Baby Amy investigates local maternity care

Hi my name's Amy and I'm six weeks old. I've spent the last 9 months testing out maternity services in the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area.​

My Mummy set up Birth Voices East a few years ago, as she was unhappy with her care when my sister was born. 

• At her birth debrief, Mummy told the sympathetic midwife that it was not medical trauma that was causing her negative feelings and resentment about the birth, but the way staff had acted. Surely simple things like being listened to, taken seriously, and spoken to as an adult rather than a naughty child, should be achievable? This would have prevented Mummy feeling tense, scared and alone during labour and birth.
• Mummy wanted to prevent other women going through the same experience - knowing how much it had impacted her physical and emotional state, even for months afterwards. But she felt she was only one little voice and probably wouldn't be listened to.
• The Women's Experience Midwife at the time, Pip Matthews, told Mummy that every maternity unit is supposed to meet regularly with local mums to make sure women are happy with their maternity care, but that James Paget Hospital didn't have an active group (called a 'Maternity Voices Partnership' or MVP). Pip said this was a shame as both mums and staff all want the same thing - the best care for mums and babies like me.

• Silly Mummy cant keep her mouth shut, and said that sounded like a great idea. She decided to try and get one going, roping in random people from local facebook groups and meeting in softplay centres.

Since then, Mummy tells me over 800 local mums and dads have used Birth Voices East to give feedback and have their say on local maternity care - including on focus issues like breastfeeding support, and whether daddies/partners stay overnight. All feedback has been passed on to the people that have the ability to do something about it. In total, the 10-ish volunteer mummies have met with over 60 health professionals, including Commissioning Groups, Norfolk and Suffolk County Council, Childrens Centres, Health Visitors and Public Health England, to discuss what can be done to improve care.

My mission since last May has been to help Mummy test out current maternity care. I have taken this job very seriously and decided to develop a few complications along the way, to make sure we tested out (nearly) the full range of services! 

Overall, Mummy and I have been really impressed with the level of care we received all the way through pregnancy, labour and postnatally. Mummy said it has made such a difference to how she feels - both physically and emotionally - compared to last time. Even though this time she had more medical intervention, she feels at peace with everything that happened because of great communication and caring staff, which made her trust the people looking after her and feel in safe hands throughout. 

Of course, not everything was perfect, so we will be passing on a few suggestions about some aspects that didn't meet expectations or where there is further potential for improvement, such as:

• How difficult it was to get much sleep on the transitional care bay due to all the comings and goings, beeping machines and music.
• One staff member's attitude bothered Mummy quite a lot, and a couple more could have been more  sympathetic or informative on our options - particularly on antenatal clinic.

Mummy also acknowledges that being a second-time mum really helped, and that's partly why staff members listened to her more and respected what she had to say. This really brings home how important it is to make sure first time mums always have that emotional support and trust in the staff looking after them. So Mummy is going to keep pushing to make sure this happens (check out the new survey on postnatal wellbeing!).

In particular, we would like to thank:

• Community team (Lowestoft): Sharon, Lisa, Michelle White and Jess Smith - all very helpful, sympathetic, kind and informative. At booking,Sharon, picked up immediately on concerns about the last birth and postnatal period and made sure everything was well documented in the notes. Sharon was also very good with dealing with Mummy's needle phobia for the blood tests!
• Antenatal Clinic: Fiona Holt was very caring and kind when Mummy fainted, and Lucy Revell (consultant) who listened carefully to any concerns and clearly explained the options
•  Maternity Assessment Unit: Dominic Kent, Karen Kirby, Student MW Jenna were all  really friendly and caring – as were both registrars on duty on 13th July – one was called Amid.
• Induction of Labour: Excellent care provided by Louise King and Sarah Morris - both listened to my concerns and were reassuring, attentive and very competent, so when complications started happening they noticed right away, took it seriously and got the Dr straight in. Sorry to Louise that she had to keep reheating her lunch! And thanks so much to Sarah for letting Mummy use her mobile phone to call my daddy - (silly mummy had run out of credit). Daddy missed my sister's labour and birth 3 years ago as Ward 11 staff forgot to call him when things kicked off (mummy wasn't in a state to use hers), so mummy was really anxious about it being forgotten again this time. Mr Ionossou (sp?) was nice and gave clear explanations. 
• Central Delivery Suite: All the staff - including Sam Jones, Mollie and in particular Student MW Lorraine Hill - provided excellent care. Sorry we didn't remember the names of all of them! They listened to Mummy and all communication was reassuring, encouraging and respectful. Mummy felt in really safe hands and that meant she could just focus on what she needed to do. When I was born, I loved the fact that whoever caught me held me up and asked Daddy to see if I was a boy or a girl. Beth the registrar, was AMAZING - she could not have been more careful, attentive and kind. I really appreciated her clear and thorough explanations. I believe she stayed with me beyond the end of her shift to go into theatre with me. 
• Theatre: All the staff, in particular the anesthetist, were so sympathetic, kind and caring - sorry we didn't remember the names!
• Neonatal: Clive Ellis was really reassuring and Mummy and Daddy felt I was in safe hands when he took me away, knowing they could visit anytime (although mummy was selfishly wanted food first!)
• Ward 11 – postnatal: Excellent care by midwives Louise King and Jessica Tydeman, who between them looked after us for most our stay, as well as Sarah Morris. All were very kind, caring and competent even when there was lots going on on the ward. Compliments also to Dr Hnynn Aung and Nursery nurse Tanya Ling, as well as Pryscilla (physio), Janine Pettingill, Jane Longeran (MSW), J Horlicks, J Disney, Racheal Crane, Claire Reeve (student nursery nurse), and Dr Lucy Goble. All were kind, caring and informative. Also to Maria for bringing much-appreciated tea after some very long nights!

We would also like thank Jayne Utting and the senior midwifery team at JPUH, who have worked to make improvements in the last couple of years, including increasing staffing levels and in particular recruiting permanent staff instead of using agency workers. Also we would like to thank all the Birth Voices East volunteer mums, and all the local parents that have contributed their feedback and thoughts - each and every one has played a role in improving local care.

While its great that our experience was so much more positive this time round, I was only one of around 2000 babies born each year at JPUH. So to make your voice count, and help Birth Voices East to continue to make a difference, please fill out our anonymous online survey on maternity care (and/or this one on health visiting and other support services) 

You can also 'like' our facebook page to keep up to date with what's happening and future listening events and meetings, or email us at BirthVoicesEast@yahoo.co.uk to get involved. Even if you only have a few hours to spare it could help, as we have lots planned for 2018, including:

• launching a survey on postnatal mental health and Health Visiting services
• translating our main survey into different languages
• monitoring whether mums are happy with breastfeeding support since the two county councils stopped funding the dedicated support service.

Best wishes to all the mummies, daddies, bumps and babies out there!
Amy and her Mummy (Gemma)
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