Research into the enhanced model of midwifery continuity of care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Research into the implementation of the enhanced model of midwifery continuity of carer
IRAS ID
325627
Contact name
Jo Dumville
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 29 days
Research summary
NHS England is funding an enhanced midwifery continuity of care model that builds on the default continuity of care model. The default midwifery Continuity of Carer (MCoC) model aims to deliver personalised care to women via having the same midwife or a small team of midwives provide care throughout a person’s pregnancy and in the post-partum period.
Enhanced MCoC aims to provide extra support to women and their families in the most deprived areas of England. In practice, the enhanced MCoC model provides additional funding to local maternity systems (LMS) based on numbers of women living in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods. Currently, funding for enhanced MCoC has been allocated to 59 areas in 2022/23 with continued funding in 2023/24 (financial year). Funding is to be used by LMS MCoC teams to provide “holistic support that reduces midwives’ workload and releases additional time for the midwives to care for women” (NHS 2021). The funding can support an additional band 4 NHS maternity support worker, e.g. for interpretation or breastfeeding support, link workers or administrative staff. Other use of funding, including working with local third-sector organisations, may also be supported.The evaluation will be undertaken via service user interviews and focus groups in case study sites. All women who are in receipt of the enhanced model of care will be eligible to participate in the study, as well as their adult family members. The study will recruit participants from local maternity teams and the research will be conducted via semi-structured interviews at these sites or remotely (e.g. Zoom or a telephone call).
The study will last until March 2024 with data collection expected to be completed by October 2023.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
23/WA/0202
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion