This evaluation was a joint project between
the West Midlands Perinatal Institute and the
Worcester Royal Hospitals NHS Trust and General
Practitioners in the Bromsgrove area.
Pat McGeown,
Senior Midwife, West Midlands Perinatal Institute.
Aim
The aim of the field trial was to assess the
'user friendliness' of the new Pregnancy Notes,
for both mothers and health professionals.
Methods
65 mothers were recruited by local midwives
from the Princess of Wales Community Hospital,
Bromsgrove to use the new notes (version 2)
over a three month period. 20 mothers were
'booked' using the notes and the remaining
45 had the original records transcribed into
the new notes. This ensured that all pregnancy
stages were included. A customised growth chart
was generated for each woman either following
the booking scan or on completion of transcription
of the records.
Results
a. Health Professionals
Of the 17 health professionals
(including 13 midwives) who were interviewed,
15 had a positive overall impression of the
notes. 11 did not find it easy to navigate
around them at first although most thought
this was due to unfamiliarity. Nearly all felt
that the information given was relevant and
the terminology used appropriate and adequately
explained. Most felt the notes were user friendly
and 12 thought they were better or much better
than their current antenatal record.
Of the 39 mothers who completed
questionnaires, 15 were primiparous and 7 had
delivered. 35 of them wanted information during
pregnancy and were happy with the amount of
detail in the notes. 38 of them had read some
to all of the information with 29 having read
most of it. They all thought the information
given was relevant, with some wanting more
information in certain areas, especially screening,
common symptoms and complications. 37 of 39
said the information was not difficult to read
and was easy to understand. 35 thought they
were satisfactory to excellent.
Both groups especially liked the individualised
growth charts.
Conclusions
The field trial of the notes was successful.
The mothers found them informative and easy
to understand. The health professionals thought
they were user friendly and were an improvement
on previous notes. The main challenge appears
to be improving familiarity with the layout
of the notes which should be achieved with
adequate training and use.
Acknowledgements:
We would firstly like to thank the women who
agreed to participate in the use of the notes
during their pregnancy and completed questionnaires
to aid our evaluation.
We are also grateful to the community midwives
of the Princess of Wales Community Hospital,
Bromsgrove, for their participation and cooperation
in the field trial of the Notes; in particular
Karen Perks, who coordinated the evaluation locally.
In addition we would like to thank the local
General Practitioners and the health professionals
from the Alexandra Maternity Unit, Redditch,
for their support and cooperation during the
field trial.
Finally, we would like to thank Judy Byrne,
former acting Head of Midwifery, Worcestershire
Hospitals, for agreeing to participate in the
project and presenting the findings of the evaluation
at a regional forum
