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Found 471 results
  1. News Article
    Experts have raised fears that high-risk pregnancies may be missed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a potential rise in stillbirths and neonatal deaths. During a session of Westminster’s Health and Social Care Committee, Gill Walton, the Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said there was a “fear” among pregnant women presenting themselves to maternity services during the COVID-19 outbreak. Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the committee, said one of the most important elements of maternity safety was to identify higher-risk pregnancies early “so that interventions can be made to prevent stillbirths, complications, or even the death of a baby”. Mr Hunt added the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians, Dr Edward Morris, had told him he is “worried that some higher-risk pregnancies may be being missed” because of fewer face-to-face appointments and missed scans. Asked whether she shared that concern, Ms Walton told MPs: “I do share that concern. Some of that is related to the fear of the pregnant population and presenting to maternity services during the pandemic." "That fear then prevents them sometimes just picking up the phone to call their midwife to say that may be concerned about not feeling well, or that they’ve got reduced foetal movements.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 May 2020
  2. Content Article
    The COVID-19 outbreak has had an impact on all areas of health and social care. While understandably the focus of the healthcare system currently rests on the pandemic, it is important that we also consider the impact on non COVID-19 treatment and care. This has been recently highlighted by the UK Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, who has warned about the impact that the pandemic will have on other areas as the health system is “reorientated towards COVID”.[1] Patient Safety Learning believe that in this context the need to pay attention to patient safety is now more important than ever. Pregnant women represent a unique patient group, facing very specific challenges. Although early evidence indicates that babies and children are less severely affected by the virus, many are concerned for the safety of their baby within the unfamiliar backdrop of COVID-19. It is understandable that fears persist when there are reports of pregnant women, children and midwives who have tragically lost their lives. This is the first blog where we will look at the impact of the pandemic on maternity services. Here we will focus on the safety implications of both low and high-risk women choosing to birth at home due to fears of contracting the virus in hospital. We also raise questions as to whether a blanket suspension of home birth services is putting some women and babies at greater risk.
  3. Content Article
    This briefing, from the Royal College of Midwives, sets out the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of women choosing to birth unassisted (freebirth). It highlights that anecdotal evidence suggests the number of women choosing to have their babies in this way is on the rise, due to a reduction in birth options. This briefing looks at the safety and legal implications, key guidance around freebirthing and lists some important considerations for midwives when caring for women who make this decision.
  4. Content Article
    Birthrights are working hard to support maternity healthcare professionals to make thoughtful decisions even in these challenging times and to support pregnant individuals and their families. This webpage includes further information about pregnant women's rights, Birthrights position statement in light of the pandemic and a list of FAQs.
  5. News Article
    Women say the uncertainty surrounding maternity services during the coronavirus outbreak is "making a stressful situation harder". The Royal College of Midwives says services may need to be reduced due to COVID-19. Like many areas in the health sector, staff shortages caused by sickness and workers self-isolating are impacting resources, the college adds. The BBC asked a group of NHS trusts and boards across the UK about the services they are able to provide during the coronavirus pandemic. Nine trusts in England, five boards in Scotland and one trust in both Wales and Northern Ireland responded. All 16 bodies said one birth partner could be present during labour, but just over a quarter of those asked are allowing partners on the postnatal ward following the birth. Around a third of trusts and boards that spoke to the BBC are now allowing home births. In the weeks after a birth, midwives and health visitors are now heavily relying on virtual communication to provide families with postnatal support. Home visits are mostly still happening, but one trust in London said it only allows face-to-face contact when it is "absolutely essential". Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 April 2020 Read Patient Safety Learning's latest blog: Home births, fears and patient safety amid COVID-19
  6. Content Article
    This letter template was created by Maternity Action. It can be used by pregnant women to request a risk assessment in relation to their job and the risk of infection from COVID-19.
  7. Content Article
    This guidance was published on 9 April 2020 by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwifery. It highlights that childbearing women and newborn infants continue to require safe person-centred care during the current COVID-19 pandemic and they represent a unique population. The majority are healthy, experiencing a life event that may bring clinical, emotional, psychological, and social needs. Women and newborn infants therefore require access to quality midwifery care, multidisciplinary services and additional care for complications including emergencies, if needed. When staff and services are under extreme stress there is a real risk of increasing avoidable harm, including an increased risk of infection, morbidity and mortality, and reductions in the overall quality of care. Safety, quality and preventing avoidable harm must be key priorities in decision making. Continuation of as near normal care for women should be supported, as it is recognised to prevent poor outcomes. 
