A review of the literature on women's views on their maternity care in the community in the UK

Objectives: to review the UK literature relating to women's views on community-based maternity care between 1970 and 1998.

Design: UK research studies examining community-based maternity care were identified by searching several electronic databases using defined search terms. Data extraction was carried out by two or more independent reviewers using a pro-forma. Findings are summarised in this paper.

Findings: a total of 624 papers were retrieved and 241 met inclusion criteria. Only 40 papers included some form of comparison group. Examples from more recent and relevant papers focusing on women's views of their maternity care are described and discussed. Women expressed high levels of satisfaction with care. However, there are serious gaps in the research evidence.

Conclusion and policy implications: most of the papers included in the review were descriptive and few studies were of a size and quality to enable findings to be generalised to other groups and settings. More information is needed on the care process. There is a need for research studies to examine consumer views where different groups of women experience different care processes.