Implementing A Framework for Maternity ... - Scottish Government

Glossary
Accredited Certified as being of a prescribed quality.
Acute Maternity Services Services providing care during labour and delivery.
Amniocentesis A test carried out during or after 15 weeks of pregnancy for fetal
abnormality. The test involves the removal of a small amount of
fluid from the amniotic sac by aspiration through the abdominal
wall, for diagnostic purposes.
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.
Audit The measuring and evaluation of care against agreed standards
with a view to improving practice and care delivery.
Caesarean Section An operation where the baby is delivered through an incision
through the abdominal and uterine walls.
Cardiotocograph 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.
Community Maternity Unit A maternity unit, midwife managed, occasionally with GP
involvement, which may be a stand-alone unit or adjacent to a nonobstetric
hospital or adjacent to a maternity unit.
Competency Required level of skill and proficiency.
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.
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