  8. News Article
    When Victoria Gianopoulos-Johnson got a call from her midwife to say her home birth would be cancelled, panic took hold. She says she “lost it” for two days, crying constantly, gripped by uncertainty and then anger. Now she has reached the decision to have a free birth, also known as unassisted childbirth. Maternity rights groups say there has been a rise in the number of women seeking advice about freebirthing owing to pressures on hospitals and new restrictions around birth partners. More than a fifth of birthing centres and more than a third of homebirth services have closed due to a shortage of midwives and concerns about ambulance response times. Alison Edwards, of Doula UK, whose 700 members advocate for expectant mothers, says she has seen a threefold increase in calls about freebirthing in the last fortnight. “Initially women were concerned about staff shortages,” says Edwards. “Now they don’t want to go to hospital at all, it’s about infection. It is inevitable that some who should not be freebirthing because they are in a high-risk category will give birth at home because they fear the alternative – infection from [coronavirus] or spending time in hospital without their partner’s support.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 5 April 2020
  9. Content Article
    This question and answer web page from the World Health Organization provides key information about pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak. Questions include:Are pregnant women at higher risk from Covid-19?I’m pregnant. How can I protect myself against Covid-19?Should pregnant women be tested for Covid-19?Can Covid-19 be passed from a woman to her unborn or newborn baby?What care should be available during pregnancy and childbirth?Do pregnant women with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 need to give birth by caesarean section?Can women with Covid-19 breastfeed?Can I touch and hold my newborn baby if I have Covid-19?I have Covid-19 and am too unwell to breastfeed my baby directly. What can I do?
  10. Content Article
    This webpage from the Primary Care Women's Health Forum (PCWHF), contains the latest guidelines, patient materials and articles from the board alongside recommended external resources. Resources include: Intrauterine methods for all indications. How to manage contraceptive provision without face to face consultations. Having a pessary fitted for a vaginal prolapse. Advice following insertion or removal of your contraceptive implant.
  11. News Article
    Women are at risk of serious harm and death because hospitals are not always diagnosing ectopic pregnancies quickly enough, an investigation reveals. About 12,000 women a year in the UK suffer an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg grows outside the womb – putting them at risk if a fallopian tube containing the foetus ruptures and causes potentially fatal heavy bleeding. An investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has found flaws in the treatment women receive. It has highlighted late diagnosis and consequent delay in treatment as a major concern, especially as a result of the condition being mistaken for a urinary tract infection. NHS patient safety data shows that 30 ectopic pregnancies were missed and led to “serious harm” between April 2017 and August 2018. As well as the risk to life, an ectopic pregnancy can also damage a woman’s chances of conceiving again and have serious psychological effects. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 March 2020
  12. Content Article
    Prompt referral to early pregnancy services can make the difference between life and death in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies. This Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) report into the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy found that differing levels of provision and a mismatch between capacity and demand in early pregnancy units (EPUs) heightens the risk that the diagnosis of this time-critical condition is delayed or missed.
  13. News Article
    Women in labour are being refused epidurals in breach of official guidelines, a government inquiry has found. In findings reported by the Guardian, an investigation by the Department of Health and Social Care also found that women may not be being kept fully informed that if they choose to give birth at home or in a midwife-led unit they may have to be transferred if they want an epidural. Failing to make women aware of that possibility would also be in breach of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. As a result of the inquiry, the Health Minister Nadine Dorries will write to all heads and directors of midwifery and medical directors at NHS trusts this week to remind them of the NICE guidance regarding pain relief during childbirth and to ensure it is being followed. Clare Murphy, Director of external affairs at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said the “results of the government’s inquiry are sadly not surprising”. She added: “We have spoken with many women who have been so traumatised by their experience of childbirth that they are considering ending what would otherwise be wanted pregnancies. Pain relief is sometimes treated as a ‘nice extra’ rather than an integral part of maternity care, and women and their families can suffer profoundly as a result." Read full story Source: Guardian, 3 March 2020
  14. News Article
    There is always a lot happening with patient safety in the NHS (National Health Service) in England. Sadly, all too often patient safety crises events occur. The NHS is also no sloth when it comes to the production of patient safety policies, reports, and publications. These generally provide excellent information and are very well researched and produced. Unfortunately, some of these can be seen to falter at the NHS local hospital implementation stage and some reports get parked or forgotten. This is evident from the failure of the NHS to develop an ingrained patient safety culture over the years. Some patient safety progress has been made, but not enough when the history of NHS policy making in the area is analysed. Lessons going unlearnt from previous patient safety event crises is also an acute problem. Patient safety events seem to repeat themselves with the same attendant issues. Read full story Source: Harvard Law, 17 February 2020
