Cross Sectional Survey of Antenatal Educators' Views About Current Antenatal Education Provision

Tamarind Russell-Webster; Anna Davies; Miriam Toolan; Mary Lynch; Rachel Plachcinski; Michael Larkin; Abigail Fraser; Sonia Barnfield; Margaret Smith; Christy Burden; Abi Merriel

doi:10.1007/s10995-024-03932-4

Cross Sectional Survey of Antenatal Educators' Views About Current Antenatal Education Provision

Tamarind Russell-Webster, Anna Davies, Miriam Toolan, Mary Lynch, Rachel Plachcinski, Michael Larkin, Abigail Fraser, Sonia Barnfield, Margaret Smith, Christy Burden, Abi Merriel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Antenatal education (ANE) is part of National Health Service (NHS) care and is recommended by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to increase birth preparedness and help pregnant women/birthing people develop coping strategies for labour and birth. We aimed to understand antenatal educator views about how current ANE supports preparedness for childbirth, including coping strategy development with the aim of identifying targets for improvement. A United Kingdom wide, cross-sectional online survey was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020. Antenatal educators including NHS midwives and private providers were purposively sampled. Counts and percentages were calculated for closed responses and thematic analysis used for open text responses. Ninety-nine participants responded, 62% of these did not believe that ANE prepared women for labour and birth. They identified practical barriers to accessing ANE, particularly for marginalised groups, including financial and language barriers. Educators believe class content is medically focused, and teaching is of variable quality with some midwives being ill-prepared to deliver antenatal education. 55% of antenatal educators believe the opportunity to develop coping strategies varies between location and educators and only those women who can pay for non-NHS classes are able to access all the coping strategies that can support them with labour and birth. Antenatal educators believe current NHS ANE does not adequately prepare women for labour and birth, leading to disparities in birth preparedness for those who cannot access non-NHS classes. To reduce this healthcare inequality, NHS classes need to be standardised, with training for midwives in delivering ANE enhanced. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).]

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1520-1529
Number of pages	10
Journal	Maternal and Child Health Journal
Volume	28
Issue number	9
Early online date	31 May 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-03932-4
Publication status	Published - Sept 2024

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made.

Data Access Statement

Data available on request with appropriate ethical
approvals.

Keywords

Antenatal care
Antenatal education
Health services research
Maternity services

Access to Document

10.1007/s10995-024-03932-4

Cross Sectional Survey of Antenatal Educators’ Views About Current Antenatal Education Provision
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
Final published version, 823 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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abstract = "Antenatal education (ANE) is part of National Health Service (NHS) care and is recommended by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to increase birth preparedness and help pregnant women/birthing people develop coping strategies for labour and birth. We aimed to understand antenatal educator views about how current ANE supports preparedness for childbirth, including coping strategy development with the aim of identifying targets for improvement. A United Kingdom wide, cross-sectional online survey was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020. Antenatal educators including NHS midwives and private providers were purposively sampled. Counts and percentages were calculated for closed responses and thematic analysis used for open text responses. Ninety-nine participants responded, 62% of these did not believe that ANE prepared women for labour and birth. They identified practical barriers to accessing ANE, particularly for marginalised groups, including financial and language barriers. Educators believe class content is medically focused, and teaching is of variable quality with some midwives being ill-prepared to deliver antenatal education. 55% of antenatal educators believe the opportunity to develop coping strategies varies between location and educators and only those women who can pay for non-NHS classes are able to access all the coping strategies that can support them with labour and birth. Antenatal educators believe current NHS ANE does not adequately prepare women for labour and birth, leading to disparities in birth preparedness for those who cannot access non-NHS classes. To reduce this healthcare inequality, NHS classes need to be standardised, with training for midwives in delivering ANE enhanced. [Abstract copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024. The Author(s).]",

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note = "This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.",

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Cross Sectional Survey of Antenatal Educators' Views About Current Antenatal Education Provision

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Access Statement

Keywords

Access to Document

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