Trialling and implementing a client-held record system.

A client-held records project was piloted and evaluated at Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital during 2000. To evaluate women's and staff's experiences of this method of keeping records, questionnaires were sent to women's homes at the six weeks postnatalstage and to staff at their clinical practices. One hundred women were surveyed, along with all obstetricians, all midwives providing care at pilot clinics and a sample of hospital-based midwives. Women were generally satisfied with the record system, it helped them talk about or get information on their pregnancy and they found it easy to understand what was written. Most staff thought the record improved communication with women, but found it difficult to complete and felt it did not improve documentation. Half of the midwives and one-third of obstetricians thought the record was suitable for ail women, with a similar proportion thinking it was suitable for low-risk women only. Client-held records are valued by women and appear to improve communication between women and staff. Staff find them useful, however there are practical difficulties associated with implementing new records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]