Background The diffusion of mobile phones in low- and middle-income countries has taken place faster than any other infrastructural development. Mobile Midwife, a mobile application implemented in Ghana in 2010, sends timely messages in local languages to registered expectant mothers and new parents. The field of mobile health (mHealth) is severely underresearched, yet it can be an alternative ...

OBJECTIVE the current division between midwife-led and obstetrician-led care creates fragmentation in maternity care in the Netherlands. This study aims to gain insight into the level of consensus among maternity care professionals about facilitators and barriers related to integration of midwife-led and obstetrician-led care. Integration could result in more personal continuity of care for wom...

BACKGROUND The use of interventions in childbirth has increased the past decades. There is concern that some women might receive more interventions than they really need. For low-risk women, midwife-led birth settings may be of importance as a counterbalance towards the increasing rate of interventions. The effect of planned place of birth on interventions in the Netherlands is not yet clear. T...

Objective: To compare the experiences of women who received a new model of continuity of midwifery care with those who received standard hospital care during pregnancy, labour, birth and the postnatal period. Design: A randomised controlled trial was conducted. One thousand and eighty-nine women were randomly allocated to either the new model of care, the St George Outreach Maternity Project (S...

The unique placement of midwives in the health care industry prompts renewed consideration of vicarious liability. Generally, vicarious liability is the liability of an employer for an employee's actions. A review of recent case law over the past decade shows limited case activity and indicates that the certified nurse-midwife/certified midwife (CNM/CM) roles do not create vicarious liability r...

practised in Derby, then in Stafford and in 1656 he moved to London for the better education of his children. One of his sons helped him in his practice and one of his daughters became a midwife, attending her own cases and also working with her father. This book is first and foremost a practical work for the midwife. Willughby starts by admitting that he has no new practice of midwifery, he in...

Background—Changing Childbirth (1993), a report on the future of maternity services in the United Kingdom, endorsed the development of a primarily community based midwifery led service for normal pregnancy, with priority given to the provision of “woman centred care”. This has led to the development of local schemes emphasising continuity of midwifery care and increased choice and control for w...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the cost-effectiveness of a planned birth in a birth centre compared with alternative planned places of birth for low-risk women. In addition, a distinction has been made between different types of locations and integration profiles of birth centres. DESIGN Economic evaluation based on a prospective cohort study. SETTING 21 Dutch birth centres, 46 hospital locations w...

BACKGROUND Continuity of care by a primary midwife during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods has been recommended in Australia and many hospitals have introduced a caseload midwifery model of care. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of caseload midwifery on women's satisfaction with care across the maternity continuum. METHODS Pregnant women at low risk of complica...