The SAPlings project: an alternative antenatal care pathway

Abstract

There are increasing demands on the provision of antenatal care. In Oxfordshire, an alternative pathway for women with the most complex socio-economic and obstetric demands on their pregnancies was introduced to meet the needs of these women and reduce community midwives' caseload. A review of this cohort identified that they overaccessed both scheduled and unscheduled antenatal care, but they rarely accessed antenatal education programmes or children's centres. Therefore, an alternative model of antenatal care was planned, based on the Centering model. This aimed to better meet these women's antenatal care and education needs and reduce the impact on the maternity service. Initially, one group was piloted and this has now been expanded to four teams throughout Oxfordshire. The groups have grown and the feedback from women and midwives has been extremely positive.