ArticleBMC health services research2025
How has the integration of midwives into primary healthcare settings impacted access to care? A qualitative descriptive study from Ontario, Canada.
Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Building bridges: the integral presence of audiologists and speech-language pathologists in comprehensive interprofessional primary care teams.Primary health care research & development · 2026Article
- Can multidisciplinary teams improve the quality of primary care? A scoping review.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Review
- Educational Barriers and Facilitators Related to Iran's Pronatalist Population Policy: A Qualitative Study.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
problemMost primary health care settings in Canada do not offer midwifery care. Midwifery remains poorly understood in Canada by some members of the public and healthcare providers.
backgroundMost midwives in Canada work in community-based midwifery-led continuity of care models that are not integrated into interprofessional primary healthcare settings.
aimTo investigate perceptions of how integrating midwives into primary health care teams impacts access to care.
methodsWe conducted a qualitative descriptive study of expanded midwifery care models in Ontario, Canada. We completed 28 semi-structured interviews with midwives, other healthcare providers, healthcare administrators and policy makers. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and then coded using open coding followed by axial coding in NVivo. We used Levesque et al.'s (Int J Equity Health 12:18, 2013) conceptualization of access to care to inform the interview questions and organize our findings.
findingsWe identified themes related to each of Levesque et al.'s supply side dimensions of access to care. Integrating midwives increased visibility and trust of the profession (approachability and acceptability), decreased access barriers such as travel time and cost (affordability), increased collaboration between healthcare providers (appropriateness), and ensured more timely and available care (availability and accommodation). DISCUSSION: Integrating midwives into primary healthcare settings can improve access to care, particularly for groups underserved by midwives. Integrating midwifery-led care within interprofessional teams can also enhance care appropriateness for equity-deserving populations.
conclusionWhile stand-alone community-based midwifery care remains effective and efficient, policy makers should consider creating or expanding funding that supports the further integration of midwives into primary healthcare teams.
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Registered trials
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.