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CHAPTER 10 - Intrapartum care for women assessed as low risk in labour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2014

By
Mervi Jokinen
Edited by
Tahir Mahmood ,
Philip Owen ,
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran  and
Charnjit Dhillon
Mervi Jokinen
Affiliation:
Royal College of Midwives
Tahir Mahmood
Affiliation:
Forth Park Hospital, Kilcaldy
Philip Owen
Affiliation:
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Affiliation:
St George’s University London
Charnjit Dhillon
Affiliation:
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London
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Summary

This chapter explores how policies, current standards and practices can be integrated to improve women's access and promote confidence and trust in the services provided as well as having a maternity workforce which use resources effectively. For safety and quality of care, protocols and care pathways are recommended, but midwives and obstetricians need to remember that each woman's care is individual and her journey through the labour is dynamic. The professionals agree that each organisation should have locally agreed clinical guidelines for midwifery-led labour care for low-risk women. Service planning has to support both low-risk and high-risk labour care pathways with equity. Any birth environment should have a monitoring tool for staffing levels. There are many sources recommending audits on labour care and outcomes: Royal College of Midwives (RCM) birth centre standards, Safer Childbirth, and Standards for Maternity Care.

Keywords

Royal College of Midwiveslabour carematernity careSafer Childbirthservice planningStandards for Maternity Careclinical guidelinesintrapartum careaudit cyclecare pathways
Type
Chapter
Information
Models of Care in Maternity Services , pp. 91 - 99
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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