City Research Online

Abstract

Caseload midwifery is defined as follows:

When a midwife carries a caseload she is the primary provider of midwifery care (the named midwife) during pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal days for an agreed number of women. She may be providing care to women wherever they are: at home, in the community or in a maternity unit. She has responsibility for the planning and monitoring of care throughout for the women on her list. She liaises with medical colleagues and social agencies as appropriate. (National Childbirth Trust 1995)

Caseloading is a relational model of care provided by a small team of midwives who do on-calls in order to provide a 24/7 service. Midwives have autonomy over their workload, allowing them to respond to the individual needs of women and their families. Mixed-risk caseloading has been an important element of maternity care at King’s College Hospital for twenty-five years, where currently almost 20% of the 5-6,000 women who give birth there each year receive caseloading care. In this two-part article, we discuss how caseloading was developed at King’s, how the model works, the outcomes and what contributes to the sustainability of this model of care.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the accepted version of an article published in The Practising Midwive. Reprinted with permission of All4Maternity.
Subjects:	R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Midwifery & Radiography
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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