Clinicians’ perspectives and experiences of providing cervical ripening at home or in-hospital in the United Kingdom

Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research at the School of Health and Psychological Science, City, University of London welcomes Cassandra Yuill to discuss their findings on induction, specifically cervical ripening, and the option to return home during that process, from the perspective of midwives, obstetricians and other maternity staff as part of the research seminar series.

Abstract

Induction of labour, or starting labour artificially, is offered when the risks of continuing pregnancy are believed to outweigh the risks of the baby being born.

In the United Kingdom, cervical ripening is recommended as the first stage of induction. Increasingly, maternity services are offering this outpatient or ‘at home’, despite limited evidence on its acceptability and how different approaches to cervical ripening work in practice.

There is also a paucity of literature on clinicians’ experiences of providing induction care in general, despite their central role in developing local guidelines and delivering this care.

This presentation explores induction, specifically cervical ripening, and the option to return home during that process, from the perspective of midwives, obstetricians and other maternity staff.

As part of a process evaluation involving five case studies undertaken in British maternity services, interviews and focus groups were conducted with clinicians who provide induction of labour care.

A range of practices and views regarding induction were recorded, showing how the integration of home cervical ripening is not always straightforward.

About the speaker

Dr Cassandra Yuill is a medical anthropologist and Research Fellow in CMCRH, interested in decision-making about care, informed choice and entanglements of policy and health in practice.

Her work focuses on maternal health and maternity services, particularly in the United Kingdom, and she has conducted research on parent-infant sleep, place of birth and induction of labour.

Dr Yuill is currently undertaking projects on midwifery-led care and perinatal mental health.