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Bradford District and Craven Maternity Voices Partnership – Main Meeting Minutes 25th June2020

 

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Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) – Main Meeting

Thursday 25th June 2020 on Zoom

Present: Aliya Fazil (Co-Chair), Laila Ahmed (CNet), Yazmin Shah (CNet), Jenny Pratt (CNet), Graham Carey-Briggs (NSPCC), Aamnah Rahman (Born in Bradford), Gemma Smith (Family Action), Abbie Wild (Bradford Royal Infirmary), Sara Hollins (Bradford Royal Infirmary), Julie Newbold (NCT), Alison Brown (Better Start Bradford), Ruth Shaw (CCG’S) Cathy Howell, (BTHFT), Sameena Khan, Waheeda Ghafoor, (Family Action), Maha Alomari, (City of Sanctuary), Shelley Franklin-King, Rachel Dennis (NCT), (Bradford Doulas), Sara Bennet, (Local Maternity Service ) Victoria Simmons (CCG’S), Jane Dickens (BDCT), Charlotte Hamilton, (Bradford Breastfeeding Buddies), Yasmin Begum (Roshni Ghar).

Apologies: Rachael Loftus (AFC-Baby Steps)

 

1. Welcome / Introductions/Apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked everyone for attending the first MVP Main Meeting to take place on Zoom.

This was our first meeting since the start of the covid 19 pandemic in March. The usual agenda format slightly changed to enable the sharing of information on what people have been doing and the challenges they have faced over the past few months.

2. Updates

Cathy Howell – Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust

CH gave an update about Post-Partum Contraception. Concerns had been raised about the lack of contraception advice to women after giving birth due to the changes in services with the Covid 19 pandemic. The Postpartum Ward have been having conversations with women after birth around contraception following pregnancy and birth and to understand their options. Available are a booklet; condoms; progesterone-only pill, (which can be used while breastfeeding), the Depot Provera injection and the Implant. All of these can be administered before women go home. The team would like to make more Coils available in the future. They are also updating their website with more information to be available in the following languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Bangla, Hungarian, Slovakian and Polish.
A baseline survey is being carried out to find out what is being discussed on the wards at the moment. CH was pleased to announce that so far 60 members of staff have been trained.

 

Sarah Hollins – Bradford Royal Infirmary

SH expressed her thanks to the women and families using the Maternity Services in Bradford during the Covid 19 pandemic. They are currently reviewing the changes made to the service with staff. In collaboration with the LMS and MVP a service user’s evaluation survey has been devised to capture patient’s experiences during the Covid pandemic and government guidelines changes. Hard copy surveys will be distributed at the ward and there is a Survey Monkey link (below) and a request for all members to circulate to their contacts. The deadline for the survey monkey is 10th July 2020 and findings will be collated for mid -August and shared with BTHFT/LMS and the MVP.

  • BBC Panorama has been filming at the Bradford Hospital Trust which should air in mid July 2020. It was very representative of Bradford and included people from Seldom Heard Groups.
  • Home Birth Teams – have been closed due to the pandemic, but is now back open. Feedback has been very positive and people have been very understanding.
  • The numbers of people very ill with Covid 19 has been very low coming through the Maternity Ward.
  • Due to increased testing over the last few weeks, they have found that there has been many more people with asymptomatic symptoms coming through the Ward.
  • Maternity Transformation launch is happening in about 3 weeks, SH will keep group updated about this. Would like to have service user engagement and if requested if the MVP could support with this.
  • Looking at Maternity Pathways to reduce still-births and perinatal mortality outcomes.

 

Abbie Wild – Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust

AW explained that they have 3 teams which were launched in March 2020. These are the Acorn Team for vulnerable clients with 4 midwives; the Amber Team covering the BD8 and BD15 area who are a mixed risk geographical team with 3 midwives; and the Multiples Team who cover multiples births.

 

Actions:

  • CH to forward timeline of baseline survey to MVP
  • SH/SB/LA to collate findings and share with MVP/BTHFT

 

3. Member Updates

Laila Ahmed – CNet

LA explained that we were looking at a way to move forward with the MVP Main Meetings. There will still be 3 Main Meetings alongside the 3 Voluntary Sector Partnership Meetings, small planning group to meet to discuss how VSP meetings can be adapted to include more Womens and family’s voices and stories. The MVP continues to share messages among our members and we will also be creating a calendar of Virtual Workshops and meeting dates.
The current ideas for topics include:
1. Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
2. Perinatal Mental Health
3. Maternity Care Staff question and answer session
These workshops would be aimed at individuals in the community, Voluntary Sector Organisations, and Maternity Care Services.

 

Victoria Simmons – Head of Engagement Bradford and Craven CCG

  • People and community organisations experiences of health care services are still being collated is being fed back to grassroots channels. Victoria hopes to feed back further information relating to maternity services at the next MVP main meeting.

 

Maha Alomari – City of Sanctuary

Maternity Stream Update

  • Working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers who have given birth in the UK.
  • Please refer any members of the community that are struggling to access services.
  • Referrals come from Midwives and self-referrals through word of mouth.

