The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that it is committing funding to the improvement of maternity safety across the country.
Originally announced during the Spring Budget last week, £35 million of investment will be committed to recruiting additional midwives, as well as expanding specialist training to thousands more healthcare workers. The funding will be provided over the course of three years, with this ensuring that women’s experiences are considered and acted upon to drive improvement.
Included in the funding is:
- Using £9 million to support rolling out the Reducing Brain Injury programme across the country, to ensure that healthcare workers in maternity units are able to reduce avoidable brain injuries at birth.
- Bringing in a further 6,000 clinical staff to be trained in neonatal resuscitation to make sure that the skills are in place for even safer care can be provided, this number will also nearly double the of clinical staff that are receiving specialist training in obstetric medicine.
- Investing in 160 new posts over three years to increase the number of midwives and support the growth of the maternity and neonatal workforce.
- Supporting the rollout of Maternity and Neonatal Voice Partnerships through additional funding, with these improving care for women.
Victoria Atkins, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commented:
“I want every mother to feel safe when giving birth to their baby.
“Improving maternity care is a key cornerstone of our Women’s Health Strategy and with this investment we are delivering on that priority – more midwives, specialist training in obstetric medicine and pushing to improve how women are listened to in our healthcare system.
“£35 million is going directly to improving the safety and care in our maternity wards and will move us closer to our goal of making healthcare faster, simpler, and fairer for all.”
Accompanying the additional funding is a new set of priorities for the Women’s Health Strategy, with these including:
- Better care for menstrual and gynaecological conditions
- Improving women’s access to care through the expansion of women’s health hubs
- Tackling disparities and improving the support available for vulnerable women, with this including those who are victims of sexual abuse and violence
- Improving maternity care before and after pregnancy with this supporting the delivery of NHS England’s 3-year plan for maternity and neonatal services.
- Further investment into women’s health and improving the ways that women are represented in medical research.
Chief Midwifery Officer for England, Kate Brintworth, added:
“We are focused on ensuring that women receive the safest high-quality care before, during and after their pregnancy.
“The rollout of Maternity and Neonatal Voice Partnerships is an important step in improving care by listening to women’s views and experiences and acting upon them.
“Our workforce must also have the right skills for improving maternity safety and this investment helps ensure all those working in maternity services in England have the tools and training to reduce avoidable brain injuries in childbirth.
“We will continue our plans to grow the midwifery workforce and nearly double the number of staff who have received specialist training in obstetric medicine in England.”
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