The Mi-CARE Study. Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The role of a Midwifery continuity of CARE model in reducing health inequalities in childbearing women and babies living on a low-income.
IRAS ID
262369
Contact name
Charlotte E Clayton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bournemouth University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
To be confirmed., ISCRTN study registration
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 17 days
Research summary
The impact of living in poverty during the childbearing continuum has a direct effect on maternal and infant health. Studies show that in England, women living in the most deprived neighbourhoods experience some of the poorest birth outcomes, are 50% more likely to die as a result of complications, & have poorer life expectancies compared to women from more affluent areas. Poorer women also report more negative maternity care experiences.
The Social Determinants of Health (SDH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and are the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. The SDH are mostly responsible for health inequities - the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between different people, populations, and countries. Evidence shows that taking action on the SDH impacting the lives of childbearing women from low-income backgrounds alongside the provision of Midwifery Continuity of Care (MCC) models, improves birth outcomes and health inequalities. How midwives working in a form of MCC called caseloading teams take action on the SDH as part of their public health role is not clear.
This research is being conducted as part of a doctoral project in a low-income setting. Through the use of document analysis, memos and semi-structured interviews with childbearing women and midwives working in an NHS funded caseloading model, the study will generate theory to help explain how and indeed whether midwives engage with and take action on the SDH. The study also seeks to better understand what exists within midwives working lives to support or hinder engagement with the SDH. Examining these domains will contribute to the evidence base and will inform future models of midwifery care aimed at reducing health inequalities.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0183
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jun 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion