title: The effect of midwifery continuing care on childbirth outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Continuation of delivery care by a midwife, and establishing a relationship between the midwife and the delivering woman, is so important for women, and preserving such relationship increases woman's calmness and self-confidence. The current research aims at studying the effect of midwifery continuing care during delivery on delivery outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a quasi-experimental research conducted on childbearing women referring to Tabriz 29 Bahman Hospital. One hundred women were randomly assigned to either experimental (n = 50) or control (n = 50) group. In the experimental group, the women were cared exclusively with a midwife from the active phase continuously, while in the control group, women were cared with several midwifes conventionally. The birth outcomes were recorded in both valid and reliable groups (checklists). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Type of delivery was the same in both the groups (P = 0.051). In the experimental group, grade of the perineal lacerations was lower (P = 0.001); also, in this group, less oxytocin was used in the labor stage (P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that providing one-to-one delivery care and continuous attendance of the midwife on the bedside of delivering woman had positive effect on improvement of birth outcomes. So, providing the choice of one-to-one care for women in delivery rooms must be considered where it is logistically possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Fahimeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sehhatie
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Najjarzadeh
authors.affiliation: Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zamanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Alehe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seyyedrasooli
keywords: Care; continuity; delivery; midwife