‘Count yourself lucky’- the power of art helping to improve maternity and neonatal care in south east London

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.