Yesterday a coalition of charities, including Baby Lifeline, gave evidence at the Covid-19 Inquiry. The coalition is known as the ‘Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting Organisations’ (PBPOs), and we were represented at the inquiry hearing by Jenny Ward, who is the CEO of The Lullaby Trust and Chair of the Pregnancy and Baby Charities Network.
Our evidence represented the experiences of families accessing maternity and neonatal services, highlighted research by the charities and organisations, and looked at antenatal, postnatal and neonatal care. The evidence also looked at the impact the pandemic had on staff working in maternity and neonatal services.
As a coalition, we highlighted several key areas to improve for the future:
- Maternity and neonatal services were not prioritised in decisions about healthcare during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to visitation, appointments, guidance, and PPE for staff and families. This meant new and expectant parents, their partners and their families were left confused, worried and isolated through a lot of their care. This was compounded by national variation in guidance and a lack of clarity.
- Policymakers should have included maternity and neonatal experts and sector leaders when they were making decisions which impacted expectant parents, new mums, babies or their families. Some of the recommendations and rules led to confusion, trauma, and inequalities in outcomes and experiences.
- Ambiguous and late guidance meant that NHS professionals and healthcare providers were left with hard decisions about how best to support pregnant, birthing and new parents and their families. This could have been improved with clear, prompt guidance and staff training in how to care for Covid-19 positive women, and for staff who were redeployed to new areas of maternity care.
- There was a lack of leadership regarding decision-making around restrictions in maternity and neonatal services, which led to inconsistencies, confusion, frustration, and trauma. Many families are still living with the consequences of the trauma they experienced during their maternity and neonatal journeys.
“We know from the work that we did during the pandemic through our Covid-19 Advice Hub that families were confused, frightened, and vulnerable. We also know through our research that professionals were not adequately supported with the knowledge and resource they needed to give the best care they could.
This is our collective call to the government and NHS leaders to start making maternity and neonatal services a priority. Services were on their knees going into the pandemic, felt like an afterthought throughout, and many suffered as a consequence – both families and staff.”
Also giving evidence at the hearing were Tamsin Mullen, who gave birth to premature twins during the pandemic, and Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives.
The charities involved in the coalition that gave evidence are: Aching Arms, Baby Lifeline, Bliss, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, Group B Strep Support, ICP Support, The Lullaby Trust, The Miscarriage Association, National Childbirth Trust, Pelvic Partnership, Pregnancy Sickness Support, Tommy’s and Twins Trust.