Document Detail


Ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England: results of a national survey.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20436027     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: To examine ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England. DESIGN: A 2007 national survey of women (16 years or over) about their experience of maternity care. Multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for several maternal characteristics, was used to examine inequalities by ethnicity, partner status and education. SETTING: Sample of records of 149 NHS acute trusts and two primary care trusts (PCTs) providing maternity services in England. RESULTS: A total of 26,325 women responded to the survey (response rate 59%). Ethnic minority women were more likely than White British women to access services late, not have a scan by 20 weeks, and experience complications during pregnancy and birth. They were more likely to initiate breastfeeding and say they were treated with respect and dignity. Single women responded more negatively to almost all questions than women with a husband/partner. They were less likely to access care within 12 weeks of pregnancy (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.39-0.52), have a scan at 20 weeks (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.39-0.63), attend NHS antenatal classes (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.49-0.65), have a postnatal check-up (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.60-0.75), and initiate breastfeeding (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.51-0.62), and were more likely to experience complications. Women completing education at 19+ years were more likely to access services early (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.04-1.40), attend antenatal classes (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.31-1.67), have a postnatal check-up (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.07-1.32) and initiate breastfeeding (OR 3.88, 95% CI 3.56-4.22) than those completing education at 16 years or younger, and were less likely to experience complications. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic minority women, single mothers, and those with an earlier age at completing education access maternity services late, have poorer outcomes, and report poorer experiences across some--though not all--dimensions of maternity care. Ethnic differences were absent or inconsistent between groups for some aspects of care. We recommend these findings are used by commissioners, trusts and healthcare professionals to inform improvements in maternity services for high-risk groups and reduce inequalities.
Authors:
V S Raleigh; D Hussey; I Seccombe; K Hallt
Related Documents :
1554657 - Pregnancy in sickle cell disease in bahrain.
7619937 - Paternal age and the risk of birth defects in offspring.
20043707 - Comfort with the idea of formula feeding helps explain ethnic disparity in breastfeedin...
12472187 - Acculturation and perinatal outcomes in mexican immigrant childbearing women: an integr...
20308827 - Neutrophil count for the identification of postmenopausal hypertensive women at increas...
21450197 - Prevalence of health conditions and predictors of mortality in oldest old mexican ameri...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine     Volume:  103     ISSN:  1758-1095     ISO Abbreviation:  J R Soc Med     Publication Date:  2010 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-05-03     Completed Date:  2010-05-25     Revised Date:  2010-09-30    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7802879     Medline TA:  J R Soc Med     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  188-98     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
The King's Fund, 11-13 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0AN. v.raleigh@kingsfund.org.uk
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Educational Status
England
Female
Health Care Surveys
Health Services Accessibility*
Health Status Disparities
Humans
Logistic Models
Marital Status
Maternal Health Services*
Minority Groups*
Multivariate Analysis
Patient Acceptance of Health Care / ethnology*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome
Social Class*
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Non-clinical influences on clinical decision-making: a major challenge to evidence-based practice.
Next Document:  Facilitated sensemaking: a strategy and new middle-range theory to support families of intensive car...