Women's birth place preferences in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the quantitative literature.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Current clinical guidelines and national policy in England support offering 'low risk' women a choice of birth setting, but despite an increase in provison of midwifery units in England the vast majority of women still give birth in obstetric units and there is uncertainty around how best to configure services. There is therefore a need to better understand women's birth place preferences. The aim of this review was to summarise the recent quantitative evidence on UK women's birth place preferences with a focus on identifying the service attributes that 'low risk' women prefer and on identifying which attributes women prioritise when choosing their intended maternity unit or birth setting.

Methods

We searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Science Citation Index, Soci

SUBMITTER: Hollowell J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4977690 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature