This week, we held our annual Annual General Meeting (AGM) for our members. At the pre-AGM event, we were joined by three experts from the field of maternity care.
We were honoured to welcome three guest speakers at our pre-Annual General Meeting (AGM) event earlier this week, which centered around the theme of maternity experiences.
During the first part of the AGM, we previewed the findings from NCT’s research on parent’s recent experiences of maternity services. This found that while most women felt listened to and treated as an individual during their maternity care, many reported issues around staffing, delayed care, having time and support to make informed decisions and poor postnatal care.
At NCT, we’re working to improve maternity services through campaigning for change on behalf of parents. Our antenatal and postnatal courses – including our NCT Early Days course, Baby First Aid and NCT Introducing Solids online workshop – help parents prepare for the life changes that parenthood brings.
Abbie Aplin, Director Maternity Reform, at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Sandra Igwe, Founder of The Motherhood Group and Francesca Treadaway, Policy & Engagement Director at Birthrights, were part of our panel to discuss the challenges facing NHS maternity services and how we can improve support and care for parents.
Francesca touched on the importance of dignity and respect in maternity care, and how vital it is for maternity staff to listen. She told us: “Listening to someone is treating them with dignity and respect, that’s basic human rights.
“Both dignity and respect are fundamental, and essential components, of safe care.”
Sandra spoke about her choices over how she wanted to give birth not being taken seriously, and feeling dehumanised and like the white body was the norm in maternity care.
She said that a commitment to being anti-racist should be embedded throughout the maternity system.
“The notion that as a Black mother, I might have a higher pain threshold, and therefore being denied pain relief personally – and hearing those experiences echoed through other reports and enquiries – that’s very disheartening,” she said. “Why are we having certain stereotypes, misconceptions and preconceptions and taking them into the maternity space? That shouldn’t be allowed,” she added.
Sandra called for more training for staff members, so they are better equipped to provide high quality, culturally competent care.
All our panelists identified the need for change in maternity care following recent damning reports on maternity safety, and the upsurge in calls for change. Francesca said: “We’re at a turning point, and we need to see some more action. I wouldn’t want to see more evidence added to the pile.”
Despite the need for problems within the maternity care system to be urgently addressed, there was a determination to remain positive, and a hope that care could be improved. “I think you have to have hope, you have to believe that there’s got to be change,” Abbie Aplin told us.
“We have to believe and know that there are wonderful birth experiences happening, but they’re not happening everywhere and we need to raise that standard so it’s the gold standard everywhere,” Abbie said, highlighting the importance of keeping channels of communication open with your midwife.
Thank you to all the speaker for sharing their expertise and insights with us, and to our Trustee, Chi Evi-Parker for chairing the event.
Our antenatal and Early Days postnatal courses support parents in navigating their pregnancy, birth and beyond. Parents can also call our free infant feeding line for non-judgemental support from 8am to midnight, every day of the year, on 0300 330 0700 (option 1).
Find out more about the work of Birthrights, The Motherhood Group and the RCM.
You can also read our responses to the maternity reports we talked about this year on our Media page.
We have a wealth of information about giving birth and the early days of parenthood on our website, to help you feel informed about your birth choices.
