ABSTRACT
The health system in Northern Ireland (NI) has been integrated with social care for several decades and delivers services to a population of 1.8 million people via five integrated Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts and the NI Ambulance Trust. The HSC Safety Forum, established in 2007 and now part of the Public Health Agency, provides system-wide leadership in quality improvement (QI) and safety. The Strategy for Maternity Care in Northern Ireland 2012–2018, aims to "provide high-quality, safe, sustainable, and appropriate maternity services to ensure the best outcome for all women and babies". Pregnancy is a normal physiological process and, for the vast majority of women, a safe event. Through the Safety Forum maternity QI collaborative, trusts have adopted a range of approaches to promote normality, including the introduction of birth choice clinics in each trust. One of the stated desired outcomes for the NI Maternity Strategy is "effective communication and high-quality maternity care".
