Bromley Maternity Voices
Former Bromley Maternity Voices Chair, Laura James, fills us in on Maternity Voices Partnerships (MVPs): co-production at local and regional level
Bromley Maternity Voices is celebrating, as our committee has been included as a case study in the new national NHS England resource pack for commissioners on how to implement the Better Births report.
At first glance, the 60 page document may look heavy reading. However, embedded in the document is a 3 page chapter called “Co-Production with women and their families” which is all about hearing the voices of women who are currently or have recently used local maternity services to help shape, design and plan those services.
L-R Lisa Ramsey, chair Reading Maternity Voices, Steve Anderson of NHS England, Laura James, NCT practitioner and former chair Bromley Maternity Voices, meeting at Dept of Health’s headquarters Skipton House to edit the resource pack in February
The chapter was based on guidance written by Mary Newburn and Gillian Fletcher, both of whom have worked for the NCT and bring a wealth of knowledge about service user involvement in maternity services.
As a service user representative and former Chair of Bromley Maternity Voices, I was thrilled to be involved, along with a core group of tenacious women from National Maternity Voices, in commenting on and contributing to the chapter: co-production in action!