Connecting and supporting our maternity consumers

AMANDA HINKS  

Maternity Service Development Manager

LUISA SILAILAI  

Consumer Advisor

Gathering consumer voice and contributions to our quality improvement projects and activities continues to be a priority for Women’s Health. In particular, we use co-design as a methodology for putting consumers front and centre when designing our services, in recognition that consumers are the experts about their own health needs.

In March 2020, consumer advisor Luisa Silailai joined the Maternity Quality and Safety Governance Group (MQSGG), after previously collaborating with maternity services on a reducing alcohol harm project.

 Luisa Silailai and baby Elijah I was recently welcomed on board the Maternity Quality and Safety Governance Group as a Consumer Representative. On 11th December 2019, I gave birth to my first baby at Ngaa Hau Birthing Unit in Mangere. I am passionate about women having the information and support they need to make informed decisions about their care that meets their cultural needs. Being on the MQSGG, which includes the Maternity Quality and Safety Programme projects, has been a good opportunity to look at the processes in place, keep what’s working well and look for opportunities to continue to improve and ensure that women, their whaanau and community receive good quality care every time they interact with healthcare workers or services. Being on the group is a place that I can be heard, and bring forward experiences of pregnancy and birthing in Counties Manukau, including both the highs and learning opportunities. Pregnancy and giving birth are not conditions, and women and their whaanau are not ‘patients’. They are being supported by healthcare services and workers for a normal, and often celebrated, part of life, which should be reflected in clinical practice.

– Luisa Silailai, Consumer Advisor

Luisa has contributed to the governance group’s activity and work plan, providing influential insights into a woman’s pregnancy journey – from finding a midwife and deciding where to give birth, through to seeking support with breastfeeding and weaning baby onto solids.

Luisa has provided a consumer lens and equity focus over our pregnancy information, and by using her experience suggested some small changes to support improved outcomes and experiences for women. For example, she suggested a ‘top tips’ list that prioritises practical information for parents, such as when to contact your midwife, the benefits of wool-blend blankets rather than polyester; as well as a one-page guide for birth and the first six weeks with safe sleep messages, timeframes for Well Child services and a contact number for Healthline.

Luisa has highlighted how women value revisiting questions about their mental wellbeing and alcohol consumption during their pregnancy, as life circumstances can change as the pregnancy progresses. She has suggested that all Well Child providers should text women when the handover from midwife to the care provider takes place, so the woman is not left waiting to hear after her midwife has completed her care.

Luisa will soon be joined by Talya Wilson, a mother of five tamariki whose youngest was born in November 2020. Talya will bring not only a rich background form her own birthing experiences, but also a wealth of community connections from her work as a youth pastor in Manurewa.

In October 2020, we invited eight consumer advisors to a Women’s Health planning workshop (see photo below).

The workshop aimed to identify issues facing Women’s Health, as well as potential solutions, by bringing the consumers of our maternity services and our workforce together.

Particular workshop themes were the workforce, the Women’s Health building, and the future of primary birthing and facilities. To open the discussion, questions were posed about primary birthing, with the answers later placed into themes (See appendix 1). Themes that emerged focused on modernising the facilities, making the facilities familyfocussed (as having a baby is not viewed as a medical event for families), increasing access to breastfeeding and parenting skills support (such as help with settling baby). One of the themes a consumer advisor shared was how highly valued kindness and compassion are, when shown by staff and midwives during the maternity experience. It was felt too much or misplaced bureaucracy, and time pressures have a detrimental effect on kindness and compassion, and this can profoundly affect a woman’s and her whaanau’s encounter with our service.

 Consumer advisors, peepi and CM

Health staff at the planning workshop