Helping people make informed decisions about their maternity care

Devon MNVP believes that better understanding of people’s needs and giving people more choice and control in their maternity care will lead to happier births. Empowering women, birthing people, and those around them, to make decisions that are right for them is central to delivering good practice in maternity care, so Devon MNVP worked with maternity staff to raise awareness of ‘informed consent’.

People are not always given the information they need

‘Informed consent’ is a hugely important issue for the service users that Devon MNVP speak to. Sadly, they regularly receive feedback about people feeling pushed into decisions about without the right information needed to feel comfortable.

The maternity staff Devon MNVP meet tell them they believe personalised care, including informed consent, is vital to good practice in maternity care.

Raising awareness to help people make the right choice for them

Devon MNVP Vice Chair for the Royal Devon University NHS Foundation Trust East worked with maternity staff to produce an infographic to help explain ‘informed consent’ to service users. The poster has been a real success and has been adopted and displayed across Devon. They also received great feedback nationally with other MNVPs around the country wishing to adopt it with in their Trusts.

Assessing quality and improving the maternity care environment

Devon MNVP regularly visits all four NHS Trusts in Devon with a team of service user volunteers to review maternity services from the perspective of those who use them.

15 Steps Maternity Toolkit

The visiting group uses the NHS England 15 Steps for Maternity Toolkit to explore first impressions of care, the surroundings and the overall experience across the maternity journey, by considering if the environment appears:

• Welcoming and informative
• Safe and clean
• Friendly and personal
• Organised and calm

Securing funding for improvements

Devon MNVP reports the group’s findings to those responsible for maternity and neonatal care, highlighting what service users like and where they see opportunities for improvement.

Royal Devon University Healthcare (RDUH) NHS Trust – Eastern Hospital

In January 2024, DMNVP visited RDUH Eastern Centre for Women’s Health and reviewed:

• Antenatal clinic
• Triage
• Labour ward
• Birth centre
• Postnatal and Antenatal wards
• Transitional care
• Neonatal

Areas highlighted for improvement included signage to help people find their way around, refreshing and brightening some of the decor and furnishings, more prominent useful and positive information.

Securing funding for improvements

In 2021, Devon MNVP used their 15 Steps visit reports to secure £5,000 from each Devon NHS Trust to improve the environment and experience for maternity service users. They then worked with service users and midwives to decide how to spend the money, including:

• Better display information: including new noticeboards and new ways of sharing information, such as the use of QR codes to digitally disseminate information.
• Adding finesse to maternity care environments (within the confines of NHS requirements for decorations): with a series of murals in Torbay and different art works across the other Trusts.

Informing change in birthing partner and visiting policies

Devon MNVP spoke with local people about their experiences of using maternity services in Devon. The findings from the engagement project helped informed change in visitor policies at Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust.

In February 2022, Devon MNVP heard from over 200 people about their experiences of maternity service visiting policies and the involvement of birthing partners during maternity care. We used this feedback to inform improvements in personalisation of maternity services in Devon, in particular through changes to visitor policies at Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust.

Issues highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a particularly difficult time in maternity care, including around visitor restrictions. We regularly heard about people’s experiences of being allowed minimal partner support during this challenging time. So, as restrictions eased, we felt it would be a good time to look at the needs and views of maternity service users.

Gathering feedback from service users

In February 2022, Devon MNVP ran a survey and gathered feedback from 207 maternity service users about their recent experiences of Birthing Partner and Visiting policies. 86.5% of people who completed the survey wanted 24 hours visiting for a nominated birthing partner.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare Trust East and Torbay and South Devon Trust told them they previously had a 24-hour birthing partner provision. However, although they found some benefits for service users and staff, there were also challenges and complaints from service users, for example, around space, noise, facilities, security, and safeguarding.

Sharing experiences and ideas to inform change

Devon MNVP discussed their findings and previous staff and service user’s experiences at their quarterly meeting in May 2023, and agreed recommendations for how policies could be improved to better meet the needs of those using maternity services in Devon.

They shared their findings and recommendations with the Local Maternity and Neonatal Services (LMNS) to inform their development work around personalisation and choice in the care provided for local people.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust have since introduced 24-hour birthing partner support for anyone being induced antenatally within a side room. Devon MNVP continues to work with all the NHS Trusts to enhance their birthing partner and visiting policies in line with the service user feedback.