Aiming for equal access to maternity care for all

Pract Midwife. 2014 Jan;17(1):13-6.

Abstract

The guidance 'Pregnancy and complex social factors' (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2010) outlines that women with complex social factors are likely to have particular needs and may be faced with barriers to accessing care. This article describes a project to design and develop clear antenatal appointment sheets for various consultations with health professionals in maternity services in an attempt to meet the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) recommendation that: "Directors of midwifery services should develop resources in partnership with experts and disability advocates in different formats appropriate to need" (RCM 2007: 1). It highlights the rationale, methodology, ethics and findings from the project. The term 'learning disabilities' (LD) is used throughout this article as it is commonly used by services within the UK and internationally to describe people with intellectual disabilities.

MeSH terms

  • Disabled Persons / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Health Services Accessibility / organization & administration*
  • Humans
  • Intellectual Disability / epidemiology*
  • Intellectual Disability / nursing
  • Maternal Health Services / organization & administration*
  • Midwifery / organization & administration*
  • Nurse's Role*
  • Nursing Evaluation Research
  • Pregnancy
  • Program Evaluation
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • United Kingdom