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Published on: January 12, 2018
Women's views about maternity care: how do women conceptualise the process of continuity?
Mary G Jenkins1, Jane B Ford1, Angela L Todd1
1Clinical and Population Perinatal Health Research, The Kolling Institute, University of Sydney at Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia.
Objective:
to gain an understanding of how women conceptualise continuity of maternity care.
Design:
a qualitative study involving in-depth semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis.
Setting:
a range of urban and rural public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia.
Participants:
53 women aged 18-44 years (median age 27 years) receiving maternity care in 2011-2012.
Findings:
responses from women suggested five concepts of continuity: continuity of staff, continuity of relationship, continuity of information, continuity across pregnancies and continuity across locations. These concepts of continuity differed by parity and location.
Conclusion And Implications For Practice:
continuity of maternity care has a variety of meanings to women. If health care providers are to commit to providing woman-centred maternity care it is important to recognise the diversity of women's experiences, and ensure that systems of care are flexible and appropriate to women's circumstances and needs.
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