Background
The Dutch maternity care model has been held out as example of how to slow or reverse the march towards medicalisation of birth and technology driven specialist midwifery and maternity care [
1‐
5]. However, unexpected high perinatal mortality reported at the turn of the 21st century raised concerns about the quality of the Dutch maternity care system resulting in a call for system change to enhance care [
6‐
10]. Organisation, inter-professional relations and coordination have been identified as factors which may disrupt the smooth functioning of the maternity care. Issues such as a lack of a shared maternity notes system, misaligned financial incentives, different perspectives on antenatal health and suboptimal inter-professional communication have all been identified as contributing to systemic disorganisation [
6]. Recent research indicated that clarity on each profession’s role and responsibilities within the collaboration seemed to be lacking and that many professionals did not perceive themselves as being an integral part of a team [
7]. There has been a considerable rise in non-urgent referrals during labour from primary midwife-led care to obstetrician-led care [
8,
9], challenging the sustainability of the current echelon system in the Netherlands with its strict role division between primary and secondary maternity care [
6‐
10]. Therefore, major changes in the organisation of maternity care in the Netherlands are being considered, moving from an echelon system where midwives provide primary care in the community and refer to obstetricians for secondary and tertiary care, to a more integrated maternity care system involving midwives and obstetricians at all care levels [
5,
11].
Current organisation of maternity care in the Netherlands
Like all health care, maternity care in the Netherlands is organised in echelons, with a strict role division between primary and secondary/tertiary care. The independent primary care midwife plays a key role as provider of standard maternity care in the Netherlands and provides one-to-one care to women during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period in individual or group practices of midwives [
12]. Primary care midwives have a gate keeping role: in the event of complications, an increased risk of complications, or a request for pharmacological pain relief, midwives transfer care of women to secondary care in a general hospital or to tertiary care in an academic referral centre, both with obstetricians and clinical midwives, who work under the responsibility of obstetricians. The Obstetrics Indications List [
13] distinguishes between ‘physiological’ and ‘pathological’ pregnancies and births and directs all such referrals. There are tasks and responsibilities that currently fall outside the scope of primary care midwifery in the Netherlands, such as supervising medium risk pregnancies (obese or diabetic clients, clients with thyroid problems) and medium risk births (meconium-stained liquor, previous Caesarean section, pharmacological pain relief), and skills as monitoring the fetus with cardiotocography (CTG). Healthcare insurance companies reimburse secondary or tertiary care exclusively after referral for medical reasons [
14]. In 2013, 85.4% of all pregnant women in the Netherlands started antenatal care with a primary care midwife, 50.6% started labour with a primary care midwife and 28.6% of all births (
n = 167,159) were supervised by a primary care midwife at home or in a hospital or birth centre [
15]. The Netherlands has more midwives (n = 2692) than specialists in obstetrics and gynaecology (n = 882) [
16,
17].
Other countries took the rather unique Dutch maternity care system as an example for changing their maternity care systems [
1,
9]. In these countries, such as New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, midwives increasingly work autonomously and the homebirth rate is rising. Conversely, the quality of care of the ‘Dutch’ way of organising maternity care has been more and more questioned. Following reports of higher than anticipated perinatal mortality in the Netherlands [
18], a government appointed Steering Committee [
19] released its advisory report called ‘A good start’. Based on stakeholders’ opinions this committee presented a set of recommendations on the direction in which the Dutch maternity care should evolve in order to halve the perinatal mortality figures. The report contained the directive to improve the quality of maternity and perinatal care by encouraging closer cooperation and better communication between all maternity care professionals. Other recommendations by the Committee included local execution of multidisciplinary protocols developed on a national level and prevention of caregiver delay, specific attention for disadvantaged women, shared decision making and the accessibility of 24/7 maternity care.
Improved collaboration can be realised by implementing alternative maternity care models, such as integrated care in a joint venture with midwives and obstetricians (vertical integration), shared care within primary care (horizontal integration), or midwives working in the community as well as in the hospital [
10,
20‐
22]. Health insurance companies supported this approach by strongly advising midwives and obstetricians to collaborate in a professional as well as a financial partnership [
10]. Other forms of cooperation are feasible and a variety of maternity care models are being tested as pilots for a national model [
7,
23]. There is, however, currently limited evidence to support any of the pilot approaches and no consensus among professionals and other stakeholders about whether, how and when the maternity care system should be integrated [
7,
23‐
26]. Furthermore, the concept of integrated care is ambiguous and often used as an umbrella term [
27]. Different stakeholders have given their opinions on the matter of integrated care [
10,
11,
25,
26]. Although student midwives have been exposed to these different models in recent years, their voices have not been included in the conversation about change. Student midwives will be entering a changing maternity care system and it is important to involve students’ views in the discussion and the transitions, because they are the future maternity care providers with a unique perspective as semi-outsiders in the system who may have innovative perspectives as newly integrated members of the system. Further, it is important to gaining buy-in for any proposed change from future midwives. Final year students will have been part of various situations in their internships in different places in primary, secondary and tertiary care and were in that way in a position where they can observe what works and what does not work in the field. To our knowledge, no research has been conducted to investigate the views of midwifery students with regard to the reorganisation of maternity care.
