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18
Mar 2023
Call for parents to share maternity experiences in Harrogate district
A group of volunteers is calling for parents to share their experiences of maternity services across the Harrogate district.
Harrogate Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) is an independent group of volunteers aiming to use feedback from parents to ensure maternity services are the best they can be.
From community midwifery to the hospital's delivery suite and postnatal care at home, the MVP wants to hear from anyone who has experienced the maternity services provided through Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.
The group's chair, Jen Baldry, took up the role in early 2022. She said:
The MVP holds regular coffee mornings around which any parents are welcome to drop in to. They offer space for children to play while the parents can chat to each other, MVP volunteers and maternity professionals about their experiences.
There are also regular, free information sessions, such as one next Friday evening on the biomechanics of birth, led by a hypnobirthing teacher and a student midwife. It will cover how different positions and movements can be used during labour and childbirth.
Feedback over the last year has seen the MVP work with maternity professionals to look at the language they use, the birthing environment at the hospital, and delivering personalised care to suit each person going through pregnancy and birth.
As well as giving feedback, people who have experience of maternity care in Harrogate are always welcomed as volunteers with the MVP. Jen said:
Pilot project
While the MVP will operate long term with all parents, at the moment it is working on a pilot project with the maternity department in Harrogate.
Across the NHS, midwives will soon be required to undertake more training each year. Harrogate's involvement in the pilot project will see it help to produce training based on feedback from people using its services.
The MVP is helping to find parents to take part and is particularly seeking those who have experienced pregnancies with twins and multiples, surrogacy, their child being cared for on the special care baby unit, or giving birth outside NHS guidance.
It also wants to hear from anyone from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who has been cared by for through Harrogate's maternity services.
Two focus group events are being held at the end of March – one online and one in person in Harrogate – to gather feedback from those parents.
Jen said:
For details of upcoming events, visit the MVP Facebook page.
To contact Harrogate MVP, or give feedback on your experiences of maternity services, visit its website.
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