Local maternity and neonatal system win national award
Our South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System has won the Royal College of Midwives Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award.
The team won the award for its Parent Education in Foreign Languages programme. The service supports mothers and birthing people who speak little or no English. In London, 22% of people speak a main language other than English. Limited English can lead to poorer experiences in pregnancy. This service helps change that.
A local midwife worked with community groups and maternity teams to design sessions in six priority languages. Bilingual practitioners were trained to run the sessions and the team also shared resources online so people can get them at any time.
Two live sessions cover NHS services, rights in pregnancy, healthy pregnancy, birth options, caesarean section, postnatal care, infant feeding and mental health. Sessions run monthly and use translated slides and culturally sensitive illustrations.
Sessions run each month. They use translated slides and images that are culturally sensitive.
Since June 2024 the service has:
- had 540 people register, with 250 attending
- had 95% say they would recommend it
- helped 95% feel more informed about NHS services
- helped 84% understand more about their rights
- helped 79% feel more confident about giving birth
Congratulations to the team for their hard work and for improving care for our communities.