The UK’s leading birth trauma charity welcomes the recommendations of the Wales maternity review
The Birth Trauma Association, the leading UK charity for supporting parents with traumatic birth experiences, has welcomed the recommendations of the review into maternity and neonatal services in Wales, published today.
The review, entitled The path to safer beginnings in Wales, took evidence from more than 600 women and families across Wales, and from staff working in those services. It identified a number of problems in maternity care, including inconsistent service models for triage, workforce shortages, inadequate mental health support, poor processes for responding to families after serious incidents and unclear national governance.
The review made eight substantial recommendations for improving maternity and neonatal care in Wales. Among these were a joined-up perinatal leadership to ensure consistency, a universal offer of quality care throughout the perinatal journey and better maternal mental health support. It also calls for a perinatal stakeholder group that includes representation from women and their families. The Birth Trauma Association supports all the recommendations and calls on the Welsh government to implement them in full.
Kim Thomas, CEO of the Birth Trauma Charity, said: “We are extremely pleased to see such a comprehensive and thoughtful set of recommendations from the review team. It is particularly heartening to see an emphasis on joined-up leadership to make sure that different professional groups work together to create consistency of care throughout the country – something that has previously been lacking. The proposal to involve parents through a perinatal stakeholder group is vital if we are to effect change that puts women at the heart of maternity services.
“It’s equally encouraging that the team has understood the importance of using real-time data monitoring to identify and respond to safety problems in a timely fashion. These are policies that the charity has long argued for.
“The review has also clearly listened to families’ concerns about maternity care. The support for women with perinatal mental health problems in Wales has long been inadequate, and we welcome a recommendation to introduce a national service specification for perinatal mental health pathway. It is good to see that this includes the introduction of support for fathers and partners, whose needs are often overlooked.
“Many parents tell us how distressing it is that, after a serious incident such as the loss of a baby, the processes for investigating the incident often compound the trauma experienced by the family. We are really pleased that the review team recommends the introduction of a standard operating procedure for neonatal incidents that will make sure mistakes are identified and learnt from more quickly. In particular, it was heartening to one of our own suggestions, that of introducing trauma training for all staff, including legal teams, adopted by the review.
“Finally, it is good to see that the review team has understood the need to continue to engage with families to develop an in-depth understanding of unequal outcomes in maternity, particularly among marginalised groups, and to address the reasons for those unequal outcomes.
“For too long, maternity services in Wales – and elsewhere – have failed to take the concerns of women and their families seriously. This report finally puts women and families’ needs at the heart of its proposals for change. We hope the Welsh government will take the recommendations of the review seriously and implement them in full. After years of inadequate care, this review offers a real opportunity to put things right – and to make sure that Wales has a safe, modern maternity service that centres the needs of women and their families.”
Further information
For more information, contact Dr Kim Thomas at kim@birthtraumaassociation.org.
The Birth Trauma Association, founded in 2004, is a charity supporting parents experiencing psychological trauma symptoms after birth. You can find our website at www.birthtraumaassociation.org.
Follow us on X at @BirthTrauma, on Facebook at Birth Trauma Association – UK and on Instagram at birth_trauma_association_uk.
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