(1) Assess the uptake, outcome and appropriateness of birth
centre care for women in the catchment area for the birth
centre, using routinely collected hospital and populationbased
data.
(2) Compare local women's preferences and experiences of maternity
care, as well as the interventions and outcomes associated
with their childbirth, by conducting surveys before and after
the opening of the new birth centre.
(3) Conduct an economic evaluation of care in the birth centre.
This article describes the methods used in the survey designed
to address objective two and its key findings about women's
experiences of care. We also wanted to explore to what extent
women felt able to make decisions about their care in pregnancy
and during birth. Their experiences of specific aspects of care are
described in a second paper (Macfarlane et al., submitted for
publication). The economic evaluation and the analyses of routine
data are being reported elsewhere.
Using surveys to evaluate maternity care
In the United Kingdom, parents and organisations representing
them have long been active in expressing their views about
maternity policy (Davies, 1915; Durward and Evans, 1990) and
the importance of their views has been acknowledged, even if they
have not inevitably been translated into practice (Jacoby and
Cartwright, 1990; Green, 2012).