A survey of maternity care in Sweden

Abstract

A study was carried out in Sweden in 1998 and its purpose was to survey Swedish labour wards and the conditions under which Swedish midwives work. Sweden has a population of almost 9 million and more than 99% of all births take place in hospitals. Sweden has 55 labour units and births annually varying from 214 to 5074. Thirty four per cent of the midwives working in maternity care worked only in the labour ward and 24% worked in integrated labour and postnatal wards. Forty two per cent of the midwives rotated between labour and postnatal, gynaecological or antenatal care units. Thirty one per cent of the maternity clinics used computerized clinical records. Regular internal training for midwives occurred at 78% of the labour wards. Research and development projects carried out by midwives were reported by over half of the clinics. There are many small labour wards in Sweden, but this is a necessity because of the long distances between cities and towns in the northern part of Sweden.