Rochdale midwives celebrate double awards success

(from the left) Fay Wanless (group leader), Ann Keen MP (health minister), Johura Bibi (ethnic health worker), Emily Thornberry MP (chair of the APPGM) and Luba Smith (community midwife).

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Two maternity projects involving Rochdale midwives have beaten competition from across the country to scoop prestigious awards for innovation.

They were the only NHS staff from the North-West to be “highly commended” at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity (APPGM) summer reception attended by nearly 200 politicians, leading health professionals and user representatives from maternity services across the UK.

The first award, in the category of “Developing inclusive services for disadvantaged groups and communities”, was for bringing together ante-natal services at Newbold children’s centre in Rochdale.

At the Newbold centre, community midwives Fay Wanless, Luba Smith, Sue Hobson, Shahana Khalid, Mary Davies and Irene Stott work closely with an ethnic health worker, Johura Bibi, to provide tailored care to women from minority ethnic groups.

Eileen Stringer, Pennine Acute Trust’s Consultant Midwife in Public Health who nominated the project, said: “By moving the clinics into a centrally-located children’s centre, the midwives and the ethnic health worker can reach more women and can direct them to the many different services and activities on offer at the centre. We can spend longer with women and offer them more advice – not just for their antenatal care but also additional help such as breastfeeding advice, information on the benefits of a smoke-free home and parent education - and can do so in a mother’s first language.

“We have worked very closely with the NRF project, the local authority, primary care trust, GPs and the children’s centre managers on this project. It has been really well received by the women, and I’m delighted that it has won national recognition.”

The Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, was also highly-commended in the category of “Responsive, woman-centred, family-focussed postnatal care” for the production of a light-hearted book that challenges the myths of breastfeeding.

Written by the Trust’s infant-feeding co-ordinator, Val Finigan, “Saggy Boobs and other Breastfeeding Myths” is a cartoon-style book which tries to separates fact from fiction.

Val said: “Health minister Ann Keen was so impressed that she wants us to contact her to discuss having the hand-embroidered pictures and copies of the book displayed in the House of Commons to enable other ministers to see how Trusts can be innovative in providing information for mothers in a fun and reader-friendly way.”