Baby steps: maternity services report

Healthwatch Dorset created this report to look at the experiences of maternity services in Dorset by people with protected characteristics. The aims of the investigation were twofold:

1) To add other insights to the research conducted by the local NHS as part of the Better Births Early Adopter initiative

2) To contribute to ensuring that Dorset’s diverse demographic of service users is more fairly represented, including those with protected characteristics. The

To do this, they ran surveys, events, had face-to-face meetings and group meetings. In total, they recieved feedback from 110 people.

There were 2 key themes that arose from the investigation regarding the need for improvement in local maternity services from people with protected characteristics within Dorset:

1. Lack of respect for individual circumstances

While much of the feedback about the NHS maternity staff was very positive, there were some people who felt patronised and that they weren’t listened to or respected.

2. Better communication and more time to allow mothers to understand

With particular groups of people with protected characteristics, the importance of clear communication is paramount. For example, the Muslim Contact Group said that the majority of mothers talked about ‘very poor lack of communication due to the mother’s language not being English first. Midwives seemed frustrated to have to explain and speak to other members of the family to help the mother through

the labour.’

The report contains 12 recommendations, including:

- Surveys to include equality and diversity questions - It is important that future surveys requesting patient feedback should include

questions regarding age, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual preference and gender identity. This will help to prevent gaps in the feedback and will ensure that services are as equitable as possible.

- Translation and staff training in relation to race and culture - Translation services should be provided in a way that best meets the needs of patient, and staff training in relation to race and culture should be reviewed.

- Additional support for women with no birth partner - It is important to recognise that a very high percentage of women are supported by birth partners and there is an expectation that women will have this informal support. If there is no birth partner, the woman should not be questioned as to why they are on their own and should receive even more support. This might include extremely vulnerable women who have experienced sex-trafficking and are pregnant following sexual violence, or young adults in care that don’t have family

support.

The report does not include a response from service providers.