  15. News Article
    A shortage of contraception is causing chaos and risks unplanned pregnancies and abortions, doctors are warning. Leading sexual health experts have written to ministers warning that the supply shortage of contraceptives is beginning to lead to serious problems across the UK. A number of daily pills and a long-acting injectable contraceptive are thought to be affected, including Noriday, Norimin and Synphase. The problem follows a shortage of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women last year. It is unclear how many women use these types of contraception - overall around three million women take daily pills, and more than 500,000 use long-acting contraception, such as coils, implants and injections. The Royal College of GPs said its members were doing their best to help women find alternatives - there are many different types of daily pill available. Faculty president Dr Asha Kasliwal said; "We are aware that women are sent away with prescriptions for unavailable products and end up lost in a system. This is causing utter chaos." The faculty has teamed up with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Menopause Society to write to ministers, asking them to set up a working group to address the problems. The letter warns women are becoming distressed by having to find alternative products that might not necessarily suit them or go without contraception altogether. It said this was affecting the "physical and mental wellbeing of girls and women" and could lead to a "rise in unplanned pregnancies and abortions". Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 February 2020
  16. Content Article
    At seven months pregnant, intensive care doctor Rana Awdish suffered a catastrophic medical event, haemorrhaging nearly all of her blood volume and losing her first child. She spent months fighting for her life in her own hospital, enduring a series of organ failures and multiple major surgeries. Every step of the way, Awdish was faced with something even more unexpected and shocking than her battle to survive: her fellow doctors’ inability to see and acknowledge the pain of loss and human suffering, the result of a self-protective barrier hard-wired in medical training. In Shock is her searing account of her extraordinary journey from doctor to patient, during which she sees for the first time the dysfunction of her profession’s disconnection from patients and the flaws in her own past practice as a doctor. Shatteringly personal yet wholly universal, it is both a brave roadmap for anyone navigating illness and a call to arms for doctors to see each patient not as a diagnosis but as a human being.
  17. News Article
    One in six women who lose a baby in early pregnancy experiences long-term symptoms of post-traumatic stress, a UK study suggests. Women need more sensitive and specific care after a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, researchers say. In the study of 650 women, by Imperial College London and KU Leuven in Belgium, 29% showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress one month after pregnancy loss, declining to 18% after nine months. The study recommends that women who have miscarried are screened to find out who is most at risk of psychological problems. "For too long, women have not received the care they need following a miscarriage and this research shows the scale of the problem," says Jane Brewin, Chief Executive of miscarriage and stillbirth charity Tommy's. "Miscarriage services need to be changed to ensure they are available to everyone and women are followed up to assess their mental wellbeing with support being offered to those who need it, and advice is routinely given to prepare for a subsequent pregnancy." Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 January 2020
  18. Content Article
    The US based, Stroke VTE (venous thromboembolism) Safety Recommendations provide four key steps to help prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in stroke patients.
  19. Content Article
    This is the report of the Scottish Government's Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities. The report brings together thinking on poverty, lack of employment, children's lives and support for families and physical and social environments, as well as on health and wellbeing. It makes clear that the Scottish Government will not only respond to the consequences of health inequalities, but also tackle its causes.
  20. Content Article
    This case story is based on real events and NHS Resolution is sharing the experience of those involved to help prevent a similar occurrence happening to patients, families and staff.
  21. News Article
    Sick newborns in some areas of the UK are dying at twice the rate of seriously ill babies in other areas, a new report has revealed. The findings raise serious questions about the quality of care in some neonatal units, with experts warning action needs to be taken to tackle the “striking variation”. Across the country neonatal units are also short of at least 600 nurses with four in five failing to meet required safe staffing levels for specialist nurses. The regions with the highest mortality rate at 10 per cent were Staffordshire, Shropshire and the Black Country, where 107 babies died. This compared with a rate of 5 per cent in north central and northeast London. The Shropshire region includes the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, which is at the centre of the largest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS, with hundreds of alleged cases of poor care now under investigation. Dr Sam Oddie, a consultant neonatologist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust and who led the work for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the differences in death rates between units. “The mortality differences are very striking, with some units having a mortality rate twice that of the lowest. This variation in mortality is a basis for action by neonatal networks to ensure they are doing everything they can to make sure their mortality is as low as possible,” he said. Read full story Read MBBRACE-UK report Source: The Independent, 18 December 2019
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