Minster Unveils 'Linda's Pregnancy' at Maternity Conference, UK

UK Health Minister Stephen Ladyman will today announce an Exemplar
showing a woman's journey through pregnancy and birth and
illustrating how Government standards can be put into practice to
provide greater choice and flexibility for women using maternity
services.


'Linda's pregnancy' follows the journey of a young African Caribbean
woman and her partner as they progress through her second pregnancy.
Covering issues such as smoking during pregnancy, healthy eating and
concerns over maternal mental health, the story is taken from Linda's
realisation that she is pregnant through to 6 weeks after the birth
of her child.


Health Minister Stephen Ladyman said


"Maternity services already represent one of the many success stories
of the NHS and the exemplar illustrates some of the ways in which
professionals can work together to place the needs of women and their
babies at the centre of their care using the Children's and Maternity
National Service Framework (NSF).


"The NSF will encourage choice in maternity services so that,
whenever possible, women can decide where they give birth and the
type of care they receive. I am pleased to be working with our
partners at the Royal Colleges to take this work forward."


The Exemplar will be unveiled at 'Maternity Services for the 21st
Century', a conference which is a collaboration between the
Department of Health, the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and
the Royal College of Midwives. It will focus on professionals
working in partnership to achieve the best outcomes and experiences
for women using maternity services.


The Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists said
"Today is all about teamwork to support one another in the
implementation of the National Service Framework and to find the best
way forward so that we can all make real and lasting improvements for
women and their babies.


"It is important to remember that this is a ten year plan for
improving care and the Colleges will now encourage the dissemination
of the Framework down to a local level so that it can be implemented
to best support the needs of local populations.


"The RCOG looks forward to continuing our close working relationship
with our colleagues at the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal
College of Paediatrics and Child Health in using this Framework to
deliver high quality maternity and neonatal services to all women in
England and Wales. The College believes that the multi-disciplinary
approach emphasised in the Framework will give us a real opportunity
to change and improve maternity services over the next decade."


The Royal College of Midwives said


"Today provides us all with the opportunity to discuss the first
steps in implementing the new NSF. We look forward to working with
our partners in providing maternity services that are user led, with
an emphasis on fulfilling health and social care needs and
priorities, as we move into the 21st Century."


Achieving the standards set out in the NSF will be challenging and in
recognition of this it has been developed as a ten-year strategy,
with services expected to meet the standards by 2014.


The NSF presents a real opportunity for the NHS to target resources
more effectively and utilising new ways of working. It aims to
ensure that Primary Care Trusts and maternity service providers
design, review and improve maternity services through a programme of
consultation, building on the work of existing local groups.



'Maternity Services for the 21st Century' will be held on 14 March
2005 at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London


The Maternity services exemplar can be found at

dh/assetRoot/04/10/60/49/04106049


The National Framework for children, young people and maternity
services was published on 15th September 2004 and is the biggest
national initiative to improve health and social services and can be
found
if you CLICK HERE.


For media enquiries, please contact: Michelle Hinds at the Department
of Health Media Centre on tel: 020 7210 5375, Marie Sterry at the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on 0207 772 6357 or
Jonathan Andrews at the Royal College of Midwives on 0207 312 3432


For public enquiries, please contact the Department of Health Public
Enquiries Department on tel: 020 7210 4850


GNNREF: 112523

Issued by : DOH Press Office