Expectant mothers will receive safer maternity care as a new NHS programme to help prevent brain injury during childbirth is rolled out across the country.
The Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme will help maternity staff to better identify signs that the baby is in distress during labour so they can act quickly. It will also help staff respond more effectively to obstetric emergencies, such as where the baby’s head becomes lodged deep in the mother’s pelvis during a caesarean birth.
The government programme, which will begin from September and follows an extensive development phase and pilot scheme, aims to reduce the number of avoidable brain injuries during childbirth – helping to prevent lifelong conditions like cerebral palsy.
The national rollout is only one step the government is taking to improve maternity services under its Plan for Change to fix the health service, as it reforms the NHS to ensure all women receive safe, personalised and compassionate care.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "All expectant mothers giving birth in an NHS hospital should have peace of mind that they are in safe hands. This vital programme will give staff across the country the right tools and training to deliver better care to women and their babies, reducing the devastating impact of avoidable brain injury.
"Under our Plan for Change, we are supporting trusts to make rapid improvements and training thousands more midwives – but I know more needs to be done. We will put women’s voices right at the heart of our reforms as we work to improve care."
The national rollout follows a pilot in 12 maternity units that was launched in October and delivered by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the THIS (The Healthcare Improvement Studies) Institute.
The pilot has shown the programme will fill an important gap in current training by bringing multidisciplinary teams together to work more collaboratively than ever before, to improve outcomes. The programme will give clinicians more confidence to take swift action managing an emergency during labour.
It is expected to reduce unacceptable inequalities in maternity outcomes across England – so that most maternity units achieve outcomes comparable to the highest-performing 20% of trusts.
Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: "The ABC programme supports multidisciplinary maternity teams to deliver safer, more personalised care. Hundreds of maternity staff, including obstetricians, midwives and anaesthetists, have been involved in developing and testing this quality improvement programme. We have heard what a difference it makes, supporting teams to work effectively together in time-sensitive and high-pressure situations. The RCOG is extremely proud to have been part of this fantastic collaboration."
