Mother holding her baby outside the Cranleigh maternity hub

Midwife continuity of carer explained

Continuity of care midwives work in small teams caring for women from the first booking appointment until mother and baby are discharged at around ten days after birth. Pioneering this model of care, Royal Surrey maternity has surpassed national midwife continuity of carer goals. We are committed to the expansion of this care model with additional continuity teams launching in the near future.

We have two types of midwife continuity of carer models, described below:

Caseload Teams

Caseload midwives work as a team to provide care before, during and after birth, including home births. Some or all of your care will be provided at home if possible. If your circumstances change your midwife may refer you for specialised midwife or clinical care. Your midwife will tell you where you will need to go for that appointment. 

Continuity Teams

With this model of maternity care, you will be assigned a buddy pair of midwives who provide the majority of your antenatal and postnatal care and aim to support you during birthing. This is possible because the buddy pair work at our community based hubs and the birthing suite on a six week rotation. If you require additional support at any time during your pregnancy and birthing or early days as a parent, your midwife is your advocate for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.