A midwifery-led service is offering mums and families the opportunity to discuss their pregnancy and birth experiences, as well as making meaningful improvements in midwifery.
The ‘birth reflections’ service is open to mums who have given birth under the care of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.
Run by midwives Jodie Nicholson and Nicola Spiller, mums are invited to attend a private one-hour appointment with one of the midwives to revisit and explore their birth story and ask any questions.
Jodie said: “For many women, recollection of their birth experience can be hazy – due to medication or just sheer tiredness. Birth reflections provides them and their birth partners with the opportunity to explore those moments in a trauma-informed way, to ask questions and give some clarity around the processes and decisions made.
“We’ve got the luxury of being able to sit, listen and talk away from the wards. We know women go away with a much better understanding of what has happened to give a bit of closure.”
The service is based primarily at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, with appointments also available at the University Hospital of North Tees. Women can refer themselves online from six weeks after giving birth.
Nicola said: “We say six weeks so that women have a bit of time to reflect on their birth themselves and formulate any questions.
“There’s no upper limit. We see women years later – and we quite often get referrals from ladies who are in or planning their second pregnancy. They’ve never really explored their first delivery and realise now that they have questions that are unanswered.”
Improving midwifery services
As well as helping women understand their births, it also offers Jodie and Nicola the opportunity to listen to families’ feedback and make meaningful change within midwifery practice.
Jodie explains: “One of the biggest things to come from reflections is keeping families together during surgery after birth, where possible. A couple of years ago, if mum needed to go to theatre for repair of a tear or manual removal of placenta, their baby and birth partner would stay in the delivery suite. This separation disturbed bonding and interrupted skin-to-skin opportunities.
“After feedback from the birth reflections service, we’re pleased to say we’ve been able to facilitate this. Birthing partners and babies can now go to theatre, provided everyone’s clinically stable, so mum and baby can have that skin-to-skin contact. It’s such a small change, but it’s made a massive difference to women’s experiences.”
For more information about the reflections service or to refer yourself online, please visit the North Tees and Hartlepool website.