Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Pregnancy'.
-
News Article
Covid: Confusion over gestational diabetes advice
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Some pregnant women who have had gestational diabetes say a change to shielding advice in England has caused confusion. Some have been told to stay at home while others have not, based on a new algorithm which calculates an individual's risk from Covid. It identified an extra 1.7 million people as extremely clinically vulnerable in England this week. They will now be prioritised for a Covid vaccine. NHS England says not everyone with the same condition will be advised to shield but suggests people contact their GP to discuss their individual case. Heather Davis Mahoney, from Hertfordshire, had gestational diabetes while carrying her second child, and was monitored closely during her third pregnancy. She has not been told to shield, but says it's worrying when others from similar backgrounds have been told they should. "There's been an explosion of confusion. People don't know what's going on and are worried about putting themselves and their babies at risk," she says. But GP Dr David Triska said just because someone has gestational diabetes or had it in the past, doesn't mean they should be shielding. "I think the major point of confusion is that people are expecting that this is a binary 'yes' or 'no' per condition algorithm - and it is not," he said. "The reason why people are getting different answers from various sources is because this is an individual risk assessment." Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 February 2021 -
News Article
‘Legally wrong’ to make pregnant women with Covid give birth alone
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS guidance which often forces pregnant women who test positive with coronavirus to give birth alone is legally wrong, lawyers warned. Official guidance drawn up by NHS England states that if a woman tests positive for Covid, their husband or partner must self-isolate at home and is not allowed to support them during childbirth. But campaigners and lawyers told The Independent their guidance for visitor restrictions in maternity services during the pandemic is legally inaccurate as people have the “right to private and family life” under Article Eight of the Human Rights Act. Maria Booker, of Birthrights, a leading maternity care charity, said: “The NHS oversimplifies the government’s self-isolating Covid regulations and tells partners they have to stay at home. But this hasn’t taken into account the legal nuance that government rules state people can leave home if they have a reasonable excuse." “A woman being anxious about giving birth alone, which most people will be, is likely to legally constitute as a reasonable excuse." “It is completely inhumane for a woman to give birth without a partner or supporter. It is even scarier giving birth alone you are Covid positive. It is terrifying. Nobody should give birth alone and that includes Covid positive women.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 February 2021 -
Content Article'Continuity of carer' in midwifery is when a woman has consistency in who they see during their pregnancy, labour and postnatal period. In this video, three midwives share their experiences of working in this way and talk about the benefits they've seen for women, babies and their own practice. They provide examples of how this model can improve the safety of services and offer advice for teams and individuals embarking on the continuity of carer journey.
-
News Article
Hospital reports rise in pregnant Covid patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A hospital has reported a "significant" increase in the number of pregnant women being treated for coronavirus. New Cross Hospital, in Wolverhampton, said part of its maternity ward had been sectioned off for Covid patients. Nationally, the proportion of pregnant women in intensive care has almost doubled since the first wave. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said pregnant women were at no greater risk of being infected with Covid than the general public. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's chief executive said the cause of the increase in the city was unclear. "We're seeing a lot more pregnant women now suffering with Covid and some of them have been very, very ill," Prof David Loughton said at a regional coronavirus briefing on Friday."We have had some deaths," he continued, "so that is really sad". An intensive care audit has shown the percentage of pregnant women aged 16-49 has almost doubled in the second wave compared to the first wave of the pandemic. Up until the end of August, 29 women in that age bracket who had been admitted with coronavirus were pregnant, compared to 103 from September to the end of January. Recently, the intensive care unit treated two Covid-positive pregnant patients and almost 200 expectant mothers tested positive in the city during the past quarter. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 February 2021 -
News Article
Pregnant women going for scans alone told they cannot film baby
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Pregnant women attending scans and appointments alone are repeatedly being told they cannot record or take photographs of their unborn child to show their partner, according to a survey. The poll of more than 3,450 pregnant women by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed found that more than half of respondents (52%) attended scans alone and were also told that they could not record or take photographs during the appointment. NHS trusts have been warned that they could be acting unlawfully if they continue to ban partners of pregnant women accessing hospital appointments remotely. Women are repeatedly being told it is “illegal” to photograph or film their scan, despite this not being the case, said the charity Birthrights, which sought the legal advice. “We are keen to see maternity services accommodate partners in person, in line with national guidance,” said Birthrights’ programmes director, Maria Booker. “However if this is really not possible at some hospitals during the current peak, maternity services must find other ways to ensure women feel supported and partners remain involved.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 31 January 2021 -
Content ArticleThe author of this review argues that, while many of us benefit from advances and new technologies used in medical drug development, there is one group that has barely made any gains at all: pregnant women. This review presents an overview of the current situation for this group, the issues and the available evidence; as well as exploring the barriers and options in better addressing pregnancy and maternal health. This document was written on behalf of the Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation.
