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Quality assurance in maternity care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Marion H. Hall
Affiliation:
Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
Rosemary Currell
Affiliation:
NHS Information Management Centre, Birmingham
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Synopsis

The quality of care for pregnant women and their babies must be a high priority to ensure the health of future generations. Unique features are the need to deal with at least two ‘patients’, that the process of parturition is usually normal, and that there is a long history of incorporating women's views into definitions of good care. Methods of assessing structure, process and outcome of care are described, and the limited evidence of their efficacy in improving care. High-quality care in the future will require collaboration between women, midwives, family doctors and obstetricians.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1993

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