IMPART
Research type
Research Study
Full title
IMplementation of the Preterm Birth Surveillance PAthway: a RealisT evaluation (including a realist literature scope)
IRAS ID
289144
Contact name
Jane Sandall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King’s College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
In the UK, 1 in 13 babies are born early (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) – otherwise known as ‘preterm’.
Currently, women at risk of preterm birth receive different care depending on the hospital they are at. Some women are offered specialist care in a preterm birth prevention clinic, but many women do not receive any specialist care.
NHS England has published some guidance on how to standardise care across the UK. The new guidance has developed a pathway called the Preterm Birth Surveillance Pathway (PBP). This pathway says that midwives should assess every pregnant woman for her risk of having a preterm birth, asking a woman questions about her medical history and deciding whether she is at high, intermediate or low risk of a preterm birth. If the midwife assesses the woman as being at high or intermediate risk of having her baby early, then they should refer her to a special preterm birth prevention clinic. Preterm birth prevention clinics offer the woman additional tests (such as scans and swab tests)These additional tests can help doctors and midwives decide which women may need further help, such as being admitted to hospital, to help stop her having her baby early.
Study aim: research how, why, for whom, to what extent and in what contexts the Preterm Birth
Surveillance Pathway is implemented through a realist evaluation (including a realist literature scope).The data for the realist evaluation will be collected through mixed methods (interviews with women and staff, observing staff, looking at hospital documentation, and analysing routinely collected hospital and admin data).
We can then find out what happens when hospitals start to use the PBP, explore what factors help or do not help implementation, and develop theories on how implementation of the pathway can be improved.
LAY SUMMARY OF STUDY RESULTS:
The IMPART study provides several areas where implementation could be improved. These include educating clinicians on knowledge of risk factors and the purpose of the preterm clinic, having a multidisciplinary preterm team (including a preterm midwife) with specialist preterm knowledge and skills (including transvaginal cervical scanning skills), and sites actively working with their local network. This multidisciplinary preterm team are placed to deliver continuity of care for women at high-risk of preterm birth, being attentive to their history but also ensuring they are not defined by their risk status.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0150
Date of REC Opinion
30 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion