BACKGROUND:
In 2017 NHS England started rolling out a model where women have continuity of carer with the same midwifery team integrated into mainstream services throughout the perinatal period. Current policy in England aims to provide continuity of midwife care in the most deprived neighbourhoods, and areas of high ethnic diversity providing additional support for the women that most need it reduce the gap in poor outcomes for women and babies. More evidence is needed on outcomes.

OBJECTIVES:
To compare outcomes for all women placed on a midwife continuity of care model by 24 weeks compared to women receiving standard care, and for women living in disadvantaged areas or from a minoritised ethnic group.

METHODS:
We compared stillbirth rates and rates of first feed of breast milk stillbirth for women placed on midwife continuity of care model and women receiving standard care in England, with logistic regression standardising between groups. We used the Maternity Services Dataset covering 922,149 women conceiving between 2020 and 2022.

RESULTS:
Women on a midwife continuity of carer model have a higher first feed of breast milk rate, but do not show a difference in stillbirth rate, compared to women receiving standard care. Black women on a midwife continuity of care model have significantly lower stillbirth rates compared to Black women receiving standard care.

CONCLUSIONS:
Accelerating plans to provide enhanced continuity of care in the most deprived neighbourhoods, providing additional support for the women that most need it is a policy priority in 2025. This is one of the largest studies using real world national data which can look at impact on specific groups of women.

KEY MESSAGE:
Midwife continuity of care is a potential intervention to close the inequity gap in outcomes. Marginalized - refugees 1