title: Continuity of care: the elusive key to improved maternity outcomes.
abstract: When a vital lost key turns up in a place that you have looked a dozen times, you may begin to think the timing is fate. If maternity care is really going to improve for every woman we need to make a change in the system that will enable her to have her own midwife whom she can know and trust. Evidence shows this improves outcomes and saves money. The key is to reinvest some of those savings into paying the midwife appropriately for the commitment this level of care requires of her.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van der Kooy
mesh_terms: D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008880:Midwifery / Q000458:organization & administration*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013222:State Medicine; D006113:United Kingdom