Validating change in risk criteria for a birth center: Gestational diabetes

Midwifery Care Research: What Questions Are Being Asked? What Lessons Have Been Learned?

“…Seventeen studies published in 21 papers focused on out‐of‐hospital birth (137‐157). Of these, eight reported on birth centers, four compared birth centers with hospitals, three focused on home birth, and two reported birth certificate data on home births.…”

“…Scupholme et al (151‐153) conducted three studies to examine outcomes or test new protocols at The Birth Center of Jackson, Florida. When The Birth Center opened, these researchers conducted a prospective matched pair study to compare its safety with that of the affiliated tertiary care hospital (153).…”

“…However, women kept appointments, however, brought their infants back for check‐ups, and referred others for care, demonstrating satisfaction with the setting. These authors later conducted an observational prospective study with 1,300 Birth Center patients to validate the use of a new screening protocol for gestational diabetes (152). These studies demonstrate how evaluation research can be incorporated into innovations in midwifery care.…”

“…Many other studies in this review also included care of vulnerable women. For instance, some birthplace studies featured birth center care of low income and ethnic minority women (144, 145, 148, 151‐153), and a number of midwifery management (20, 42) and midwifery practice studies (86, 89, 90, 100, 102) had indigent samples or populations.…”