Aim of the study
The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of graduating students regarding the organisation of maternity care and alternative maternity care models in the Netherlands. These student midwives have studied for 4 years, with 2 years in internships in primary, secondary and tertiary care and have witnessed new developments and have become part of the change. Findings from our study add the perspective of an important group of future professionals on how they see themselves fit in a changing system, which can further inform the direction of the current policy dialogue on the development of maternity care in the Netherlands. Our research question was: What are the perceptions of final year midwifery students in Amsterdam (VAA) and Groningen (VAG) on possible future forms of cooperation in maternity care, including integrated care?
Discussion
This study aimed to explore student midwives’ perceptions on the current organisation of maternity care and alternative maternity care systems. Exploring the perspectives of students regarding the evolving role of midwives can help inform policy and enhance conversations about proposed system change. Our exploratory qualitative study adds to the evidence on barriers and facilitators to inter-professional collaboration in maternity care and provides a timely contribution to the literature as Dutch maternity care faces significant health system changes. Student midwife views contribute to a multifaceted understanding of how different echelons of care currently work together and how integrated care would impact women’s childbirth experiences.
Our descriptive thematic findings indicate that students perceived an inevitability regarding change in the organisation of maternity care, going from an echelon system with primary, secondary and tertiary care, to a more integrated maternity care system. Participants pointed out that good collaboration between professions, including a system of shared maternity notes and guidelines, and mutual trust and respect were important aspects of any alternative model. Students indicated that client-centred care, and the physiological, normalcy approach to pregnancy and birth should be safeguarded and maintained in any alternative model. Students worried that the role of midwives in intrapartum care may become minimised, and thus they are motivated to expand their scope of practice in order to enhance their role in providing intrapartum care.
We found that midwifery students had experienced a range of approaches identified in the literature as defining elements of models of maternity care including [
32]: who provides the care (obstetricians, midwives, allied care providers), whether the providers are known to the woman, where the care occurs (at home, in hospital, community venue), when the care occurs (gestation at booking, frequency and length of visits, after hours contact), and how the care is provided (one-to-one or group visits) and as described as possible future maternity care models for Dutch practice [
23]. Students identified shifts away from the original ‘echelon model’ and indicated openness to such change (theme 1). As in an explorative study among clinicians, working in community practices as well as in academic practices in maternity care in the USA in 2011 [
33], when students in our study indicated a preference for a specific maternity care model, the motivation was mainly related to the desire to provide the best possible maternity care.
One of the reasons for the perceived inevitability of the change in organisation of maternity care (theme 2), according to the students, was the resentment, lack of trust and professional territorialism between midwives and obstetricians. Like our participating students, midwives have been found to report a power imbalance in which they feel to be viewed as inferior to obstetricians [
9,
10]. A perceived power imbalance could harm inter-professional collaboration and may cause the experienced lack of trust [
34]. The negative effect of the perceived power imbalance might be exacerbated by the obstetricians’ reported lack of knowledge about the midwives’ responsibilities and activities [
10,
35]. Midwifery students in the Netherlands have some knowledge of the obstetrician’s and clinical midwives’ roles, yet medical students are rarely introduced to the roles of primary care midwives before they are required to work with them.
Our findings of essential components which are conditional for successful collaborative practice (theme 3) - such as the call for good collaboration between maternity care providers in mutual trust and respect; client-centered care and continuity of care; safeguarding of normal birth; a shared maternity notes system and shared guidelines - were also seen in other studies [
9,
10]. Students are in a position where they can observe what works and what does not work in the field, because they were part of various situations in their internships in different places in primary, secondary and tertiary care.
Among Dutch maternity care professionals there is a lack of consensus regarding the distribution of responsibilities and tasks (theme 4) for moderate risk indications [
7]. From 2000 to 2008, there was a considerable rise in non-urgent referrals from primary midwife-led care to obstetrician-led care during labour [
6] and most referrals were for moderate risk indications [
36]. Our study highlights that students see a need for expanding a primary care midwife’s responsibilities and competencies, similar to maternity care systems in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, where the midwife providing care to low risk woman commonly remains the caregiver when certain moderate risks occur [
7,
24].
Lowering perinatal mortality was the main driver of changes in maternity care over the past decade in the Netherlands. The value of using such rare events as an indicator for assessing the quality of maternity care in developed countries is highly debatable [
37,
38]. As a result of improved perinatal mortality statistics [
39], the case for launching a radically altered perinatal care system does not seem evident anymore particularly with limited evidence and lack of peer-reviewed literature informing this radical shift in the Dutch maternity system. Nevertheless, rare and significant events such as perinatal mortality can provide an important starting point for in-depth studies aimed at understanding key issues relating to the care system. Our study contributes to that understanding.
Implementation of a new system can only be successful if there is support for change among all professionals and clients concerned [
7,
40], and all stakeholders are ‘market ready’ [
41] (Bruijnzeels; personal communication). There have been calls from different stakeholders to reconsider introducing integrated maternity care [
40,
42]. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that horizontal integration (cross-sectorial collaboration within primary care) is also key to counteracting the fragmentation of services in the health system [
27,
43,
44]. Health care systems with a strong emphasis on primary care are more likely to provide better population health, greater economy in the use of resources and better distribution in health throughout the populations [
45]. Birth models that are ideologically and practically based on the midwifery-led care (humanistic/holistic) model of maternity care produce better outcomes for mothers and babies than technocratic practices based on a more medical model of maternity care [
2,
46‐
50], but they are also fragile and in need of more attention and valuation [
51]. The functions of primary midwifery care, such as first contact, comprehensiveness and coordination, and the person and population health-focused view could give primary care a central role in coordinating and integrating care [
2,
27]. Many countries saw responsibility move from midwives to obstetricians over the 20
th century and in later years calls for more natural childbirth and more community based maternity services have contributed to a trend towards reintroducing or strengthening the roles of midwives [
52]. Primary care midwives can be more aware of this added value they bring and advocate it more strongly in the collaboration with other care providers [
40].
A limitation of our study might be that all but one of the interviewees were acquainted with the interviewers and that the researcher CW had a dual role as researcher and educator (but not examiner) with some interviewees. This ‘power-over’ relationship might have influenced the interviews; yet, it did not discourage the students from expressing positive as well as negative feelings and opinions and we do not believe the influence was negative or coercive in nature. The so-called investigator-triangulation (the collaboration of a qualitative reflexive interviewer (CW) with peer-interviewers (YC, MR)) brought together various ways of knowing (knowledge of the organisation of maternity care, the students midwives and academic researchers). The peer-interviewers improved the richness of qualitative data because they were able to establish deep rapport with participants, which enhances the process of sharing personal stories.
Another limitation might be that the focus group participants were familiar to each other. Their relationship may have caused participations to withhold certain experiences from their fellow students, and therefore from the focus group. On the other hand, it may have facilitated the discussion because they already knew each other. Our study did not include students from other midwifery academies.
The aim of our study was the empirical exploration of perceptions towards future maternity care models from the viewpoints of a sample of future midwives. However, trends for the future might mostly not be designed by the professionals-to-be who actually experience the changes in practices first hand, but imposed by legislative and governmental institutions or by highly placed iconic individuals [
3,
5,
10]. Although we perceive the expectations of our target group to be valuable, one should thoughtfully interpret and use these expectations for future maternity care models. Expectations are not facts, and thus they might not come true. Nevertheless, it can be important to involve students’ views in the discussion, because student midwives are on the threshold of going to work as maternity care professionals. The findings of this qualitative study can provide the context for the planning and interpretation of a web-based survey among the whole population of final year student midwives in the Netherlands.
Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to the midwifery students and the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam Groningen. Furthermore, we would like to thank Lianne Holten for her contribution to earlier versions of this article.
1. J. Catja Warmelink (catja.warmelink@inholland.nl) is Ph.D. student at the department of Midwifery Science, AVAG and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and senior lecturer at the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam-Groningen in Groningen, The Netherlands. She earned her university Master’s degree in development psychology at the university of Groningen. Her current research interests include organisation of midwifery care and perinatal psychology.
2. T. Paul De Cock ( p.decock@ulster.ac.uk) was senior researcher at the department of Midwifery Science, AVAG and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and manager and lecturer in psychology at the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam-Groningen in Groningen, the Netherlands. Currently he is working as research associate at The Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. His current research interests are in perinatal psychology and development.
3. Yvonne Combee (yvonne_combee@msn.com) graduated in 2014 at the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam-Groningen in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She is working as a registered primary care midwife now in Doetinchem, the Netherlands.
4. Marloes Rongen (marloesrongen@live.nl) graduated in 2014 at the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam-Groningen in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She is working as a registered primary care midwife now in Leiden, the Netherlands.
5. Therese A. Wiegers (t.wiegers@nivel.nl) is psychologist, epidemiologist and senior researcher at Netherlands institute for health services research (NIVEL) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. She earned her Ph.D. at the Leiden University, the Netherlands. Her current research interest include midwifery care, maternity care and reproductive health.
6. Eileen K. Hutton (huttone@mcmaster.ca) was Professor Midwifery Science, AVAG and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, and is Assistant Dean Faculty of Health Sciences, Director Midwifery Education Program and Associate Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology of the McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada and she is a Registered midwife. She earned his Ph.D. in clinical epidemiology at the university of Toronto, Canada. Her current research interest include the quality and organisation of midwifery care.