First-stop midwifery for mums-to-be

PREGNANT women are set to bypass seeing a GP by booking in directly with a midwife for care.

- By Ella Pickover

Traditionally, mothers-to-be made an appointment with their family doctor, who would tell them the news before they saw a midwife.

In recent years online selfreferral has been introduced by local health bodies.

But NHS leaders said that only half of expectant mothers were using these services directly, with many going unnecessarily to the GP to access maternity care.