A mirror on practice : using ethnography to identify and facilitate best practice in maternity and child health care

Research in the fields of implementation science and knowledge translation reports resistance to policy and practice change and emphasises the need for multidisciplinary approaches to address the challenges of implementing international evidence or best practice principles into practice. In our research into maternity and child health care we have employed ethnographic methods, particularly observations of midwifery and child and family health (CFH) nursing practice, to understand how organisational culture and individual professional practice influence experiences and outcomes of the women and families who use maternity and CFH health services in New South Wales, Australia.