A watershed moment for maternity care
In the last fortnight, two major reports have been published regarding maternity services. The first, authored by Donna Ockenden, following a review into services at University Hospitals Nottingham NHS Trust. The second was published by Baroness Amos, concluding the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, ordered by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting.
Both reports included contributions from thousands of parents, with a resoundingly strong theme of parents not being listened to, and parents experiencing unimaginable consequences of poor care. The recommendations outlined in both reports were delivered with a strong sense of urgency.
On Monday (6th July), we attended a joint meeting of the maternity and baby loss All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG). APPGs are groups formed with MPs from different political parties, charities and other representatives such as industry experts, to discuss specific issues, giving voices on topics and campaigning for change. Usually these two groups meet separately, but this week they came together in the wake of these two reports.
A time for action
The general conclusion from the meeting mirrors our own overarching feeling: now is time for work to happen and action to begin.
We support Baroness Amos’ recommendation for the recruitment of a Maternity Commissioner, because we believe in the leverage this role will bring and the accountability it will demand. But it’s not enough. We must move forward.
As a charity, we are committed to being part of the solution; we want to collaborate and have already stated our strong interest in being involved with the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which will develop a new national plan based on the findings from Baroness Amos’ review.
In particular, we believe Petals has an important role to play in helping build a ‘trauma-informed’ NHS culture – namely, to embed trauma-informed principles across maternity and neonatal care as routine practice – which was one of the primary recommendations from Baroness Amos’ report. We think this is key.
Trauma expertise to inform maternity care
We know that trauma is not limited to experiences of loss. It is a psychological, physical and emotional response to overwhelming events, which can therefore be attributed to many experiences of pregnancy, birth and post-natal journeys, even when the birth story is positive or there is not a loss (it’s why we love sharing birth stories). Understanding this should influence the impact of how care is delivered in communications, decision-making and relationships built on safety, trust and autonomy between patient and clinical services.
Language is a good example of this. Many of the terms used within maternity are insensitive and can unintentionally compound distress. If maternity services hold that trauma perspective and have a thorough understanding of it, there will be more of an understanding around the importance of language, and that every interaction has the potential to support healing, or incite trauma.
Through 15 years of specialist counselling practice using the Petals model, we have seen first-hand and have evidence of the lasting impact that compassionate, psychologically informed care can have on bereaved parents.
A shared commitment to lasting change
We stand ready and willing to share both the evidence that we have collected on impact and recovery from traumatic experiences, but also our insight and knowledge from those 15 years of maternity and neonatal client facing work.
Ultimately, this is about how we care for women at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. When mothers are heard, understood and supported, babies benefit too – whether they are held safely in their parents’ arms or forever in their hearts. So too, are entire families.
We remain resolute in our commitment to stand alongside all those working in maternity settings, in the NHS, public and charitable sectors to help rebuild a safer, kinder and more compassionate, trauma-informed maternity system in the UK.
Read Baroness Amos’ National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation