THE prospect of mums-to-be being given a greater choice on the maternity care they receive is bound to be welcomed by families and those involved in ante-natal care.

The National Maternity Review found mums-to-be should be given a budget of around £3,000 to be spent on NHS services to ensure they get the care they desire.

Under the proposed scheme, women would be told about all local providers of NHS care and the services they offer. They would then make decisions about how and where they receive care. For instance, women may choose a provider which ensures continuity of care from the same midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatal care, the review's authors said.

Women would also be able to pick between a number of providers, for instance, they could pick a hospital near their workplace for routine scans and a hospital closer to home for the birth of their child.

The review's authors likened the scheme to personal health budgets, where people with long-term conditions and disabilities are given a say over how NHS money is spent on them.

Some have criticised the personal health budgets scheme for being open to abuse, with reports of people using their budgets to buy holidays or computer consoles, but the review's authors said only accredited providers would be eligible under this scheme.

The review also called for better continuity of care across the NHS saying every woman should have one midwife who is part of a team of four to six, who can provide care throughout pregnancy, birth and afterwards.

Mother-of-five, Ruth Weston, founder of Aquabirths, water birth specialists in Bradford, believes it could, potentially, be a driver for change - if it is implemented.

"I think the biggest issue is, is it going to be implemented? We have had the Winterton report and Maternity Matters and these were not implemented and they said broadly the same things but is there enough impetus for the change to happen?"

Generally, Ruth says she welcomes the idea in principle. "Because I think it could be a driver for change."

Hypnotherapist, Amy Brown, from Skipton who runs Power of Your Mind and has two sons, says: "Women unanimously agreed that having the same carer throughout is what they want. Women being given choice and continuity of care leads to empowerment, information and a calmer, relaxed state which can only improve positive birth outcomes. Having continuity of care throughout, such as the same midwife is so important, no woman wants a stranger at their birth and in fact having one there is unhelpful in terms of how we operate as mammals. A woman should ultimately have control over her birth choices and what she would like for her and her baby."

Shipley mother-of-five, Charlotte Furness, from Nest Creative Beginnings, creative birth preparation and Bradford Birth Choices Group, says: "On the face of it I think this new maternity allowance is excellent news for women. It is a real step in the right direction in giving back women their power in regards to their birth choices. We really need to take pregnancy and birth out of the 'illness' arena it is currently in and being able to personalise your care is going to make massive changes to that.

It should raise standards across the board because now the NHS will face competition from private midwifery companies. "

Barnoness Julia Cumberlege, chairman of the review, said: "Women have told us they want to be given genuine choices and have the same person looking after them throughout their care.

"We must ensure that all care is as safe as the best and we need to break down boundaries and work together to reduce the variation in the quality of services and provide a good experience for all women."

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: "The independent review....rightly argues that the NHS could and should raise its game on personalised support for parents and their babies, better team working, better use of technology, and more joined-up maternity and mental health services."

Royal College of Midwives chief executive, Cathy Warwick, said: "The review contains some radical elements, amongst these are the concept of providing far more care in community settings outside our acute hospitals, the introduction of NHS personal maternity care budgets, a rapid resolution and redress scheme for birth injuries and a discussion of how the maternity tariff may be constructed differently.

"All of these have the potential in different ways to make a significant difference to the way maternity services in England are delivered and will be taken forward in the implementation phase of the review."