Continuity of carer and satisfaction
Abstract
Objective To study the association between continuity of carer and satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum domiciliary care.Design A descriptive study comparing satisfaction measures between women cared for by a known or unknown midwife. Data on satisfaction were extracted from the intervention group of a birth centre trial, and the names of the individual carers from two clinical databases kept at the birth centre.Setting An in-hospital birth centre in Stockholm.Subjects 410 women who had been randomly allocated to birth centre care during pregnancy, and who had a normal vaginal delivery at the centre. Complete data, including the names of the caregivers and the women's satisfaction scores, were available in 175 cases (43%) during the antenatal episode, 404 cases (98%) during the intrapartum episode and in 254 cases (62%) during the episode of postpartum domiciliary care.Main outcome measures Overall satisfaction with antenatal care, intrapartum care, labour and birth, and postpartum domiciliary care.Findings No statistical differences were observed in satisfaction with antenatal care between women who had seen only one, two, or more than two midwives at their check-ups during pregnancy; in satisfaction with intrapartum care or the birth itself when comparing women who were delivered by a known or unknown midwife; or in satisfaction with domiciliary care when the midwife was known or unknown.Conclusion The findings suggest that continuity of carer is less important in a birth centre. The high levels of satisfaction in women having birth centre care were probably more affected by the attitudes of the carers, the philosophy of care, and the nice and calm environment than by knowing the individual midwife well.
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Waldenström found that continuity of carer was less important in a birth centre setting, where satisfaction was more likely to be associated with the attitudes of carers, the philosophy of care, and the environment, as opposed to knowing the individual midwife well.
“Waldenström found that continuity of carer was less important in a birth centre setting, where satisfaction was more likely to be associated with the attitudes of carers, the philosophy of care, and the environment, as opposed to knowing the individual midwife well [11].”
These findings are in keeping with many of the RCTs, other studies, and the Cochrane review of midwife-led care.
“These findings are in keeping with many of the RCTs [4–6, 14], other studies [4, 6, 8–14], and the Cochrane review of midwife-led care [7].”
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“Staff also require to be flexible, informal, interested and friendly (Proctor, 1998; Waldenstrom, 1998; Chen et al., 2001) at the same time as being professional, skilled and knowledgeable (Proctor, 1998).”
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“Deprivation score(65)** 1 (least deprived) 37 (21) 11 (25) 21 (38) 69 (25) 2 46 (26) 8 (18) 5 (9) 59 (21) 3 27 (15) 5 (11) 11 (20) 43 (16) 4 21 (12) 6 (14) 10 (18) 37 (13) 5 12 (7) 1 (2) 6 (11) 19 (7) 6 7 (4) 5 (11) 0 12 (4) 7 (most deprived) 27 (15) 8 (18) 2 (4) 37 (13)”
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“The Maternity Coalition drew on research that continuity of midwifery care for healthy women results in fewer obstetric interventions and contributes to breastfeeding success and enhanced adjustment to early parenting (Rowley et al., 1995; Waldenstrom, 1998).”
BackgroundNormality and collaboration: mothers' perceptions of birth centre versus hospital care
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“The findings of this study also add to previous research considering continuity of care (Waldenström 1998) and one-to-one midwifery practice (McCourt et al.”
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ResultProfessional attitudes to Changing Childbirth in Nottingham, UK
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“…of care provider continuity [26], we pose that the true value lies in the consistency and quality of provided care – specifically having a care provider that is familiar with the woman’s preferences capable of delivering high-quality care, emphasizing substantive consistency [25, 27, 28].”
- Authors
- Waldenström, U.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Waldenström, Ulla
- ORCID
- Waldenström, Ulla
- Venue
- Midwifery
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1998-12
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 207-213
- ISSN
- 0266-6138 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1977148127
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Midwifery (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
- Keywords
- continuity of carer, patient satisfaction, midwives, prenatal care, intrapartum care, normal delivery, midwifery care
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Continuity of Patient Care, Delivery Rooms, Female, Home Care Services, Humans, Maternal Health Services, Midwifery, Nurse Midwives, Pregnancy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sweden, Nursing Evaluation Research, Patient Satisfaction, Outcome Assessment, Health Care
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