Clinical vigilance in the management of ‘normal’ labour
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Clinical vigilance in the management of ‘normal’ labour: an exploration of the tension between normality and risk.
IRAS ID
295080
Contact name
Karen Khan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bradford
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 6 days
Research summary
Recent reviews of the quality and safety of maternity care within the UK have highlighted concerns around the level of preventable harm. The evidence suggests that the fundamental watchfulness required to ensure safety may have been lost in attempts to find a balance between promoting normality during childbirth and responding to risk. Vigilance is recognised as a key component of safe care, however, there is limited evidence of how it is conceptualised and operationalised in midwifery practice.
Aims:
1. To describe a model of vigilance that can maintain the balance between safety and wellbeing during childbirth
2. To gain insight into how a holistic model of vigilance can enhance shared decision-making and women’s empowerment to maintain a balance between safety and wellbeing during childbirth.
The study will take place on the labour ward of a NHS hospital and will include women in active labour, midwives and wider healthcare professionals involved in each case.
Project phases:
PHASE 1
Phase 1 is the non-participant observation of labouring women and their attending midwife within the labour room. Approximately 6 - 8 cases will be observed in depth during this time, which will total around 80 hours of observations. Field notes will be subjected to reflective thematic analysis.
PHASE 2
Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with individual clinical staff and individual women included in phase 1. The interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Audio recordings will be subjected to reflective thematic analysis.
PHASE 3
A small selection of case studies (2 -3) will be identified to support greater depth of exploration into the key emerging themes. This phase will include documentary evidence. A case study approach will be used to explore where vigilance may be contributing to safety. The cases will be identified from the initial analysis of observational fieldnotes and semi-structured interviews.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
23/WA/0336
Date of REC Opinion
12 Feb 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion