Scottish Maternity Review affirms value of continuity of care

Find out about the key recommendations of the Scottish Maternity Review and what it means for parents and their families.

Last month the Scottish Government published the final report on its review of maternity and neonatal services, ‘The Best Start – five-year forward plan for maternity and neonatal care’. We were represented on this piece of work by our former Senior Policy Advisor, Rosie Dodds.

This is a big step toward the continuity of care that new mums want.

We have campaigned vigorously for many of the recommendations in the review, and we are happy to see the Scottish Government take a big step forward for Scottish maternity services and the babies and families that use them.

“This Review’s recommendation to give every woman a primary midwife, providing the majority of her care, is a momentous step toward the continuity of care that new mums want and need to achieve their choices around birth,” said Elizabeth Duff, NCT’s Senior Policy Adviser.

“It’s also good to see the Review’s inclusion of fathers, partners and other family members as integral to maternity services. As a parenting charity representing mums and dads, we are pleased to see this report focus on whole families.”

We’re looking forward to seeing how the Health Secretary, Shona Robison, builds on these recommendations, sets-up its implementation group and turns this vision into reality. We will continue to campaign and lobby on the issues that matter to parents.

Read our full response to the report here.