-
News ArticleWhen pharmacist Ifeoma Onwuka, known to her friends as Laura, went into hospital to have her daughter, she and her husband hoped the delivery would go smoothly, and that they would soon be able to take their new arrival home to meet her siblings. Onwuka's labor was induced at James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth in late April 2018. Things progressed quickly and there were soon signs that her baby was in distress, causing staff to begin preparations for an emergency Caesarian section, but Onwuka's daughter was born in the recovery room. Shortly after the birth, Onwuka's condition began to deteriorate. According to the family's lawyer, Tim Deeming, she began to bleed heavily, and was taken into surgery where attempts were made to stem the loss of blood. Hours later, and only after a second consultant had been called in, she was given an emergency hysterectomy. The mother-of-three died three days later. The coroner, Yvonne Blake, said an expert had told Onwuka's inquest that the delay to surgery contributed to her death, since acting early could have controlled the bleeding. Black mothers have worse outcomes during pregnancy or childbirth than any other ethnic group in England. According to the latest confidential inquiry into maternal deaths (MBRRACE-UK). Black people in England are four times more likely to die in pregnancy or within the first six weeks of childbirth than their White counterparts. Read full story Source: CNN. 14 January 2021
-
Content ArticleThis report, the seventh MBRRACE-UK annual report of the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity, includes surveillance data on women who died during or up to one year after pregnancy between 2016 and 2018 in the UK. In addition, it also includes Confidential Enquiries into the care of women who died between 2016 and 2018 in the UK and Ireland from epilepsy and stroke, general medical and surgical disorders, anaesthetic causes, haemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism and sepsis. The report also includes a Morbidity Confidential Enquiry into the care of women with pulmonary embolism.
- Posted
-
- Maternity
- Health inequalities
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleFollowing the publication of Donna Ockenden’s first report: Emerging Findings and Recommendations from the Independent Review of Maternity Services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust on 11 December 2020, the NHS has issued this latest update. Read previous letter update
-
News ArticleMore women may suffer pain due to being conscious while undergoing caesareans or other pregnancy-related surgery under general anaesthetic than realised, a troubling new study has found. The report, conducted by medical journal Anaesthesia, found being awake while having a caesarean is far more common than it is with other types of surgery. Researchers discovered that one in 256 women going through pregnancy-related surgery are aware of what was going on — a far higher proportion than the one in every 19,000 identified in a previous national audit. If a patient is conscious at some point while under general anaesthetic, they may be able to recall events from the surgery such as pain or the sensation of being trapped, the researchers said. While the experiences generally only last for a few seconds or minutes, anaesthetists remain highly concerned. Women also felt tugging, stitching, feelings of dissociation and not being able to breathe - with some suffering long-term psychological damage that often involved characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder. Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 January 2021
-
News ArticleThousands of women have had abortions after falling pregnant while having difficulties accessing contraception during the pandemic, healthcare providers have warned. Sexual health clinics have been forced to shut or run reduced services while staff are transferred to work with Covid patients or have to self-isolate – with the profound disruption leaving many women unable to access their usual methods of contraception. Many women are struggling to get the most effective long-acting contraceptive choices of a coil or an implant due to these requiring face-to-face appointments which have largely been suspended as consultations are carried out remotely via phone or video call to curb the spread of COVID-19. British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UK's largest abortion provider, told The Independent they provided the progestogen-only contraceptive pill to almost 10,000 women undergoing an abortion between May and October last year. Katherine O’Brien, a spokesperson for the service, said: “Many of these women will have fallen pregnant after struggling to access contraception, so there really is a huge unmet need for contraceptive services which will only worsen as lockdown and Covid continues. “We routinely hear from women during the pandemic who simply can’t access their regular method of contraception because of clinics closing or staff being deployed elsewhere or staff self-isolating.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 January 2021
- Posted
-
- Virus
- Secondary impact
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleIn this written statement to Parliament, the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, Nadine Dorries, gives an update on the government’s response to the recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review, sometimes referred to as the Cumberlege Review. Nadine Dorries concludes: "The report of the IMMDS Review powerfully demonstrates the importance of hearing the patient voice in patient safety matters. The actions outlined here demonstrate the government’s commitment to learning from this report, and will support vital work already underway to hear the voice of the patient as part of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy. We currently plan to respond further to the report of the IMMDS Review during 2021."
