Continuity of midwifery care improves outcomes for women with gestational diabetes
FSH Acting Clinical Midwife Eleanor Shenton
Fiona Stanley Hospital’s (FSH) Family Birth Centre Acting Clinical Midwife Eleanor Shenton’s recent research affirms widespread evidence that continuity of midwifery care improves maternal and neonatal outcomes, this time for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
As the referral centre for GDM in Western Australia, over 26 per cent of all women birthing at the hospital have GDM.
For the thesis component of her Masters of Primary Maternity Care through Griffith University, Eleanor initiated her research, Improving maternal and neonatal outcomes for women with gestational diabetes through continuity of midwifery care: A cross-sectional study (external site), to see if a midwifery continuity model of care could improve outcomes for women with GDM.
“Given the strong body of evidence behind the improved outcomes of midwifery continuity of care, I wanted to look specifically at women with GDM and compare birth outcomes for those receiving continuous care from a known midwife at FSH Family Birth Centre, versus those receiving care from a variety of clinicians in the hospital maternity clinic,” Eleanor said.
“Our study found that continuity of midwifery care significantly increased exclusive breastfeeding rates, which reduces maternal and neonatal obesity, type two diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, all of which are associated with GDM.”
Eleanor hopes her research will add to evidence that midwives are safe primary caregivers for women with GDM and contribute to improved long-term health outcomes for women with GDM.
“The results really promote the accessibility for continuity of midwifery care to all pregnant women, not just low-risk women” Eleanor said.
Alike Eleanor’s research, this year’s International Day of the Midwife theme ‘A Vital Climate Solution’, highlights the evidence that continuity of midwifery care improves health outcomes, and this in turn contributes to environmental sustainability by reducing health service footprints.
Eleanor’s research was completed in November 2023 and has recently been published by the Woman and Birth Journal. Eleanor would like to thank her principal supervisor Griffith University’s Assoc. Professor Amanda Carter, and her two associate supervisors, Dr Valerie Slavin and Dr Laura Gabriel, and the Human Rights Ethics Committee at South Metropolitan Health Service and Griffith University for the study’s ethics approval.
