MATERNITY services in Scotland provide women with high quality care before, during and after pregnancy, says a report.

Scotland is the only country in the world that has set standards for maternity care and measures performance against them.

However, a report from NHS Quality Improvement Scotland said health boards should make further improvements and priority should be given to improving strategic planning and providing a vision for the future of each maternity service.

NHS QIS chairman, Sir Graham Teasdale, said Scotland's approach, which also includes bringing women's medical details together into a unified record, had put the nation at the international forefront of improving maternity care.

The report highlighted key strengths in the system, such as services that help women with complicated medical histories conceive; strong screening and diagnosis during pregnancy; appropriate pain relief during childbirth; support for mums-to-be with complications.

However, it also said boards should ensure women have access to ultrasound screening and that boards should maximise the use of high dependency cots.

Sir Graham said: "More than 50,000 babies are born in Scotland each year and maternity services have to be able to respond to the needs of every woman before, during and after pregnancy.

"Many women are waiting longer to have their first baby, and medical and technological advances mean women with complex health problems can now be helped to become pregnant and give birth.

"The challenge is to meet women's changing needs by delivering the right care, by the right person, at the right time.

"Our report has revealed the high quality of care maternity services are delivering.

"Our work, however, does not stop here.

"In everything NHS Quality Improvement Scotland does, we are constantly looking for further improvement and so we have identified that improved strategic planning should be a priority."