Building enhanced midwifery services

As midwives in 2016, we find ourselves in an ever-more challenging environment when it comes to providing effective care throughout the pregnancy continuum. Social deprivation and poverty seem to be common denominators when taking booking histories and, as a result, we see a steady increase in families where there may be multiple social complexities, especially in inner-city areas, which are having an impact on maternal health and/or that of the unborn baby. It is recognised that women with complex social factors often need additional support to engage with antenatal services as social disadvantage leads to vulnerability and affects health and wellbeing (Acheson 1998; Local Government Chronicle (LGC) 1998). This can impact heavily on caseloads, as more time and resources are required to address the social issues that are emerging as more commonplace than medical problems in a generally healthy population of women of childbearing age.