Our next informal feedback event will take place at Bungay Community Library on 7 May.  We will be here from 1.30pm to 3.30pm and will also be joined by the James Paget's Women's Experience Midwife - Abby.

​This event is for anyone who has given birth at the James Paget in the last five years to give feedback, good or bad. Babies and toddlers are welcome and the library has a great Children's Library and garden and is a very welcoming space.

​We hope to see as many as possible of you there and for more information please get in touch via the Birth Voices East facebook page or email us at birthvoiceseast@yahoo.co.uk!
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We recently took part in a great event at the James Paget, organised by Women’s Experience Midwife, Abby. The event was called Whose Shoes? This was arranged and convened by the group MatExp who have run these events throughout the country.


The aim of the event was to bring together parents, grandparents, midwives, nurses, doctors, community groups to talk about improving care and what can be done to make the maternity experience better. This was done via the medium of a fun board game (non-competitive obviously!) which allowed all participants to have an equal say and contribute their views.

At the end of the event, all the feedback was shared on an amazing piece of artwork and all participants were asked to create a pledge saying what they would do to help improve maternity services.

At Birth Voices East we have pledged to use your feedback to help continue to improve facilities available to mums on ward 11, working with other attendees of Whose Shoes? to achieve this. Watch this space for how you can help us achieve this soon!

We always love to get your feedback and hear your views.

If you’d like to attend a feedback meeting, our next one will be held at 9:45 – 11:15 am on Wednesday 6 March at Kirkley Children’s Centre.

We look forward to seeing some of you there, but if you can’t attend and want to give feedback then this can be done via our Facebook page or by emailing birthvoiceseast@yahoo.co.uk.

As you may remember, we recently asked parents to complete a wellbeing survey – looking at mental health and the health visiting service in the first 12 months after a baby is born.

We shared that one key point raised by a number of women responding to the survey was that they didn’t feel comfortable in asking for support at weigh in clinics.

This was often due to some clinics being held in public spaces. We felt that a good way to help with this would be to produce a poster showing where women could access advice in public or private. The poster also gives women information on how they can contact health visitors privately to discuss any issues they may not feel comfortable with talking about publicly.
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The poster is below and is also going to be shared on our Facebook page. We hope that it is useful!

Hello and a big thank you for reading my first ever blog post. My name is Nicola and as the newly elected Vice Chair, I thought now was a fitting time to introduce myself.  Raised all over the UK, I settled in Norfolk just over 6 years ago.  I now live in Oulton with my Husband and six month old daughter Florence.  Although currently on maternity leave, my usual day job is project management in the construction industry and I will return to this later in the year.

Following the birth of my daughter in January, I decided to get involved with the group as I felt that I could help represent the local community in regards to giving feedback on pre and post-natal services and also use my work based skills to deliver future projects.      

I am really excited to get started and use your feedback to make our maternity services as best as they can be.   I also can’t wait to work alongside the James Paget team who do fantastic job day in day out.

We are always looking for new mums (or dads) to get involved.  This can be as a user rep; attending occasional meetings and sharing experiences, as a volunteer; helping Katherine and I with our huge to do lists, or just by completing our survey or getting in touch with feedback.
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Finally, I would like to mirror Katherine’s comments in her last blog and offer a big thank you to our previous Vice Chair Gemma and all the work she has done over the past few years.  I’ve certainly got big shoes to fill!

Hopefully I will see some of you at our next meeting in September (date to be confirmed).

​Nicola 

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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 Hello, I’d like to introduce myself – my name is Katherine and I’m delighted to say that I’ve recently been elected as the new Chair of Birth Voices East ‘Maternity Voices Partnership’ (MVP). I work part time for a local authority and am mum to a very lively 15 month old son! I wanted to join the group as I used the services offered by the James Paget, midwives and health visiting services extensively during my pregnancy and afterwards and I wanted to help other mums give feedback on services and help to continue to improve the services offered. Whilst I had a mostly positive experience, I feel having a platform for mums to give feedback and help shape services is vital and so I wanted to get involved with the MVP. I especially want to focus on getting feedback from more women, especially those who may find it difficult to access services for different reasons.
 
I want say thank you to our out-going Chair Jodie for doing such a brilliant job and also give a big thank our Vice-Chair Gemma for all the wonderful work she has done and continues to do, and for all the support she has given me since I joined the group. I look forward to working closely with her in the future!

We are always looking for feedback from mums (and dads!) and ideas for future focus topics. Please feel free to message me via our Facebook page with any ideas!
 
Our last meeting in December had a great attendance, and it was great to see mums and little ones come along! We discussed our new focus topic – looking at the postnatal care of mums and babies after leaving hospital. We felt the most useful way to get feedback will be through a survey, which we can then take the results of and work with our partners to look at the potential for realistic changes. At the meeting we received lots of suggestions for questions to ask mums in the survey, which should be published on the website by the end of January, so watch this space! 
 
We also discussed the new Local Maternity System (LMS), a plan for maternity services in the Norfolk and Waveney area. This is still being put together and input from mums will be vital to create the LMS. We are hoping to have more details on this by early February and will be asking for mums for feedback and to participate in creating the LMS. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more information!
 
As always, we really appreciate your feedback about your experiences of maternity care, it would be great if you could fill out our maternity care survey and please feel free to get in touch with any other feedback!

Katherine (Chair)

Hi everyone, sorry we've been so quiet recently - not enough hours in the day (or volunteers)!
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Firstly, I would like to thank Jodie, who resigned as chair last meeting to focus on her growing bump and family, for all the great work she has done to make sure local women and families have a say in improving maternity care locally. She has really made a difference, especially on breastfeeding issues, and she also organised a feedback event with translation to make sure women with limited English can still have a say on their maternity care. Jodie plans to remain an active member despite no longer being our chairperson though so I'm sure we haven't heard the last of her :)

On the upside, after a major recruitment drive, I am pleased to announced we will be welcoming a new chair, Katherine, at our next meeting on December 6th! We were also delighted to welcome four new ladies in September, who all gave really useful feedback to us and senior maternity staff. 

The next meeting is at Kirkley Childrens Centre, Wednesday 6th December at 12.30-2.30 and we would love to see some more new faces, either if you're interested in getting involved or just want to find out more or pass on some constructive feedback. It's pretty informal, and I hope welcoming - the babies/toddlers play in the middle of the room and we sit round with tea and cake trying to hold an adult conversation :) Our focus topic for the next few months is postnatal care of mum and baby after leaving hospital, so we are particularly interested in hearing about your experiences of health visiting services, and maternal mental healthcare (such as postnatal depression). 

I'll be personally testing out the Central Delivery Suite and Ward 11 maternity care myself in Jan or Feb, to make sure the thousands of comments and suggestions (both positive and negative) that we have passed on since 2015 have been listened to :) Honestly, the lengths I go to in this role!

We are keeping our 'Birth Voices East' name, but we are re-branding to a 'Maternity Voices Partnership' (MVP) in line with all our sister groups across the UK, from the previous mouthful of 'Maternity Services Liaison Committee'. Much easier to say! It doesn't change what we do though. The name change is part of a nationwide NHS effort to increase the role of service-user feedback in shaping maternity care. We work closely with our neighbours from Norfolk & Norwich, and West Suffolk, as well further afield, to share ideas on how to make a difference. To find out more about MVPs, see nationalmaternityvoices.org.uk.

As always, do get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions, and don't forget to fill out our maternity care survey if you have recently had a baby or are undergoing maternity care! 

All the best,
Gemma (vice chair)