At 10:40 AM 12/2/98 -0000, you wrote:
>Total deaths given as 268, directly or indirectly linkd to
>pregnancy, an increase of 40.
>
snip
>
>Maternal care is a mess, and an unhappy mess, and the professional
>bodies which have successfully seized control of it would have been
>more ethically employed in getting on with their work.
I would very much welcome views on this. Along with Lyndsey Smith
from Somerset I represent GPs on a DoH funded RCOG let committee
looking at national guidelines for antenatal care.
There are several changes in maternal epidemiology likely between the
two three year periods.
Adrian mentions
1..obesity
2..change in pattern of care
I would also wonder whether
3..increased use of illegal drugs
4..increasing (?) numbers of young women smoking
might also be relevant.
The group includes midwives and user representatives. So far there has
been no evidence of interprofessional conflict and some evidence of a
desire for realistic, evidence based practice. However whether this
is reflected in the final outcome remains to be seen.
Comments on the maternity record would also be valued. In MK we have
used patient held records successfully for more than 10 years. The old
co-op card had significant limitations for modern maternity care but
we need to be sure that whatever replaces it (and there is a separate
group looking at this) is both technically better and generally
acceptable.
Again comments and input, either personally or to the list, most welcome.
Julian
Dr. J. Bradley, The Stonedean Practice,
Stony Stratford Health Centre, Milton Keynes MK11 1YA
Telephone 01908 261155, Fax 01908 265818
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