Pregnancy, childbirth and the early period following birth are important for the health and wellbeing of women, families and society. It is vital that women and families receive high quality care.
Research carried out by the Maternal Health and Wellbeing Research Group explores how maternity services are provided to inform national guidelines to support maternity professionals to provide the best possible care. Our research also investigates women’s experiences of maternity care to better address the needs and concerns of women and families.
Research that makes an impact
A Realist Inquiry into Maternity Care at a Distance (ARM@DA)
The ARM@DA project is an evidence synthesis project using a realist approach. The project aim is to understand how digital clinical consultations can work to support safe, personalised and appropriate maternity care and to clarify when they might be most appropriately used, for whom, when, and in what contexts. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – HS&DR programme (grant number 134535). The Principal Investigator is Professor Catrin Evans. The project is being undertaken by a multi-professional and multi-disciplinary team, including women with experience of using maternity services, healthcare professionals and community organisations.
Further details of the project can be found here.
Mapping survey on the use of digital clinical consultations in NHS England's maternity units
Dr Georgia Clancy and Prof Catrin Evans are leading the ARM@DA Mapping Survey. This project follows on from the recently concluded ARM@DA realist review (NIHR-funded) which explored the use of digital consultations in maternity care. The survey seeks to address information gaps that the ARM@DA review identified around current practice of digital consultations in NHS maternity care in England today.)
What information is available online to women and families about antenatal education provision in England, Italy and the Netherlands? A scoping review
Lead: Dr Sara Borrelli
Co-Investigators: Helen Spiby, Corine Verhoeven, Antonella Nespoli, Simona Fumagalli, Ruth Wong, India Prout, Ruth Terry, Maria Panzeri, Marieke Mink, Suzanne Sturkenboom
We have conducted a scoping review on information available online about antenatal education classes in three European countries (England, the Netherlands, Italy), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Milano Bicocca and Amsterdam University Medical Centers.
Structured antenatal education programmes are recognised as having the potential to prevent fear of birth, reduce the woman’s concerns and anxiety during pregnancy, influence positively childbirth expectations and experiences and improve maternal emotional wellbeing postnatally. During the pandemic, classes were either paused or became virtual. As the pandemic restrictions relaxed, re-introducing in person sessions was recommended in the three countries, acknowledging that some parents may still prefer to attend virtual classes and advising that these should be maintained as per local demand. Provision varies widely and not all women are offered an invitation or attend sessions. There is no contemporary mapping of the current offer for antenatal education in terms of provision, content and organisation.
Our search was conducted using maternity services webpages and relevant websites reporting private antenatal education provision in England, The Netherlands and Italy. We explored access, target population, content and organisation of antenatal classes advertised via online sites to women and families. We are currently writing the findings, which will be submitted for publication.