Independent Midwives UK Research Database, 2002-2012

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Independent Midwives UK (IMUK) Research Database project was set up in 2002 as a prospective data collection. The aim was to collect a wide range of data from the IMs' case notes, covering antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care. Each client was asked to sign a consent form giving permission for the data to be used. Research databases are normally designed to provide the minimum dataset that will satisfy the research requirements. The IMUK database took the opposite approach, collecting a wide range of data from the outset, with a 100% sample. This decision was made since it was neither practicable nor possible to contact clients for corrections and additions after the maternity care episode was completed. This has resulted in a dataset both comprehensive in scope and rich in detail. It may be particularly interesting because of the high proportion of home births (over 60%).Study Author's Acknowledgment:In memory of Roger Kistruck, with heartfelt thanks. Without him these datasets could not have been collected or processed.Independent Midwives UK (IMUK) is a membership organisation for independent midwives (IMs) in the UK. All IMUK's full members are professionally trained midwives, and are regulated by the NMC. IMs work autonomously as lead health professionals for maternity care, booking clients outside the NHS system, although almost all clients booked are also entitled to GP, specialist and emergency care as NHS patients. More than 50% of births attended by independent midwives are home births.For the June 2022 release, edits were made to the previous data files to create a standard End User Licence (EUL) access version. Users should note that the documentation may still refer to previous files. The variables contained in the EUL version are listed in the UKDA data dictionary files available in the documentation table.Main Topics:Data were collected on the following topics for each of the approximately 5,500 cases: Details of the woman client, her physical characteristics, age and medical history, particularly in relation to previous pregnancies, smoking and alcohol consumption. Details of the pregnancy and antenatal care, with tests, medication malpresentations and hospital visits. Details of the labour and birth with stage timings, nourishment, pain relief, any hospitalisation, induction of labour, assisted birth and outcome. For each baby (including twin babies) details of place of birth, gender, birthweight, any birthing problems, resuscitation, birth defects, health during the first six weeks, breastfeeding and health at discharge