Perinatal partnerships in practice: a conceptual framework for linking care across the childbearing continuum.

Health care delivery across the childbearing continuum can involve multiple providers and sites, resulting in fragmentation and duplication of services. This article presents a framework for developing linkages across care sites and providers as a potential model for minimizing such fragmentation and duplication. Nurses' presence in all health care settings, dominance in the provision of direct care services, and holistic focus of care establish them as logical leaders in linkage development.