Implementing the Findings of Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth in the United Kingdom

The extent to which policy makers and practitioners are prepared to use evidence and ways to implement the ECPC findings are assessed and proposed.

Abstract

Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (ECPC) is a comprehensive analysis of evidence. The findings are only now beginning to influence practice in the United Kingdom several years after its publication. This article assesses the extent to which policy makers and practitioners are prepared to use evidence and proposes ways to implement the ECPC findings. Such efforts would require leadership from the U.K. Department of Health and the commitment of the leaders of professional and consumer bodies to promote perhaps 10 or 12 key findings rather than try to push forward the whole program at once. A coordinated approach would then be needed to influence managers, professionals, and service users, first through informing them of the findings, and then by devising specific approaches, such as the use of opinion leaders, for each group. Finally, changes in practice should be monitored.