Midwives' experience of personal/professional risk when providing continuity of care to women who decline recommendations: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.

Problem: Women's autonomous choices in pursuit of physiological childbirth are sometimes limited by the midwife's willingness to support those choices, particularly when those choices are contrary to recommendations or outside of guidelines.

Background: Women's reasons for making such choices have received some research attention, however there is a paucity of research examining this phenomenon from the perspective of caseloading midwives' and their perception of personal/professional risk in such situations.

Aim: To synthesise qualitative research which includes the voices of midwives working in a continuity of carer model who perceive any kind of risk to themselves when caring for women who decline current established recommendations.