On 24th May, we were pleased to host the third Gloucestershire Maternity and Neonatal Partnership meeting at Longford Village Hall.

Thank you to all MNVP service user members who inputted into this meeting, either through completing the birth experience survey, the Friends and Families test, the Health Visiting survey or through talking to us in the community. Your voice is being heard and forms a central part of these meetings.

We were delighted to welcome midwives, health visitors, perinatal mental health team staff, neonatal staff, local doulas, and representatives from Gloucestershire Breastfeeding Supporters Network and Home Start to join us and discuss key current issues within Gloucestershire maternity services.

Thank you to the people who presented and to everyone who attended. It is really encouraging to see these meetings grow and foster coproduction.

Our key speakers

Our focus groups

Our focus groups form a key part of these meetings. The topics for the focus groups are formed from the key issues which are identified in feedback collected by the MNVP and local NHS organisations. Groups then look at each topic and discuss possible solutions. This means that the solutions come from true coproduction and everyone’s voice is heard.

The topics for this meeting were:

  • Feeling alone
  • Food and fluids
  • Shared decision making
  • Listening to women and birthing people with compassion

Feeling Alone

Women and birthing people have been sharing that they felt forgotten about and left alone whilst on maternity and labour wards.

The group discussed that with the introduction of BadgerNet, staff will be able to access notes and do handovers from the wards and bays, so should be more visible. There are also more nurses working on the maternity ward.

There was also lots of discussion around what could be done to make new mums feel less alone, such as volunteers, and welcome information.

Food and Fluids

There were several comments in our feedback from women and birthing people saying they had not been given meals on time, or the meal was not suitable for their dietary needs.

Suggestions from the group included seeing if maternity can get lunch earlier (they are currently served last by catering so it can be fairly late), ensuring dietary requirements are flagged to catering as early as possible, and looking at whether snack items could be made freely available in between meal times.

Shared decision making

This focus group will feed into the creation of the Gloucestershire Maternity Strategy. Women, birthing people and their families are at the heart of the strategy, looking at their experiences and the experiences of staff.

The group discussed:

  • Staff morale
  • Continuity of care
  • Personalised care
  • The importance of good antenatal education
  • Length of appointments

Listening with compassion

This focus group will also feed into the Maternity Strategy. The group discussed:

  • Staff morale – happy and well supported staff will be able to listen and care compassionately.
  • Training in compassionate listening for staff
  • Creating spaces for private discussions on the maternity ward
  • The importance of a good handover to other health professionals for the new parent.
  • The possibility of creating a birth reflections service

In summary

The meeting was very positive, a range of experience in the room meant that discussions were balanced and open. These outcomes will now be taken to our Maternity Experience Subgroup Meeting, where actions will be decided and taken forward.

Next steps

Attending future meetings

If you are a current or recent user of maternity services in Gloucestershire, a health professional, or otherwise interested in local maternity services, we would welcome you along to future meetings. Please take a moment to fill in our membership form, and we will ensure you are sent details once they are confirmed.

Our next Maternity and Neonatal Partnership Meeting will take place in September 2023. 

Giving feedback

If you do not wish to become a member but would like to give feedback about your maternity experience, you can do this in one of two ways:

  • Fill in our Birth Experience Survey
  • Contact us directly if your feedback does not relate to your birth, or you would prefer not to complete the survey. (We are working on antenatal and postnatal surveys but they aren’t ready quite yet). You can email us at glicb.glosmvp@nhs.net.