Health charity calls for GPs to have a greater role in maternity care

The King's Fund report The Role of GPs in Maternity Care — What Does the Future Hold?, says GPs’ role in maternity care has been eroded by successive policy initiatives over the past 30 years.

Changes have included moving midwives out of practices into children’s centres and amendments to GPs’ contracts that have seen the removal of payments for each pregnant woman they look after and the right to opt out of out-of-hours care.

Such changes have left many pregnant women confused about where to get health advice or support with pregnancy related problems. While some self-refer to a midwife, many go to accident and emergency departments.

The report proposes a shared maternity service involving GPs, midwives and obstetricians. This would improve continuity of care, particularly for women with a variety of health problems. It would also ensure problems are picked up earlier.

For this to succeed, GP training in maternity care needs to improve and protocols need to be produced surrounding the sharing of medical and social care details, says the King's Fund.

Anna Dixon, lead author and director of policy at the King's Fund, said: "It is right that those with specialist skills, such as midwives and obstetricians, take the lead role in caring for pregnant women but GPs have a vital part to play in pre-conception and shared ante-natal and post-natal care."

The report is part of the Kind Fund’s long-term inquiry into the quality of general practice in England and has been welcomed by doctors’ organisations.

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs Committee, said: "Many GPs have watched with growing concern as long-established and valued midwife colleagues have been withdrawn from practice teams and continuity of care for pregnant women has been lost. GPs want to be more involved in maternity care because they see it as an important part of their job."

Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: "We welcome closer working relationships with our GP colleagues. GPs are trusted by women and their families."