Maternity Services
The enhanced midwifery service project helps with the physical, social and psychological needs of pregnant women and parents in the New Deal area. It is focused on public health related activities, particularly reducing smoking in pregnancy, increasing breastfeeding rates, reducing infant mortality and supporting women with mental health problems.
The project offers all women the support of a midwifery assistant, offering tailor-made support and advice for parenting, infant feeding, bonding and attachment promotion, help to stop smoking, baby massage and child safety. This will particularly help the young or isolated parents and those finding it difficult to access mainstream services.
In partnership with the midwifery team the midwifery assistant will facilitate a stop smoking acupuncture group and a parent education group for both pregnant and newly delivered parents.
A specialist midwife will offer specifically targeted support for women with identified nutritional problems, for example, anaemia and risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Women at risk of or suffering perinatal depression (during the antenatal and postnatal period), will be have access to perinatal mental health services in partnership with the mental health trust. This will include referral, assessment and appropriate treatment or therapy. This service will also offer access to group sessions, one including acupuncture for relaxation purposes. These sessions offer support for women with anxiety, depression or related issues, helping reduce isolation and encouraging participation in other NDC community activities.
Women will be offered acupuncture therapy for minor ailments of pregnancy to reduce the medicalised approach to childbirth, promoting normality and improving wellbeing.
The enhanced service will increase opportunity for the development of a multi-agency approach, working with key New Deal funded projects and local services such as child and play workers, health improvement workers, food workers, Breastmates and many more. The overarching aim of the service will be to improve the well-being of parents and children in the New Deal area.
This page was last updated on 28 September 2009
