Working with local organisations to improve antenatal and maternity health
Our antenatal maternity and services are keen to build an open dialogue with women and birthing people that use those services in south east London, so we continue to improve and respond to people’s needs.
We recognise that not all pregnant and postnatal women and birthing people have the access to services that they should or are able to contribute to building services that are based around them.
We partnered with five voluntary sector organisations to support our efforts to reach maternity communities across south east London and work with them to better understand what challenges they face and how we can make services accessible for everyone.
The projects involved direct work with people from the following groups: Migrant, Asylum seekers, Black, Asian, and Ethnic Minority groups, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+), and those living in the most deprived areas of SEL, those with experience of south east London neonatal services, disability or a new-born with a disability, experience of miscarriage, pregnancy loss or termination of pregnancy due to fetal abnormality.
Over the last 12 months the five organisations have been working directly with specific communities through a variety of methods. They have been listening and collating feedback from those communities to help us understand and deliver actions moving forward to support the development and improvement of South East London maternity and neonatal services.
On Monday 25 March, aiming to showcase and share insights in an innovative way about the work of five voluntary sector organisations. Watch the video from the show case event for more information about the event and the impact of this project in our antenatal and maternity health work.
Some of the findings include:
- The experiences of migrant and asylum-seeking women and birthing people of maternity and neonatal services is often marked by variations in care and barriers to access.
- Migrant and asylum-seeking women and birthing people encountered challenges with language and communication and had limited understanding of the healthcare system.
- There was in inconsistent access to antenatal and postnatal care, and a general lack of culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate services.
- The absence of family support for migrants greatly impacts their wellbeing leaving them without reassurance, companionship, or practical assistance during a critical time.
- Financial constraints and lack of awareness about available resources, can leading to immense isolation in the postnatal period.
Read more on our South East London Integrated Care System website
Creating Ground C.I.C, Healthwatch Greenwich, East of England LGA and Healthwatch Lambeth projects delivery are finished and you care read more about outcomes of their work and insights reports from the communities that they are working with.
| Healthwatch Greenwich | Creating Ground | Healthwatch Lambeth - | East of England LGA | Yewande 103 |
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The projects aimed:
- Building on previous engagement and intelligence data we have about the inequalities experienced to ensure that we are reaching those communities
- Creating and share adapted information about maternity and neonatal services and how people can access the services
- Listening and collate feedback from those communities to help us understand and deliver actions moving forward to support the development and improvement of South East London maternity and neonatal services.
- Developing, building, and strengthening relationships with communities experiencing health inequalities so that we can find the best ways to engage that enable us to develop and continue conversations
This partnership helped the team to listen, learn, and understand how we make maternity and neonatal services more inclusive and equitable for everyone.
Recognising the need to build on what we heard from women and birthing people the SEL LMNS has started running solution-focused workshops in partnership with Citizens UK. These workshops bring together service users, healthcare and NHS professionals, and community organisations to act on highlighted problems using a solution-based approach and to co-create solutions to improve care. The workshop used a problem, issue and solution approach to set up tangible actions that the LMNS can take forward to improve services and experience.
The first workshop took place on the 12 November and focused on how people access information about maternity and neonatal services. Over 65 participants contributed ideas and energy, resulting in suggested key solutions from creating clear, accessible, and culturally appropriate communication material to how we can work more closely with voluntary and community sector organisations to share information.
These solutions will strengthen the LMNS Equality and Equity action plan and support work going forward to reduce inequalities for women and birthing people across SEL. More workshops will take place in the new year
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‘Count yourself lucky’- the power of art helping to improve maternity and neonatal care in south east London
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In 2023 Creating Ground, a local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisation based in Greenwich, identified key challenges through working in partnership with women and birthing people that people face when accessing maternity services by using the power of art through creative workshops. These insights can be seen in a detailed report on our Let’s Talk health and care web platform page. This project was commissioned by the South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) as part of our efforts to reach maternity communities across south east London and to work with them to better understand what challenges they face and how we can make services accessible for everyone.
The outcomes of this work inspired the co-creation of a performance ‘Count yourself lucky’ based on the lived experience of migrant women.
Following on from the positive response and impact that the performance had, the South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System took the opportunity to create a film that can be used and share to amplify its powerful message widely.
Watch this video below.
Note: Count Yourself Lucky has been filmed by Anima Goli Films and support from University of Greenwich.
The video offers valuable insights into the experience and challenges that women and birthing people experience as well as highlights solutions for improving people’s maternity journeys.
The aim of the video is to foster empathy, compassion and deeper understanding of the challenges that migrant women face when navigating and accessing services.
This production will be distributed broadly to raise awareness of the significant barriers faced by women and birthing people from underserved communities and to spark meaningful conversations that drive real change. The film will be also used to support staff education and training.
By using the learnings from this performance women and birthing people, their families and healthcare professionals can work together more effectively for better maternity and neonatal care in south east London.
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Learning from the voices of women and birthing people to improve antenatal and maternity health - show case event
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On Monday 25 March, the South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) organised a show case event bringing together people with lived experience, maternity service staff, Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships, NHS leaders and voluntary and community sector organisations.
The event aimed to showcase and share insights in an innovative way about the work of five voluntary sector organisations that the LMNS partnered with over the last year. They reached underrepresented maternity communities across south east London and worked with them to better understand the challenges they face and how services can be more accessible for everyone.
The event was a great opportunity for people involved in the projects to give feedback in a safe environment through the use of art, poetry and theatre. Participants where able to talk openly and honestly about challenges as well as possible solutions from their experience in using maternity services across south east London.
The session included presentations and performances and highlighted the voices of women and birthing people involved, the key issues and insights identified from the work. Over 55 participants attended, and it was a great opportunity for networking and future collaboration and partnerships.
The five organisations involved in the delivery of the project are Yewande 103, Creating Ground C.I.C, Healthwatch Greenwich, Healthwatch Lambeth, East of England LGA. Through a variety of methods, they have been listening and collating feedback from specific under-served communities such as: migrants, asylum seekers, Black, Asian, and Ethnic Minority groups, those who have experience of miscarriage, pregnancy loss or termination of pregnancy due to foetal abnormality, LGBTQ+ and neurodiversity.
“The more that you are developing those trusting relationships with people, the more we can adapt services and create that trusting supportive network for people so they do feedback more and they are getting the support that they need.” - Rachel Heathcock, Project Manager, East of England Local Government Association
The insights will help us understand and deliver actions moving forward to support the development and improvement of South East London maternity and neonatal services.
A key outcome of this pioneering programme is the direct engagement of women, birthing people and families to talk about their needs, experiences and expectations and put these findings at the centre of a new and more responsive approach.
Jacqui Kempen RM, Head of Maternity, South East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System talked about the value of this approach “We know that not all women and birthing people in SEL have the same experience and outcomes when they use maternity services. It is a priority for the LMNS and the NHS South East London that we listen and work with those communities to make the improvements needed to ensure that all have safe and equitable care”.
Videos
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The Creating Ground performance of Count Yourself Lucky was met with such enthusiasm that SEL LMNS was inspired to amplify its powerful message even further.
We invited Creating Ground to film their performance, ensuring its vital themes and stories could be permanently captured and widely shared.
The video will be distributed broadly to raise awareness of the significant barriers faced by migrant women and birthing people—and to spark meaningful conversations that drive real change.
