FORUM ON MATERNITY AND THE NEWBORN, R.S.M.

Pregnancy 2000

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PREGNANCY CARE IN 2000

DISCUSSION AREA

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

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THE PREGNANCY RECORD AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (Facilitator Jean Chapple)

RECEIVED May 2001
Working Group on The National Maternity Record

Mission: To complete the 3 modules of the Record
To publicise the Record and enrol Users

Project:
*To establish a Website on the NMR by June 1^st
*To establish e-mail linkage to web-site for everyone at the conference
*To establish interim links via Alison McFarlane's Birth statistics contact system.
*Establish regional pilot sites with multidisciplinary representation
*Create publicity for the NMR by:
- use of press releases/articles in journals
- involve HVA, NCT, Surestart ,NICE,CHI

professional groups,
Local supervising authority midwives
All Party Parliamentary Group
National Service framework
MSLC's

Suggested actions:

Gill Skinner (midwife from Reading) offered her Unit to be a Pilot site.

Contact person: Jean Chapple (jean.chapple@ha.kcw-ha.nthames.nhs.uk)

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

RECEIVED.

July 2000: Ranjini Beveridge of Maternity Alliance: The pregnancy care 2000 inequalities group met for the first time on the 11th July. We have decided to go ahead in developing an impact assessment tool that can be used by stakeholders. Our next meeting is going to be in November 2000, and we are currently looking for funds for the project.

PREGNANCY CARE 2000 Inequalities workshop

INEQUALITIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT (SPURT) ACTION PLAN

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

MISSION A maternity service which contributes to ending inequality as part of its core business, working in partnership with the community, by 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, whenever change or reform is planned.
·Explore ways to make available knowledge of changes with likelihood of positive impact.

Thoughts.

Identify criteria for developing the tool.

An information resource.

An analysis of the wider resourcing.

Identify winners and losers.

How to involve users in assessment (assumes involvement in development of change).

Impact of the project - does not have to be implemented nationally to begin with.

In any business plan there will be an inequalities assessment included. (We can learn from environmental gender impact assessment.)

What stops midwives etc.

Principles.

1st principle: Rule No. 6

Project can operate at many levels: individually, local team, local service, regional, national, professional - clinical governance, statutory.

ACTION PLAN

Identify and enrol stakeholders
Establish the existence of possible useful information and frameworks
Establish the evidence base
SWOT analysis

Resourcing
Establish pilot projects
Developing criteria
Developing tools for assessment
Evaluation
Rollout or modification

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

RECEIVED.

July 2000: Soo Downe: The Trent Research Midwives group and AIMS are in the middle of a survey of interventions in so called 'spontaneous' birth in four consultant units in Trent. The pilot week data were fascinating... results should be out by late October.

May2001:

Working group: Normal Birth -
Achieving Appropriate and Effective Care

Discussion notes:
The group discussed and reviewed last year's mission statement:

'To move from a culture of fear to one of confidence in birth'

…and decided to change the focus so that the unique and positive fear experienced by birthing women is recognised, valued, accepted and celebrated rather than avoided.

Reviewed on-going projects which will bring normal birth to centre stage:

NCT Birth Policy – currently being drafted , due for publication during the Autumn 2001 (contact Mary Newburn)
Midwife Research Network Conference – Autumn 2001 (contact Soo Downe)
National Service Framework for Children and Maternity Services

Discussion of poor self-esteem amongst midwives. This is important because it in turn devalues the 'work' of birthing women.

Suggested strategies:

Give all birthing women and all midwives an A!
Tackle basic education of health professionals – so that experience and understanding is founded on the normal as being usual, rather than focussing on learning to describe and value the abnormal.

Group members undertook to move forward on:

A video/film to describe and celebrate normal birth – e.g. images of births, experiences of parents whose babies have been born without medical intervention, round table discussion with people who have experienced, support, or attend normal birthing (contact Annabel Kindersley)

All participants made the commitment to making
normal, usual birth VISIBLE and talked about.

Contact persons:Soo Downe (Soo.Downe@sdah-tr.trent.nhs.uk)
Rona McAndlish(Rona.mccandlish@perinat.ox.ac.uk)
Annabel Kindersley (Anabarnmax@londonweb.net)

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FEEDBACK FROM THE APRIL 2000 MEETING

I have edited the comments to eliminate repetition, and have felt entitled to emphasise some points with underlinings. In the spirit of the meeting, "What didn't work......." evokes the comment "How fascinating!", and leads, I am sure, to benefit.

CLICK HERE TO SEE FEEDBACK.

This page last updated 25th July 2001

Site maintained by Basil Lee, Forum Secretary.