About Community Midwifery/maternity_27.jpg)
Community Midwifery services are currently provided across the city by 16 teams of midwives. The Community Matron, Lesley Tones, was appointed at the end of the 2005 do co-ordinate activity, and to ensure that the rising demands on the midwifery teams are met. A number of the community midwives have completed their training in non medical prescribing and examination of the newborn, and carry out these examinations both in hospital and in the community as required. Antenatal care is provided in 162 weekly sessions and 30 alternate week sessions within GP surgeries or community clinics. We currently provide Antenatal services at three midwifery led centres across the city.
These centres are facilitated by community midwives and midwife sonographers and are open a total of five days each week. In 2006 we achieved 67 homebirths which equates as 0.8% of the Trusts deliveries. Alongside home birth requests, postnatal visits, postnatal support and safeguarding children activities occupy a vast amount of a community midwives time.
The annual activity for 2006:
- Antenatal contacts - 58,000 (in GP surgeries, community clinics etc)
- Antenatal contacts in the home - 10,500
- 2000 antenatal scans were carried out in the Midwifery Led Centres
- Postnatal contacts in the home - 50,000
Parent Education
A variety of Parent Education opportunities are available and are continually being evolved in an attempt to meet the current demand. There are currently 18 sessions per week held in the community, and the hospital environment facilitated by community midwives. These sessions take place in the morning, afternoon and evening. Sessions facilitating baby massage, Pilates and aqua natal exercise are available in the community additionally.
Children Centres/newimg_071.jpg)
Children Centres as per Every Child Matters is about giving every child an optimum start in life and enhancing the family as a unit – all to be in a pram pushing distance. Midwifery services have a statutory obligation to be part of the Children’s Centre core offer by providing antenatal services. There are 24 Children’s Centres in Liverpool, 7 in Knowsley and 7 in Sefton. Funding has been secured from Knowsley, Sefton and Liverpool City Council to provided enhanced services until March 2008.
Midwifery input at Children’s Centre meetings is expected by all the centres despite the vast number of them in just the first wave. Most centres would like more input than can realistically be provided at this present time although we are committed to the core offer.
Commissioning of future services is in progress
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust continues to support the Public Health agenda through the work of the Maternity Service Liaison Committee (MSLC) and partnerships with other agencies, including Primary Care Trust (PCTs), local Councils, voluntary and statutory groups. This work is co-ordinated by Dr Grace Edwards Consultant Midwife.
Six key priority areas have been highlighted:
- Tackling health inequalities which for maternity services include smoking during pregnancy, breast feeding initiation rates and teenage conception rates
- Reducing the number of people who smoke
- Tackling obesity
- Encouraging and supporting sensible drinking
- Improving sexual health
- Improving mental health (DH 2005)
Pregnant women who smoke at booking at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
Women who would like support to stop smoking are referred to the smoking cessation team, based on both sites. Once women have set a quit date, the success rate is around 50%, which gives a reduction in pregnancy of around 4%. However, around 50% of women do not attend for support and work is ongoing to address this.
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