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Christmas spirit brings maternity
communities together
NHS maternity services, voluntary
support groups and local families across Cheshire and Merseyside came together
for a recent event to celebrate the launch of:- 'Maternity Voices.'
Hosted at Liverpool Central Library by the Improving Me Women's and Children's
Services Partnership, the event shone a light on maternity support available to
families across the Region, and aimed to encourage wider collaboration between
different organisations and services.
This collaboration will be driven by new Maternity Voices groups; teams of
health care professionals, commissioners and members of the public working
together to improve experiences for families accessing maternity services;
which have now been established across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Catherine McClennan, Programme Director for Improving Me, said:- "I'm
delighted that we have been able to launch Maternity Voices. This will ensure
that families can have their voices heard throughout the maternity system and
really be involved in a meaningful way. We had a great turn out and a
really diverse audience, which highlights just how important it is that everyone
can have their say. Our next step is to work closely with our maternity partners
to drive this momentum at a local level. I'd like to say a huge thank you to
everyone who joined us on the day."
In addition to its focus on partnership working, the event also included
powerful stories from local women about their maternity experiences, a
performance by local poet Terry Caffrey and a visit from Santa Claus himself,
who delighted attendees with gifts of books for children; generously donated by
the library.
Danielle Gillett, a mum from Southport who shared her maternity story at the
launch event, said:- "Events like this are great to show parents how to
get involved in ensuring maternity services are designed around them. Maternity
Voices partnerships are brilliant forums to enable your voice to be heard to
professionals at the heart of local maternity care. I thoroughly enjoyed the
day, I hope my story helps others tell theirs and gives them the courage to get
involved too."
Councillor Wendy Simon, Liverpool Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member responsible
for libraries, said:- "Events like this are incredibly important in order
to give women and their families the support and advice they need, and I'm
delighted the event was held in the beautiful surroundings of Central Library.
It was a great turn out and we hope to host similar events in the future."
What is Maternity Voices?
Maternity Voices Partnerships (MVPs) are an innovative development based on an
updating of Maternity Services Liaison Committees (MSLCs) within providers of
NHS maternity services.
Maternity Voices groups take forward issues raised by maternity service users by
looking at aspects of the service in detail and making recommendations for
improvements. Service users, providers and commissioners then work together on
putting these into practice.
What is Improving Me? Improving Me is a partnership of 27 NHS organisations across Cheshire and
Merseyside aiming to improve the experiences of women and children. The
Partnership is 1 of NHS England's Vanguard New Care Model initiatives. To get
involved or to find out more about Cheshire and Merseyside Maternity Voices send
them an email to:-
Info@ImprovingMe.Org.UK.
or visit:- ImprovingMe.Org.UK.
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