Continuity in Antenatal Care: Exploring Perceptions of Care and Emotional Experiences of Low-Risk Women

Abstract

Perspectives and value systems inform our views of antenatal care and childbirth, influencing how they are understood and how care is organised.
Professional, academic, institutional and cultural views all influence what we consider maternity care to be, how it should be delivered, and how experiences and outcomes associated with it are measured. The objective of this study was to analyse women's lived experiences of antenatal care within NHS England during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, I sought to understand how the continuity of the care women received influenced women’s experiences, with the aim of identifying areas for improvement with respect to well-being and satisfaction with care. I conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 women who had given birth up to 24 months prior. I analysed transcribed texts using a reflexive thematic approach, undertaken through a social constructionist lens. I developed three themes in the analysis. These were: the impacts of poor communication, the impacts of not being heard, and fear of the unknown. Participants emphasised the need for a person-centred care model and more specifically, a midwife-led continuity of care model. Early antenatal care and late antenatal care were identified as two critical periods of care when women require the greatest levels of advocacy and support. Based on this analysis, the NHS maternity framework could make improvements to information organisation and sharing, the encouragement of active patient participation in care, and the promotion of shared decision-making. Greater attention to how holistic perspectives and medical perspectives could be blended to broaden understandings of what successful birth experiences could be, is required to validate women's antenatal needs and subsequently improve maternity care outcomes.