Table 3 Summary characteristics of studies (Review 2)
Study | Study country | Midwifery setting | Study aim | Study design | Analysis methods | Number of participating midwives | Total Risk of Bias within study |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barber et al (phase 2). 2006 [12] | UK | Two NHS Trusts, each with obstetric units, alongside and free-standing maternity led units and home birth services. | To implement educational, marketing and change management initiatives on and around informed choice and place of birth. This included relaunching the Birth Centres at both Trusts, the provision of local evidence-based leaflets with information on all the birth place options and Birthplace Choices websites for each Trust. | Qualitative Interactive, educational interventions with midwives. | Qualitative feedback from intervention session. | 38 participated in workshops. | High |
Barber et al (phase 3). 2007 [22] | UK | Two NHS Trusts, each with obstetric units, alongside and free-standing maternity led units and home birth services. | To evaluate which initiatives helped midwives promote informed choice around place of birth. To identify if more women had subsequently chosen an out of hospital birth. | Quantitative survey study with midwives. | Descriptive statistics. | 150 | High |
Kirkham et al. 2001 [21] | UK | Three maternity units, encompassing community, hospital, integrated hospital and community case-loading and specialist roles. | To assess the impact of the MIDIRS Informed Choice Leaflets (for health professionals) on health professionals. | Qualitative ethnographic and interview study. | Ethnographic field notes and grounded theory approach to interview analysis. | 177 | Unclear |
Rogers et al. 2015 [13] | UK | One large hospital maternity unit | To improve informed choice and the knowledge and confidence of midwives around place of birth using workshops for women and midwives, ‘decision aid’ tools and changes to the midwifery rota. | Mixed methods: Workshops and survey study. | Qualitative feedback from workshops. | Not reported. | High |
Descriptive statistics to summarise survey data. | |||||||
Walton et al. 2014 [11] | UK | One large hospital maternity unit | To increase the number of women having a clear preference for place of birth, ideally by 36 weeks, using the Birthplace app intervention (introduced at 25 weeks). | Quantitative. Pilot controlled study. | Descriptive statistics. Retrospective analysis of data collected at booking visit, 12 and 36 weeks on women’s choice of place of birth setting. | 35 | High |