- Posted
-
- Womens health
- Patient harmed
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
News ArticleRachel Hardeman has dedicated her career to fighting racism and the harm it has inflicted on the health of Black Americans. As a reproductive health equity researcher, she has been especially disturbed by the disproportionately high mortality rates for Black babies. In an effort to find some of the reasons behind the high death rates, Hardeman, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and three other researchers combed through the records of 1.8 million Florida hospital births between 1992 and 2015 looking for clues. They found a tantalising statistic. Although Black newborns are three times as likely to die as White newborns, when Black babies are delivered by Black doctors, their mortality rate is cut in half. "Strikingly, these effects appear to manifest more strongly in more complicated cases," the researchers wrote, "and when hospitals deliver more Black newborns." They found no similar relationship between White doctors and White births. Nor did they find a difference in maternal death rates when the doctor's race was the same as the patient's. Read full story Research paper Source: The Washington Post, 9 January 2021
- Posted
-
- Health inequalities
- Race
- (and 4 more)
-
Content ArticleWomen receiving treatment for epilepsy are being urged to discuss with a healthcare professional the right treatment for them if they anticipate becoming pregnant even sometime in the future, following a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) safety review. Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and levetiracetam (Keppra) have been found to be safer than other antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy. The MHRA advises patients not to stop taking their current medicines without first discussing it with a healthcare professional.
-
Content ArticleInformation for all women of childbearing age, those currently pregnant or breastfeeding on coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination.
-
News Article
Pregnant women allowed support of partners during birth
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Pregnant women should be allowed to have one person alongside them during scans, appointments, labour and birth, under new NHS guidance sent to trusts in England. The chosen person should be regarded as "an integral part of both the woman and baby's care" - not just a visitor. Previously, individual hospitals could draw up their own rules on partners being present. This meant many women were left to give birth alone. The guidance says pregnant women "value the support from a partner, relative, friend or other person through pregnancy and childbirth, as it facilitates emotional wellbeing". Women should therefore have access to support "at all times during their maternity journey". And trusts should make it easy for this to happen, while keeping the risk of coronavirus transmission within NHS maternity services as low as possible. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 December 2020 -
Content ArticleCaitlin Wilson is a Consultant Midwife, currently leading the development and implementation of the Midwifery Continuity of Carer (CoC) model in Worcestershire. In this interview, Caitlin tells us more about the benefits to both staff and families, and offers advice for anyone thinking about adopting this model of care.
- Posted
-
- Midwife
- Patient safety strategy
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
News ArticleA prominent feminist campaigner and writer has described in devastating detail how she was left feeling “humiliated and alone” as she was forced to deal with a miscarriage without her partner. Caroline Criado Perez, the author of Invisible Women, called on NHS trusts to allow partners to attend medical appointments, scans and emergencies in maternity services, because the refusal to do so was “traumatising an already traumatised woman”. She added: “It needs to stop, now.” At the start of the coronavirus crisis, the majority of NHS trusts began preventing partners from accompanying pregnant women to the majority of maternity appointments, and reports suggest this is still the case in many areas. In September the Guardian revealed that three-quarters of NHS trusts were not allowing birth partners to support women throughout their whole labour, despite being told by the NHS and Boris Johnson to urgently change the rules on visiting. According to a November survey by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed (PTS), 82% of respondents said their local hospital had restrictions in place (for labour or scans), while 90% said that these restrictions were having a negative impact on their mental health. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 December 2020
- Posted
-
- Virus
- Secondary impact
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
COVID-19 has not led to an increase in stillbirths, data confirms
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Coronavirus has not caused an increase in stillbirths despite fears it could do so, Government data suggests. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data on Monday showing that the stillbirth rate decreased from 4.0 stillbirths per 1,000 total births in 2019, to 3.9 in the first three quarters (January to September) of 2020, in line with the long-term trend. The data comes amid fears that coronavirus can impact pregnancy and the stillbirth rate. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 8 December 2020- Posted
-
- Virus
- Secondary impact
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleLaura Anne Jones MS (Member of the Senedd) tabled a formal written question concerning the implementation of the findings of the Cumberlege Review in Wales. This is the formal response from the Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething MS.
