Seven MNVP leads for Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire heard from some of the UK’s leading maternity and neonatal experts at the Baby Lifeline event 2024 in Birmingham.
Baby Lifeline is a national charity which supports frontline staff to prevent childbirth injuries and deaths.
Their national conference took place on September 26. The theme of the conference was ‘Challenge, Empower, Improve’.
Speakers included Sir Rob Behrens CBE, former UK National Ombudsman, Kate Brintworth. Also attending were Chief Midwifery Officer for NHS England and Donna Ockenden, Chair of the Independent Reviews into Maternity Services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Greater Manchester attendees were among the 10 Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership Leads – posts which allow service users to fully engage with local maternity decisions.
Hundreds of delegates from around the UK were at the event. Key themes from the day included:
• the importance of having a strong evidence base – to tackle health inequalities in maternity services.
• the importance of providing personalised care and information to women, birthing people, and families – so that they can make informed decisions.
Cathy Brewster, Lead for the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire MNVPs said:
“This was a brilliant opportunity to hear about best practice from across the country. It’s essential that people who are using the maternity system every day get the chance to shape services, leading to real improvements. All our leads who attended this felt inspired by this event. There was a lot of learning we were able to take away and we look forward to sharing this with colleagues across Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire over the coming months.”
To find out more about the work of the MNVPs across Greater Manchester and to get involved, visit their website.
Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS)
