Celebrating change: sharing 2022 successes
The MBB team (from left to right): Nikki Wilson, Trudi Webber, Sakina Ballard, Evelien Docherty, Emma Svanberg, Lauren Parr
Are you in need of a reminder that change IS happening as much as we are? Because times are tough right now (with a midwifery crisis, cost of living crisis and a war in Ukraine), and we are all feeling it. Our brains are naturally wired to linger in a more negative headspace. Particularly when we are stressed, tired or overwhelmed. We need constant reminders and reassurance to let go of negativity. So, at MBB HQ we have our minds set on getting these positive brain reminders out there. Together with the wonderful organisations in our network. We asked them: what are you most proud of? And collated all their brilliant stories for you here: to celebrate the change that most definitely is happening!
Kicking off this wave of positivity by sharing our own top 3 of achievements from the Make Birth Better team.
At Make Birth Better we are proud of…
The Monteith family are part of our first ever video
The impact of our training
We're ridiculously proud that we have trained 3256 maternity professionals this year. Warms our hearts if we consider the impact this has on trauma-informed care!
Our first MBB video
We’re beyond excited to share our very first Make Birth Better video with you! It explains why we exist. Listen to the heartfelt stories of Punam, David and Hannah who say it better than we could ever do. We’re so proud to have them onboard of our mission! A huge thanks to them for sharing their story and for the team at Dan & Lewis Films for capturing it so beautifully. You can watch the video here.
The support around our EDI&A work
This is a tribute and big shout-out to the Sheffield Maternity Cooperative, The Queer Birth Club and Kasey Robinson for their wisdom and support on our mission to be a truly inclusive organisation - within our team, our training and in our communications.
In the light of this, we are sharing the Wheel of Power (by Sylvia Duckworth) - because we believe it to be a powerful tool in driving change. Thanks to Benash Nazmeen of the Sheffield Maternity Cooperative for introducing it to us - it was such an eye opener!
Sylvia: “The Wheel of Power & Privilege can help us get a more intricate visualisation of what the term ‘marginalisation’ means. The further you are from power, the more ignored and unimportant you feel. However, as you try to place yourself in the different categories, notice how your level of power/marginalisation shifts between categories.”
One of our training attendees - Sam Morgan-Hutchings (Amma Birth Companions) - shared a powerful reflection: "No one who is giving birth is at the centre of this wheel." We'd encourage you to let these words sink in and reflect on them. Of course, we invite you to share what this brings up for you. Email us here.
Celebrating our Make Birth Better friends…
“We have launched a peer support phone service which enables us to reach out to those parents who prefer to talk about their experience rather than write it down”
Divina Johnson - Peer Supporter at BTA
This has been a year of growth for us at Birth Trauma Association UK (BTA). We’re most proud of having launched our peer support phone service. We already have a thriving email support service, but this enables us to reach out to those parents who prefer to talk about their experience rather than write it down. Any parent who would like to talk to a trained peer supporter who has experienced birth trauma can now phone 0203 621 6338.
At this same time, our very active Facebook group has grown from 11,500 a year ago to nearly 15,000 today, enabling even more parents to access support from other parents.
Finally, we’re also very proud of having created three videos to train health care professionals on birth trauma, which we’ll be launching in the new year. We hope that the videos will help health care professionals to have a better understanding of the impact a traumatic birth can have, as well as the measures they can take to prevent birth trauma from happening.
“With the launch Maternal Pituitary Support we are reducing the time to diagnosis (9 years in the UK at the moment!) and ensure better treatment and care for mothers with postpartum pituitary conditions”
Claire Barlow & Jenn Kenworthy, co-founders Maternal Pituitary Support
We are most proud of the fact that we launched Maternal Pituitary Support this year! Our not-for-profit organisation is run by two mothers with Sheehan’s Syndrome. We are a dedicated global support community for women with postpartum pituitary conditions.
We offer information about seeking diagnosis and getting diagnosed, right through to living with a pituitary condition whilst caring for a family.
There hasn’t been support for women affected by these rare conditions until now. This is significant as the time to diagnosis in developed countries is 9 years and in developing countries it is 20 years.
By raising awareness, we will reduce this time to diagnosis and ensure better treatment and care for mothers.
“We launched a co-produced perinatal mental health service for Muslim mums in Peterborough”
At a workshop from The Lantern Initiative
This has been a phenomenal year for us at The Lantern Initiative with the launch of our new co-produced perinatal mental health service for Muslim mums in Peterborough.
We feel incredibly proud of the partnership work we have carried out with CPSL Mind on this project and of the progress we have made in reaching local mums.
