Investigating Handover in Maternity Care

An African mother holding her son.Maternity care is a key period for healthcare provision and linked with numerous Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to mother and infant’s health. Moving beyond the provision of maternity care services, it is the quality of the care that determines mother and child outcomes

During labour, or admission in the wards due to antenatal or post-natal complications, quality of shift-to-shift handover communication is essential to ensure a seamless and effective care from the mothers. Equally the quality of recording and transmission of information in maternity cards or other documents before and after delivery, complications can lead to maternal and neonatal problems or even death.

Clinical Handover in Maternity Care in India

In 2015, we conducted two projects in maternity units in Cochin hospitals in Kerala. These were the first to explore shift-to-shift handover and handover at admission/discharge in maternity wards in LMICC. The project protocols are available on the link below as is the one published study. Other draft publications are available on request from Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland.

Outputs

Publications:

The project protocols are available on the link below as is the one published study. Other draft publications are available on request from Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland.

Sheikh Aadil, Jessica Dunphy, Claire Humphries, Christina MacArthur, Semira Manaseki-Holland. Maternity handover in Kerala: a cross sectional study. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health [Online], 5.9 (2018): 3760-3766. 

Research Team and Partners 

  • Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland, Reader in Public Health, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Sanjeev Singh, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Cochin, India
  • Professor Christine MacArthur, Professor of Maternal and Child Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Jessica Dunphy, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Lucy Pitcher, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Sheikh Aadil, University of Birmingham, UK 
  • Dr Claire Humphries, University of Birmingham, UK

Clinical Handover in Maternity Care in The Gambia

Outputs

Publications:

Rickard F, Lu F, Gustafsson L, MacArthur C, Cummins C, Coker I, Wilson A, Mane K, Manneh K, Manaseki-Holland S (corresponding author). Clinical handover communication at maternity shift changes and women's safety in Banjul, the Gambia: a mixed-methods study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 22 (1), 1-13.

Pilcher L, Kurian M, MacArthur C, Singh S, Manaseki-Holland S (corresponding author). Obstetric shift-to-shift handover in Kerala, India: A cross-sectional mixed method study. PLoS One. 2022;17(5):e0268239.

Gooden T, Gustafsson L, Lu F, Rickard F, Sitch A, Cummins C, Manneh K, Wilson A, MacArthur C, Manaseki-Holland S (corresponding author). Facilitating better postnatal care with women-held documents in The Gambia: a mixed-methods study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021;21(1):479.

Gustafsson L, Lu F, Rickard F, MacArthur C, Cummins C, Coker I, Mane K, Mannek K, Wilson A, Manaseki-Holland S(corresponding author). The content and completeness of women-held maternity documents before admission for labour: A mixed methods study in Banjul, The Gambia. PLoS One. 2020;15(3):e0230063.

Research Team and Project Partners 

  • Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland, Reader in Public Health, Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham
  • Professor Christine MacArthur, Professor of Maternal and Child Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Carole Cummings, Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Amie Wilson, Research Fellow in Global Maternal Health and Midwife, University of Birmingham, UK 
  • Dr Emma Danks, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Alice Sitch, Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Ms Tiffany Gooden, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Lotta Gustafsson, BMedSci 3rd year medical student, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Fides Lu, BMedSci 3rd year medical student, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Faith Rickard, BMedSci 3rd year medical student, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, Chief Medical Director, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Gambia
  • Mr. Malang Ndong, Hospital Administrator (2015), Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Gambia
  • Mr. Kebba Manneh, Chief Executive Officer (2015), Serekunda General Hospital, Gambia
  • Mr. Kebba Mane, Chief Executive Officer, Bundung Maternal and Child Hospital
  • Mr. Ivan Coker, Senior Hospital Administrator (2015), Bundung Maternal and Child Hospital