Academic supervisors: Professor Jane Sandall, King’s PSSQ, Professor Christine McCourt, Thames Valley University
Researchers: Susanna Rance and Juliet Rayment
The Birthplace in England Research Programme led by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford is conducting a series of studies about wellbeing, safety and quality, women's experience of care, the process of transfer from planned place of birth, and the cost-effectiveness of different systems for care. As a component of this programme, King’s College London and Thames Valley University are researching features of maternity systems that can benefit or detract from the provision of high quality and safety of care in different locations.
Four organisational case studies are being conducted by Professor Jane Sandall (KCL) and Professor Chris McCourt (TVU) with researchers Susanna Rance and Juliet Rayment. The studies focus on four NHS Trusts with different configurations of care, combining obstetric units with alongside and/or freestanding midwife units. Methods used are qualitative: documentary analysis, observation, and interviews and discussion meetings with staff, management, women and their birth partners, and key informants including user-group representatives.
The case studies will provide evidence which will inform health professionals’ and managers’ efforts to make services safer. They will also aid understanding of the variety of experiences and concerns that women have, across a range of personal backgrounds and geographical areas. Findings will be submitted for publication in consumer, professional and academic journals, within the NHS Trusts, and at national and international conferences.
More information can be found at:-
http://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace
