My Babies birth centre (MYBBC): Developing midwife-led care: an action research study, 2014-2017 (Joyce Marshall, Pat Jones, Jayne Samples, Charlotte Kenyon, Tomasina Stacey and Janine Grayson)

This project involved exploring service user’s views of maternity services in order to develop midwife-led maternity care in birth centres. Co-Is: J.Marshall@hud.ac.uk & P.A.Jones@hud.ac.uk

The MYBBC project draws on research evidence that indicates that midwife-led care confers benefits to mothers and babies and is safe. The initial phase of this study has explored service users’ views of midwife-led maternity care to determine what they feel is most important in a high quality service and identify potential barriers to use of midwife-led maternity care in birth centres. Midwives’ perceptions of opportunities and concerns about midwife-led care have also been explored. The current phase of the project involves ethnographic research to explore the culture, philosophies of care provision and care systems within newly developed birth centres. MYBBC has involved service users from the outset and has been developed through partnerships with midwives in NHS maternity services.

PI: J.Marshall@hud.ac.uk