A daunting journey: A qualitative comparative study of women’s experiences of accessing midwifery care

Background: Early engagement with a maternity carer is recommended as a means of reducing stillbirth and neonatal mortality. This is especially important for women who live in high deprivation areas, as these areas have been associated with late access to maternity/midwifery care and significantly higher rates of stillbirth and neonatal mortality. Co-locating midwives at general practitioner (GP) clinics in such an area was established with the aim of facilitating women’s early access to midwifery care. Aim: To explore the experience of multiparous women who live in socio-economically deprived communities within the Counties Manukau Health region and who accessed the services of midwives at co-located clinics. Method: Interpretive descriptive methodology was used to explore the experiences of each woman before and after using a co-located midwifery clinic. One-to-one, semi-structured interviews were undertaken and data examined using thematic analysis. Findings: The eight women interviewed found accessing Lead Maternity Care (LMC) midwives during early pregnancy a daunting journey before being able to use a co-located clinic in the Counties Manukau Health region. Barriers identified were: a lack of knowledge about how to find a LMC midwife, limited finance and limited time. These impacted on women’s ability and confidence to find a suitable LMC midwife. The women expressed the need for help to circumvent the maternity care maze through receiving a recommendation for a LMC midwife and having access to a midwife co-located at their GP clinic. Conclusions: The participants encountered numerous barriers accessing early LMC midwifery care. Enablers to accessing early LMC midwifery care include receiving recommendations from GP clinic personnel, and midwives being co-located at GP clinics to make maternity care convenient and with a smooth transition from GP to LMC midwife care.