- Posted
-
- Medical device
- Medication
- (and 5 more)
-
Content ArticleAround 1 in 12 people are exposed to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) during pregnancy. Health appointments during this time are a good opportunity for maternity staff and other health professionals to ask people about DVA and offer support. Maternity staff routinely screen for DVA, yet disclosure and referral rates remain low. This course is designed for midwives and maternity staff caring for people giving birth and their families. It may also offer useful guidance for any professional providing care for pregnant people and in the postpartum period. Participants will discover the research, guidelines and techniques for screening for DVA more effectively. They will have the opportunity to enhance their ability to support victims and contribute to creating change in DVA rates during pregnancy. Follow the link below to register for free.
-
Content Article
Continuity of Carer in Worcestershire
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Midwifery Continuity of Carer
More and more women in Worcestershire are benefiting from having an individual named midwife throughout their maternity journey. In this short video, new Continuity of Carer (CoC) midwives from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, and some local mums explain what it's like to be part of a CoC model.- Posted
-
- Midwife
- Out-patient midwifery services
- (and 2 more)
-
News ArticleBBC News investigation has uncovered failures in the diagnosis of serious medical issues during private baby scans. More than 200 studios across the UK now sell ultrasound scans, with hundreds of thousands being carried out each year. But the BBC has found evidence of women not being told about serious conditions and abnormalities. The Care Quality Commission says there is good quality care in the industry but it has a "growing concern". Private baby scanning studios offer a variety of services. Some diagnose medical issues while others market themselves as providers of souvenir images or video of the ultrasound. Most sell packages providing a "reassurance scan" to expectant mums. Many women BBC News spoke to said they had positive experiences at private studios, but we have also learned of instances where women said they were failed. Charlotte, from Manchester, attended a scan in Salford with one of the biggest franchises, Window to the Womb, to record her baby's sex for a party and check its wellbeing. BBC News has learned the sonographer identified a serious abnormality that meant the baby could not survive, where part or all of its head is missing, called anencephaly. But rather than refer her immediately to hospital and provide a medical report, Charlotte was told the baby's head could not be fully seen and recommended to book an NHS anomaly scan. She was also given a gender reveal cannon and a teddy bear containing a recording of its heartbeat as a present for her daughter. "I was distraught," Charlotte said. "You've bonded with that baby." "It's like a deep cut feeling," she added. "All of it could have just been avoided, we could have processed the news all together as a family because I was with my mum and dad, I would have had the support there." Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 November 2020
- Posted
-
- Private sector
- Pregnancy
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleContinuity of Carer (CoC) is a way of working within maternity services. It aims to provide a consistency in the care given to people before, during and after birth, limiting the number of clinicians involved in their journey. Evidence shows this approach improves safety, leads to better outcomes and is preferred by patients. In this blog, Samantha Phillis, Community Midwife, uses powerful examples to illustrate how the CoC model has helped her look after her patients.
- Posted
- 1 comment
-
- Midwife
- Obstetrics and gynaecology/ Maternity
- (and 2 more)
-
News ArticleExpectant mothers are being warned about potentially confusing guidance on consuming caffeine while pregnant, as research suggests energy drinks could have potentially deadly consequences for their babies. A new report by Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre claims to have established a 27 per cent rise in the risk of stillbirth for each 100mg of caffeine consumed. Researchers compared stillbirths to ongoing pregnancies among 1,000 women across 41 hospitals from 2014 to 2016 as well as interviewing women about their consumption of caffeinated drinks. They adjusted for demographic and behavioural factors, such as age and alcohol consumption, to determine whether stillbirth was linked to caffeine. One in 20 women were found to have increased their caffeine intake while pregnant in spite of evidence some caffeinated drinks put babies lives at risk. However, experts say that calculating precise intake can be difficult, and guidance on limiting caffeine is not consistent The NHS recommends pregnant women keep their daily caffeine intake below 200mg whereas the World Health Organization stipulates 300mg as the safe amount to consume. Tommy’s, a leading baby charity, called for both the NHS and the World Health Organisation to rethink such guidelines, but refused to outline a specific limit - saying it was the NHS and World Health Organisation’s responsibility to decide the recommendations in light of their new study. Professor Alexander Heazell, an author of the study, said: “Caffeine has been in our diets for a long time, and, as with many things we like to eat and drink, large amounts can be harmful – especially during pregnancy. It’s a relatively small risk, so people shouldn’t be worried about the occasional cup of coffee, but it’s a risk this research suggests many aren’t aware of." Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 November 2020
- Posted
-
- Pregnancy
- Patient death
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with: