Women’s experiences with continuous care during labor by maternity care assistants in The Netherlands: a qualitative study

Despite evidence on effectivity and WHO recommendations, continuous care during labor is not yet available for all women. Options such as doula support are being considered, but face barriers in accessibility. To explore other implementation options, the Continuous Care Trial looked at the provision of continuous care by maternity care assistants. Maternity care assistants are well-established care providers within Dutch maternity care, routinely involved in the final stages of labor and postpartum. This qualitative study is an addition to the Continuous Care Trial and explores women’s experiences with continuous care during labor by maternity care assistants in the Netherlands. Fourteen interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for manifest content analysis, following the methodology of Graneheim and Lundman. The explored experiences were analyzed for evident similarities and differences. Findings were described in three themes: ‘Women’s experiences with continuous care,’ ‘Continuous care of maternity care assistants’ and ‘Perspectives on implementation.’ Noted facilitators include positive effects of continuous care, a larger role of the partner, and recognition of the professional background of the maternity care assistant. Barriers include difficulty to decide when and what kind support to ask for and lack of knowledge on the effectivity of continuous support.