Task shifting Midwifery Support Workers as the second health worker at a home birth in the UK: A qualitative study

The midwife-MSW model for home birth shows potential for task shifting to release midwife capacity and provide reliable home birth care to low risk women. Some of the challenges tally with observations made in the literature regarding role redesign. Others wishing to introduce a similar model would be advised to explicitly define and communicate the role of MSWs, and to ensure staff and women support it, consider carefully recruitment, content and delivery of training and retention of MSWs and confirm the model is cost-effective. They would also need to continue to provide care by two midwives at high risk births.