Better Births: early findings from North-West London

Abstract

Background Better Births recommends that women receive continuity of carer in order to improve outcomes. Aim To measure changes from implementing a continuity of carer approach, in terms complicated or uncomplicated births. Method In North-West London in 2017-2018, funding was allocated to establish an early adopters' programme across six maternity units. The implementation of this programme and the outcomes in terms of birth complications and women's feedback are described. Findings Although most changes were not statistically significant, positive maternal views, and some changes in the use of diet control or insulin for women with gestational diabetes, were found. Conclusions The evaluation was limited by missing data, and in future, maternity outcomes should be extracted routinely from women's records without requiring manual data entry by midwives.