Moray Maternity Services Review: report

Appendix M: Glossary of Terms

AMH

Aberdeen Maternity Hospital

Antenatal Care

Care of women during pregnancy by professionals in order to detect, predict, prevent and manage problems with women or their unborn babies. Care also includes education, advice and support.

Birth Plan

A woman's written record of her preferences for her care during pregnancy, labour and childbirth.

Caesarean Section

An operation where the baby is delivered through an incision through the abdominal and uterine walls.

Cardiotocograph (CTG)

A test of fetal well-being and uterine contractions. A combination of electro-cardiography and tocography. The fetal heart rate is obtained by a microphone placed on the woman's abdomen or by an electrode attached to the fetal scalp during labour. At the same time contractions of the uterus are measured by a tocograph placed on the woman's abdomen. Both are recorded on a monitoring device.

CMO

Chief Medical Office

CMU

Community Maternity Unit

Community Maternity Unit

A maternity unit, midwife managed, occasionally with GP involvement, which may be a stand-alone unit or adjacent to a non-Obstetric hospital or adjacent to a maternity unit.

Congenital Abnormalities

An anomaly present at birth.

Continuity of Care

This term is used to describe a situation where all the professionals involved in delivery of care share common ways of working and a common philosophy. The aim being to reduce conflicting advice experienced by women, and the same philosophy of care is experienced by the woman throughout the period of her care.

Continuity of Carer

The same professional providing care throughout a woman's contact with the maternity services. It can also be used to describe the same caregiver throughout a specific episode of care, such as during labour and childbirth.

Demography

The study of statistics on births, deaths and diseases.

DGH

Dr Gray's Hospital

DHI

Digital Health And Care Innovation Centre - Collaboration between The Glasgow School of Art and University of Strathcylde Glasgow

Diagnostic Services

Services used to recognise the distinctive signs and symptoms of a disease or condition.

Domino Scheme

(Domiciliary In and Out): Care is provided by midwives in the community. They provide the majority of care during pregnancy, care for the woman in the maternity unit during labour and childbirth; the woman usually goes home 6 hours after her baby is born and the midwives continue to provide care at home in the early postnatal period.

Education

The learning process prior to the professional's initial registration or first degree.

ELCS

Elective Caesarean Sections.

Fetal

Of the fetus.

Fetus

The unborn baby, usually referring to development from the seventh week of pregnancy until birth.

GMC

General Medical Council

Guidelines

Systematically developed statements which assist in decision-making about appropriate health care for specific clinical conditions.

HDU

High dependency unit

HIS

Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Holistic

Treatment of the whole person rather than a symptom or an illness.

Home Birth

This is usually a planned event where the woman decides to give birth at home, with care provided by the midwife.

Independent Midwife

A midwife who is self-employed, contracting directly with an individual woman or with an NHS Trust.

Integrated Care Pathways

A coherent approach to providing health promotion, detection and treatment for a specific illness.

Integrated Service

A multi-disciplinary, multi-professional approach to service provision.

Intrapartum

Occurring or provided during the act of birth.

In-utero

In the uterus/womb, unborn.

KPI's

Key Performance Indicators

Lead Professional

The professional who will give a substantial part of the care personally and who is responsible for ensuring that the woman has access to care from other professionals as appropriate.

Maternity Services Liaison Committee

A committee set up within a NHS Board area which provides a forum for all the professions involved in the provision of maternity care with representatives of the women who use the services to discuss issues relevant to the provision and development of maternity services in the area.

Maternity Unit

A building or group of buildings in which maternity care is provided. It can be located within, or adjacent to, a general hospital, or away from the general hospital.

MCQIC

Maternity and Children's Quality Improvement Collaborative

MDT

Multi-Disciplinary Team

MLU

Midwifery-led Unit

MOD

Ministry of Defence

MVP

Maternity Voices Partnership

Named Midwife

A named, qualified midwife who will be responsible for women's midwifery care.

Neonatal Period

The first 28 days of a baby's life

NES

National Education Scotland

NHSG

NHS Grampian

NHSH

NHS Highland

Obs and Gynae

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Obstetric

The branch of medicine and surgery that deals with pregnancy and childbirth.

OOH

Out of Hours

Paeds

Paediatrics

PHS

Public Health Scotland

PICU

Psychiatric intensive-care unit

Postnatal Period

A period not less than 10 days or more than 28 days after the end of labour, during which time the attendance on the mother and baby by a midwife is mandatory.

Postnatal

After the birth.

Premature Baby

Born before the due date (less than 37 weeks gestation).

Primary Health Care

Primary Health Care is health care at the first point of contact with the Health Service, addressing physical, social and psychological problems, but also providing continuity of care. The traditional Primary Health Care Team of General Practitioners working with nursing, administrative and other support colleagues has largely been expanded to include colleagues from other agencies and disciplines relevant to the delivery of care appropriate to the person's needs.

Professional

In the context of this Framework, Professional usually refers to those who have been specially trained in health care such as the midwife, the GP, the Obstetrician, the anaesthetist, the paediatrician/neonatologist and the health visitor.

Protocol

An adaptation of a clinical guideline or a written statement to meet local conditions and constraints, which has legal connotations.

RAF

Royal Air Force

RCA

Royal College of Anaesthetists

RCM

Royal College of Midwives

RCOG

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

SAS

Scottish Ambulance Service

SAtSD

Scottish Approach to Service Design

SCBU

Special Care Baby Unit

ScotSTAR

Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval

Screening

Mass examination of the population to detect specific illnesses.

SG

Scottish Government

Shared Care

An agreed arrangement between a GP and an Obstetrician, a GP and a midwife or an Obstetrician and a midwife over care for a pregnant woman.

SLA

Service level Agreement

SME

Subject Matter Expert

SPSP

Scottish Patient Safety Programme

Stillbirth

A baby born dead after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy. Stillbirths must be registered and the cause of death established before a certificate of stillbirth can be issued and a burial take place.

Strategy

A plan or a policy to achieve something.

Supervisor of Midwives

A statutory function whereby a midwife who has completed the appropriate training is appointed to the role of supervisor of midwives. The role encompasses the provision of support and guidance for midwives, protection of the public, contribution to the regulation of the practice of midwives and promotion of high quality care. Each midwife has a named supervisor of midwives. 31 March 2017 saw the removal of statutory supervision from the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001.

Team Midwifery

Where a small team of midwives share responsibility for care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.

ToR

Terms of Reference

Ultrasound Scan

An image created by the use of sound waves above the audible range of the human ear. It is useful in the confirmation of pregnancy, the determination of fetal size and wellbeing.

Woman Centred

The needs of the individual woman provide the focus for the planning, organising and delivery of maternity services.

WTE

Whole Time Equivalent