To stop walking on egg shells

A collaborative project between a community midwife and midwifery educationalist has developed a model of compassionate woman-centred care for women with high BMI. The project aim was to test a model of care that would increase midwives' confidence in caring for women with high BMI. It was important that any new model should not involve what would be perceived as time-consuming activities that would add significantly to the midwives' workload. After searching the literature a five-stage brief interventions model based on motivational interviewing (MI) theory was piloted with a team of community midwives in rural Scotland. Leaflets were developed containing information and activities based on MI principles providing women with a tool to work with. The Swinscoe-Walsh model has been well received and evaluated by both midwives and women and is being considered for wider implementation by public health services for pregnant women.