Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39654410›Full record

ArticleBirth (Berkeley, Calif.)2025

Facilitators and Barriers to Access to Midwife-Led Birth Settings for Racialized Women in the UK: A Scoping Review.

Anna Melamed, Lucia Rocca-Ihenacho, Anna Horn, Christine McCourt, Frances Rivers, Marina Alice Sylvia Daniele

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Birth (Berkeley, Calif.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Anna MelamedCity University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9872-7317
Lucia Rocca-IhenachoCity University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8161-3938
Anna HornCity University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1259-4013
Christine McCourtCity University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4765-5795
Frances RiversCity University of London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6416-0896
Marina Alice Sylvia DanieleCity University of London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn UK maternity care, racialized women have worse experiences and clinical outcomes than White women. Midwife-led birth settings (MLBS), including home births and midwife-led units, both freestanding and alongside hospitals, are all available as choices for low-risk women in the UK. MLBS deliver optimal outcomes for low-risk women with uncomplicated pregnancies, including for racialized women, and can offer culturally specific care, possibly mitigating existing social inequalities. Evidence suggests that racialized women access MLBS less than White women.

aimTo map existing literature on facilitators and barriers to accessing MLBS for racialized women and to identify emerging themes.

methodA scoping review of UK literature over the last 10 years using OVID, Ebsco Host, and gray literature. Search, selection, and data extraction were performed using PRISMA and JBI guidelines. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

resultsFourteen articles met the inclusion criteria, only one addressing the research question directly and others containing some relevant material. Six themes were identified: admission criteria, information giving, the role of antenatal groups, bias and assumptions, beliefs about birth, and MLBS as empowering.

conclusionsThere is a lack of research on racialized women's access to MLBS. Community outreach, having midwifery services embedded in the community, defaulting to MLBS for women categorized as low risk, continuity of carer, and interventions achieving a reduction in care-giver bias may improve access and outcomes.

Indexed as

Birth SettingHealth Services AccessibilityMaternal Health ServicesMidwiferyFemaleHealthcare DisparitiesHome ChildbirthHumansPregnancyUnited KingdomBAMEbirth centreblack womenethnic minorityhome birthmidwifery unitracism

Identifiers

PMID39654410
PMCPMC12434223

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.