 

Gemma Smith – Family Action

Perinatal Support Service Update

  • Able to offer a telephone service or video call service.
  • Waheeda Ghafoor is offering group therapy work virtually.
  • There has been a reduction in referrals which is a concern.
  • Can work outside the normal geographical area at the moment.

 

Shelley Franklin- Kelly – Bradford Doulas

  • Still supporting women over the telephone and on video calls.
  • Unable to attend births but they are still taking referrals.

 

Aamnah Rahman– BIB Update

AR updated the group about the research that BIB has been doing around Covid 19 and how it affects children and their families. They are carrying out a project around immunity tests on BIB children and one parent. This soft research is looking at behavior changes and the positive or negative results. The information will be fed into Gold Command structure.
Aamnah also raised the issue of fake news and the impact on BAME communities being more at risk, as making them a target group alongside Roma and Asylum Seekers and Refugees. Many communities are receiving their information from sources outside this country. LA has seen similar fake news coming from the US and the far right groups being circulated in the UK. This misinformation is seen across all communities. AF explained that the NHS have been providing Myth Busters on Facebook. Please check and spread these Myth busters.

 

Julie Newbold – NCT

Breastfeeding Support Update

  • Not doing face to face support but have continued with telephone calls or video calls and Facebook messenger.
  • Also doing 2 Zoom calls a week to support women in the community.
  • Not as many referrals as they would’ve expected. Mainly through word of mouth. Have had some referral from Health Visitors. Midwife referrals have stopped altogether.
  • Sarah Hollins – people are leaving hospital sooner than normal so exposure to these women is not as long as before.

 

Sarah Bennet – Local Maternity System Update

  • Delivering with partners the Better Birth Maternity Transformation Programme.
  • New Perinatal Mental Health work stream with the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Mental Health Learning Disability and Autism Programme, looking to transform Perinatal Mental Health Services.
  • Keen for service users to join the group who have lived experiences.
  • Please contact SB if they have anyone who would like to join.
  • Prevention Agenda -in the next few months there will be outputs from lots of expert groups about how to transform the health prevention messages. Want to engage groups that we don’t normally engage with on how to frame these public health messages.
  • Digital Activity – every hospital in the area currently uses a different system and the ultimate aim is to join those systems up.

 

Jane Dickens Update

  • MVP would like Jane to run a workshop.
  • JD would like more connection with Midwifery.
  • JDs contact is on maternity leave and other Midwives have been reallocated into core services and Jane has not found a contact in the hospitals to take over. This request can be forwarded to the Hospital contacts on the MVP group.
  • Activity at the moment includes ideas for promotion of International Breast Feeding Week (first week in August) and Black Breast Feeding Week (last week in August)
  • Request from MVP – photos of mums and dads with babies, with consent to have a bank of pictures that is representative of the District.
  • JD is delivering Breast Feeding Basics Training virtually across the District. Raising awareness and educating society. To access this email JD or book through the training department of the Care Trusts.
    Sub group to meet and discuss format for virtual VCS meets

 

Actions:

  • YS to circulate dates for future virtual meets and workshops
  • YS and SFK to discuss anxiety with pregnant women outside this meeting.
  • SH to raise this with Ward/Community Midwives
  • JD/YS to arrange date
  • JN to forward Breastfeeding support service info to be shared on MVP FB
  • AF to collect postnatal and perinatal info from groups and drop them to maternity ward

 

4. Chat Box Text

From Aliya Fazil: Survey Monkey link:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N6HTHDD?fbclid=IwAR2F2v5VyqlaiCEtv-blQWRfftqDGMOSEubd88CAZnV0HJbvN8CbCmP5hd8. = SURVEY NOW CLOSED

From Sarah Bennett: The new contraception offer for women is excellent. It would be really good to co-produce some evaluation from the women’s perspective in addition to the hospital audit.

From Julie Newbold: Will the workshops be aimed at service users or professionals?

From Aamnah Rahman: BiB could probably pick the research around contraception, there is a new Covid study aimed at all pregnant women having their baby at BRI so it could all be linked. Josie Dickerson and Sally Bridges are the people to contact.

From Alison Brown: We can promote these via our zoom antenatal groups if we can have the appropriate contact details.

From Victoria CCG Engagement Lead: I think these workshops sound great, as a really good way to reach out to people in the community and offer them something that will be of interest and value to them (probably much more than a formal meeting).

From Graham Carey-Briggs – PIM- NSPCC: Pregnancy In Mind, is offering virtual sessions with women, who are experiencing anxiety and depression. We are working with a number of women specifically.

5. Future MVP Zoom meeting dates:

MVP Public Platform – for all things maternity (VSCOS and individuals ) on Tuesday 8th September 2020 – 10:30-12:00

Main MVP meeting – Thursday 1st October 2020 – 10:30 -12:00

To download a PDF of the minutes please click here:

Main Meeting 25.06.20