title: The importance of evaluating primary midwifery care for improving the health of women and infants.
abstract: In most countries, maternal and newborn care is fragmented and focused on identification and treatment of pathology that affects only the minority of women and babies. Recently, a framework for quality maternal and newborn care was developed, which encourages a system-level shift to provide skilled care for all. This care includes preventive and supportive care that works to strengthen women's capabilities and focuses on promotion of normal reproductive processes while ensuring access to emergency treatment when needed. Midwifery care is pivotal in this framework, which contains several elements that resonate with the main dimensions of primary care. Primary health care is the first level of contact with the health system where most of the population's curative and preventive health needs can be fulfilled as close as possible to where people live and work. In this paper, we argue that midwifery as described in the framework requires the application of a primary care philosophy for all childbearing women and infants. Evaluation of the implementation of the framework should therefore include tools to monitor the performance of primary midwifery care.
authors: Department of Midwifery Science, AVAG and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , Netherlands.
authors: Ank
authors: A
authors: de Jonge
authors: Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI , USA ; Midwifery Academy Maastricht , Maastricht , Netherlands.
authors: Raymond
authors: R
authors: de Vries
authors: Gender and Women's Health Unit, Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Medical Center , Nijmegen , Netherlands.
authors: Antoine L M
authors: AL
authors: Lagro-Janssen
authors: Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi , Zomba , Malawi.
authors: Address
authors: A
authors: Malata
authors: Boston University School of Public Health , Boston, MA , USA.
authors: Eugene
authors: E
authors: Declercq
authors: Research in Childbirth and Health (ReaCH) Group, School of Health, University of Central Lancashire , Preston , UK.
authors: Soo
authors: S
authors: Downe
authors: Department of Midwifery Science, AVAG and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , Netherlands ; Midwifery Education Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON , Canada.
authors: Eileen K
authors: EK
authors: Hutton
keywords: maternal health services; medical intervention; midwifery; newborn health; primary health care