London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – NHS maternity attendants will take part in a mandatory training programme to enhance patient safety after a damning report by the health regulator stated that poor care and damage in childbirth was in danger of becoming “normalised”.
Obstetricians, midwives and obstetric anaesthetists at nine maternity branches across England will all have to do additional training under government schemes to raise care standards for women and infants. The project will be rolled out to every maternity branch in the country if the pilots are successful.
The action comes just weeks after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) information based on inspections of 131 maternity units revealed a slew of problems, adding to the sense of concern that has engulfed a service responsible for the 600,000 females a year who give birth and their babies.
How can staff better identify signs of fetal distress?
The programme will introduce maternity staff to how to better identify symptoms a baby is showing distress during labour so they can operate more quickly. It will also help staff deal with obstetric emergencies that happen when a baby’s head is lodged deep in the mother’s pelvis during a caesarean area.
Gillian Merron, the minister for patient safety, women’s health and mental health, stated: “This government is operating with the NHS to urgently enhance maternity care, giving staff the support they need to enhance safety and ensure women’s voices are properly heard. This is a crucial step toward avoiding preventable brain injuries in babies, as we work to make sure all women and babies obtain safe, personalised and compassionate care.”
Why is preventing brain injuries during childbirth crucial?
The training will concentrate particularly on enhancing the skills and ability of maternity staff to reduce the number of avoidable brain damage in babies during childbirth. The NHS has spent ÂŁ4.1bn over the last 11 years settling lawsuits involving infants who suffered brain damage when being born, amid declarations that maternity units were not learning from mistakes.
Six maternity divisions are taking part in pilots concentrated on impacted foetal heads during caesarean birth. They are the Countess of Chester hospital NHS foundation trust, East Lancashire hospitals NHS trust, Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS trust, Liverpool Women’s NHS foundation trust, Warrington and Halton teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, and Wirral university teaching hospital NHS foundation trust.