Women's views about maternity care: how do women conceptualise the process of continuity?

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Conceptualise; Continuity; Maternity care; Relational care.