Exploring the concept of continuous midwifery-led care and its dimensions in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods in Iran (Kashan)

- Especially in developing country, continuous prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care have been introduced as a key component in developing the maternal, neonatal and child health care indices. understanding the concept of continuous care and its dimensions is very important.
- This study was conducted by using the qualitative content analysis approach.
- The main themes of this multidimensional concept were continuity, the process of care, educational and informing, management and professionalism.

Aimto explore the concept of continuous care and its dimensions in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods based on the experiences of midwives, gynaecologists, obstetricians, pregnant women and their husbands.Designa qualitative study that was part of a large scale action research which aimed to develop, use and test a continuous midwifery-led care model. Data collection and analysis were performed concurrently through undertaking semi-structured interviews and using the conventional content analysis approach.Settinghealthcare centres and hospitals affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.Participants21 women following a recent pregnancy, five husbands, 18 midwives, and five physicians who had different official positions.Findingsthe participants' experiences revealed five concepts for continuous midwifery-led care which included continuity, the process of care, education and informing, management, and professionalism. Each of these five concepts consisted of several categories.Conclusion and implication for practiceaccording to the study participants, continuous midwifery-led prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care is a multidimensional and important concept. Given the differences in the health infrastructures of different countries as well as the unique characteristics of pregnancy, higher priorities are recommended to be given to continuous midwifery-led care and its dimensions.