What has the AIMS campaigns team been up to this quarter?

AIMS Journal, 2021, Vol 33, No 4

To read or download this Journal in a magazine format on ISSUU, please click here.

Other quarterly updates

By the AIMS Campaigns Team

Covid-19:

• With other members of the But Not Maternity Alliance^[1] we wrote to all Trusts and boards that were still limiting partners’ postnatal attendance to one to two hours a day, asking them to publish their plans for lifting remaining restrictions.
• We updated our ‘Coronavirus and your maternity care’^[2] web page with the most recent version of the RCOG guidance, the revised rules for Wales and Northern Ireland on visiting in maternity services and the latest research on the impact of Covid-19 on babies.
• We updated the AIMS Birth Information page ‘Vaccination During Pregnancy’^[3] to include information on the Covid-19 vaccine.

Other written outputs:

• Review of the NMPA (National, Maternity and Perinatal Audit) ‘sprint audit’ on ‘NHS Maternity Care for Women with a Body Mass Index of 30 kg/m² or Above’^[4].
• We have published six AIMS Position Papers^[5] on our website on a variety of key maternity service improvement topics.
• A full review has been undertaken of the draft IDECIDE documentation, offered to members of the Stakeholder Council for review, with comments provided to NHS England. For a good overview of the project, see here: IDECIDE – a new consent tool is on its way^[6]
• We have reviewed and commented on the NHS England Equity and Equality pledges and guidance to LMSs (Local Maternity Systems)^[7]
• A review has been undertaken of the updated NICE Guideline on Inducing Labour.^[8]
• Submitted comments to RCOG for the consultation on their Planned Caesarean Birth consent document. ^[9]
• A statement has been drafted concerning the nationwide March With Midwives^[10] vigil.

Conferences and meetings attended:

• Three AIMS Volunteers attended the MBRRACE-UK Stakeholder Zoom Meeting on the 24th September 2021.
• We attended the online launch of the ‘MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report UK Perinatal Deaths for Births from January to December 2019’.^[11]
• We participated in the regular meeting of the NHS England organised Maternity Transformation Programme Stakeholder Council^[12].
• We participated in a meeting of the Royal College of Midwives Re:Birth^[13] Project Oversight Group.
• We attended and participated in the Maternity & Midwifery Hour online meetings, including the sessions on Continuity of Carer. You can read more about this series of meetings here^[14].
• We viewed the Royal Society of Medicine: The OASI Care Bundle^[15] conference.
• We attended the ARM Conference 2021: Is Normal Birth Radical? ^[16]

What we have been reading:

• The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) report on intrapartum stillbirths during the pandemic.^[17]
• The latest MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report.^[18]
• The NHS Pay Review Body’s annual report, published in July.^[19]
• The new planning, implementation and monitoring guidance for the roll out of the Continuity of Carer model of care (relational care) at full-scale, published by NHS England in October.^[20]
• Dr Lisa Common's summary of the current midwifery workforce crisis.^[21]

What we have been watching:

• The new feature-length Birth Time documentary film.^[22]
• Two new stunning short films which are available to view on YouTube: The Physiology of Childbirth^[23] and Respectful Maternity Care - Know Your Rights^[24] – The White Ribbon Alliance. Please watch them – we’re sure you’ll want to share them.

Thanks to all the AIMS Campaigns volunteers who have made all this work possible. We are very keen to expand our campaigns team work, so please do get in touch with campaigns@aims.org.uk if you’d like to help!