Abstract
Background/Aims
Personalised care has been recommended continuously to improve UK maternity services. The aim of this review was to explore the current provision of personalised care and consider why it may not yet be fully embedded in practice.
Methods
This review of Embase, Medline, the Healthcare Management Information Consortium, the British Nursing Index, CINAHL, Google Scholar and reference lists found 15 articles published between 2014 and 2024, which were included for thematic analysis and synthesis.
Results
The themes included the complexities of personalised care, different perspectives when implementing personalised care and the effect of cultural factors embedded in maternity services.
Conclusions
Barriers to implementing personalised care include its complexity and lack of clarity. There is also a lack of congruity between competing discourses and priorities around the implementation of personalised care at all levels of maternity care.
Implications for practice
A greater recognition of the complexities of personalised care will be the starting point for clarity in decisions regarding next steps in this area. This will create space for innovation, rather than repetition, in policy and practice.
Personalised care has been recommended continuously to improve UK maternity services. The aim of this review was to explore the current provision of personalised care and consider why it may not yet be fully embedded in practice.
Methods
This review of Embase, Medline, the Healthcare Management Information Consortium, the British Nursing Index, CINAHL, Google Scholar and reference lists found 15 articles published between 2014 and 2024, which were included for thematic analysis and synthesis.
Results
The themes included the complexities of personalised care, different perspectives when implementing personalised care and the effect of cultural factors embedded in maternity services.
Conclusions
Barriers to implementing personalised care include its complexity and lack of clarity. There is also a lack of congruity between competing discourses and priorities around the implementation of personalised care at all levels of maternity care.
Implications for practice
A greater recognition of the complexities of personalised care will be the starting point for clarity in decisions regarding next steps in this area. This will create space for innovation, rather than repetition, in policy and practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 398–407 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | British Journal of Midwifery |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Early online date | 27 Jun 2025 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jul 2025 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Maternity and Midwifery
Keywords
- Maternity
- Midwifery
- Patient-centred
- Person-centred
- Personalised
- Woman-centred
