Single‐room maternity care: Systematic review and narrative synthesis

Abstract

Abstract Aim To describe the single‐room maternity care model and evaluate its influence on patient, provider and system outcomes. Design Mixed‐method systematic review and narrative synthesis. Methods We conducted searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the grey literature from January 1985–August 2018, yielding 151 records. Pairs of reviewers independently applied the inclusion criteria using a standardized screening tool to both titles/abstracts and full texts. Overall, 13 studies were retained. Results Most studies of single‐room care were from the United States and Canada, and assessed costs, patient satisfaction and/or provider satisfaction. Studies used cross‐sectional and/or pre–post comparative, retrospective descriptive and qualitative designs. Methodological quality of quantitative studies was generally weak, and few studies conducted inferential statistics. Maternal satisfaction with the single‐room maternity model was positive across the studies; however, healthcare provider satisfaction was mixed.

Keywords

• delivery rooms
• labor delivery recovery postpartum
• literature review
• maternal health services
• nursing
• rooming in