Record Status This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database. Citation Thompson L. Safety and risk associated with free standing midwife led maternity units. This evidence note updates evidence note 18 published in August 2007. Glasgow: Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Evidence Note 47. 2012 Authors' conclusions Around 3% of births in Scotland are in free standing midwifery units.
For women at low risk of birth complications, the incidence of serious perinatal adverse events for the infant is low in all settings of maternity care. This means that very large studies are required to make comparisons of safety in different settings.
A large prospective cohort study of women with low-risk pregnancies in England found no significant difference in the rate of a composite outcome of serious adverse events for the baby (including stillbirth, early neonatal death and neonatal encephalopathy) between births planned in free standing midwifery units and births planned in obstetric units.
The proportion of normal births (without induction, epidural or spinal analgesia, general anaesthesia, forceps or ventouse delivery, caesarean section or episiotomy) among lowrisk women in England was significantly higher for births planned in free standing midwifery units compared with births planned in obstetric units.
Indexing Status Subject indexing assigned by CRD MeSH Birthing Centers; Delivery, Obstetrics; Midwifery Language Published English Country of organisation Scotland English summary An English language summary is available. Address for correspondence Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Delta House, 50 West Nile Street, Glasgow, G1 2NP Tel: 0141 225 6998 Email: doreen.pedlar@nhs.net AccessionNumber 32013000470 Date abstract record published 25/06/2013 |