Maternity Standards. This document sets out a framework for commissioners and service providers of high-level service standards that aim to improve outcomes and reduce variation in maternity care.
The framework is endorsed by the Royal College of Midwives and the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society. It builds on the Standards for Maternity Care published by the RCOG in 2008.
The new framework provides an up-to-date structure for the delivery of quality improvement and safe maternity care. It covers:
- Pre-pregnancy services
- Antenatal care
- Vulnerable women
- Medical complexity
- Inpatient care
- Elective birth
- Intrapartum care
- Postnatal care
- Fetal medicine
- Perinatal loss
Multi-disciplinary teams should use the framework and standards to ensure their contributions meet the needs of women, their babies and their families, whether or not they have medical or obstetric complications.
The framework and standards should also support maternity staff to work in well-structured teams, with supportive line management and infrastructure to deliver safe, personal, kind, professional and high-quality maternity care.
The maternity framework is part of the College’s programme of work focused on providing quality care for women, which also includes: