules — to make delivery decisions under uncertainty,” said sole author Dr Manasvini Singh of the University of Massachusetts, US.

“When a physician’s prior patient has complications in one delivery mode, the physician is more likely to switch to the other delivery mode on the next patient, regardless of patient indication.