FORUM ON MATERNITY AND THE NEWBORN, ROYAL SOCIETY OF MEDICINE.

PREGNANCY CARE IN 2000: A model for leadership in health care in the 21st Century.

Details of a meeting held at the Royal Society of Medicine on April 18th/19th 2000.

Focus of the meeting: The achievement of change in maternity care through leadership skills.

The involvement of Benjamin Zander, orchestral conductor and speaker on leadership issues, led to a highly innovative approach. He spoke at length on the subject to his audience, who represented a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, and introduced music, both as a motivating element and, in taking a master class for a young string quartet, as a striking example of leadership in action. He and his partner Rosamund Zander, a family therapist and expert in group facilitation, led, enthused and stimulated the 100 delegates over the 2 days.

Essential and creative processes of the meeting were participation and interaction. Four workshops were formed for the purpose of addressing the following topics :

THE STAFFING CRISIS IN OBSTETRICS AND MIDWIFERY. (Facilitators Rick Porter and Cathy Warwick)

THE PREGNANCY RECORD AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS.(Facilitators Jean Chapple and Sue Osborne)

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND MATERNITY CARE. (Facilitators Christine Gowdridge and Tara Kaufmann)

ACHIEVING APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE CARE FOR NORMAL BIRTH. (Facilitators Rona McCandlish and Gavin Young)

Adopting concepts among which were The Downward Spiral of Conversation (conceptualising a problem/situation/objective in a negative framework - to be avoided) and the state of Radiating Possibilities focussing on the positive, and jointly accepting a Vision, the workshops each formulated a mission and a project.

The vision is “The possibility that birth is honoured as a transformative event, the source of a compassionate, respectful, and fulfilling relationship for all.”

In the final session each group nominated members to take their projects forward, committing themselves to time-scales, and it was agreed that the delegates would meet again after a year.

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Workshop 1: The staffing Crisis in Obstetrics and Midwifery.
Mission : None defined.
Participants: None recruited.

Workshop 2: Social Inequalities and Maternity Care.
Mission: A maternity service which contributes to ending inequality as part of its core business, working in partnership with the community by the year 2005.
Project: An action plan so that all changes in maternity care are assessed for their impact on inequalities.
* Develop,test and promote an inequalities impact assessment tool.
* Promote its use in all maternity units, wherever change or reform is planned.
*Explore ways to make available knowledge of changes which are likely to have a positive impact.
Participants: None recruited.

Workshop3: The Pregnancy Record and Information Systems.
Mission: By the year 2002 every woman will have a hand-held maternity record which meets the needs of the individual and the broader needs of the service.
Project: To implement the record.
Implementation: Develop a strategy.
Participants: None recruited.

Workshop 4: Normal Birth : Achieving appropriate and effective care.
Mission: To move from a culture of fear to one of confidence in birth.
Project: An action plan to develop a comprehensive communication and education strategy for society.
Participants: None recruited.

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Plans for the future

Set up an Internet website.
Establish a means of communication between participants.
Develop further the deliberations of each of the Workshops.
Disseminate details of progress, ideas, and information.
Hold follow-up meetings.
Conference update.

Sadly participants were too busy in the real world to follow the projects through.

Details of website and communication network.CLICK HERE.

This page last updated 31st August 2004

Site maintained by Basil Lee, Forum Secretary.