Our unique and tailor-made offer continues to be delivered within a faith and cultural sensitive framework, something we feel very passionate about and would like to extend into other areas of the country too!
“We’re creating spaces for dads to discuss mental health, and have even formed partnerships with Arsenal FC and Brentford FC to make this happen”
The MFF team at an Arsenal event
Music.Football.Fatherhood is home to the online community of fathers, and men looking to be fathers in the future, from the UK and beyond. We are a resource and a space where dads can be free to talk, listen and read about things that are important to us, such as work-life balance, mental health, relationships and of course music and football.
This has been a really amazing and progressive year for us. Our BBC documentary Becoming Dad, which is all about dad's mental health, was shown on BBC1 twice this year.
We have launched partnerships with Arsenal FC and Brentford FC where we create spaces for dads to discuss mental health.
Last, but by no means least, we launched the Working Dads Employer Awards that celebrate employers that are supporting fathers, especially new dads suffering from poor mental health.
Read more about the work Music.Football.Fatherhood do here.
“Birthrights is now driving forward anti-racist action across the maternity system”
Birthrights' year-long inquiry led to the publication of the report ‘Systemic Racism, Not Broken Bodies’
In May this year, Birthrights' year-long inquiry on racial injustice in maternity care culminated in the publication of the report Systemic Racism, Not Broken Bodies.
The report's publication, which has had almost 5,000 downloads since its publication, signalled a huge turning point for maternity care in the UK, setting out five key action points to create change in all areas of the maternity system.
Birthrights is now driving forward anti-racist action across the maternity system in phase 2 of their inquiry and working with key stakeholders to help improve birth experiences and outcomes for Black, Brown and mixed ethnicity women and birthing people.
Read or download the report here.
“We are thrilled to be launching our ThinkNatal Birth Trauma Training platform for health professionals early next year to support our vision for safer births and better healing”
Amy Dawes, ABTA CEO (middle) at a mental health wellbeing event
We, the team at Australasian Birth Trauma Association, are incredibly proud to have delivered 26 presentations to our key stakeholder groups including six major hospitals in New South Wales and Victoria (AUS).
We have reached over 4000 health professionals and in response to the increased requests for our training, we are thrilled to be launching our ThinkNatal Birth Trauma Training platform for health professionals early next year to support our vision for safer births and better healing.
Read more about our work on our website here.
“We rolled out our face-to-face support groups again and carried out an important survey examining women’s experiences of instrumental delivery, the results of which will be published in 2023”
The MASIC Foundation is the only multi-disciplinary UK charity to support women who have suffered severe injuries during childbirth known as OASI (Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries).
Manchester Support Group launch with MASIC CEO Chloe Oliver, Admin Co-ordinator Anna Clements and Support Group Lead Chantelle Sandham
Over the past year we have been proud to be engaged in activity which has supported our core aims of supporting women, challenging stigma and driving change. We were able to begin rolling out our face-to-face support groups again following Covid restrictions and launched a support group in Manchester, with plans to expand this network to London and the South East next year.
We also carried out an important survey examining women's experiences of instrumental delivery, the results of which will be published in 2023. This will be supported by press and social media activity, as well as informing our education and research activity next year.
We were also proud to host four fantastic educational webinars which can be accessed as a free resource for all via our website here.
“We’re particularly proud of the growth of our peer support programme, the creation of our Perinatal Services Team, and the new approach to our training delivery model”
Amma group of volunteers
Amma Birth Companions is a Glasgow charity that provides care information, and advocacy for birthing women and people facing barriers to support. We offer birth and postnatal companionship, along with antenatal education and peer support activities.
Amma has experienced significant growth over the past year. Both our staff and volunteer teams have expended, and we’re incredibly proud to have so many dedicated, knowledgeable, and compassionate people as part of our organisation.
We’re particularly proud of the growth of our peer support programme, the creation of our Perinatal Services Team, and the new approach to our training delivery model.
Read more about us here.
“We’re celebrating successful delivery of several leadership and wellbeing events for midwives and doctors”
December issue of The Practising Midwife Journal
At All4Maternity, we consider ourselves the ultimate resource for maternity workers, midwives, mothers and families. We provide online learning, sharing and caring for all.
The Practising Midwife is our monthly journal.
We’re celebrating successful delivery of several leadership and wellbeing events for midwives and doctors, launching @the_practising_midwife_aus in Australia, and supporting national recruitment projects.
Check out our online community space here.
… and celebrating our Make Birth Better Champions!
“After finding my own postnatal journey a little lonely and overwhelming at times, I set out to create change through words and deeds.”
A copy of Lyanne’s book
I am most proud of having my book Your Postnatal Body published this Autumn.
After finding my own postnatal journey a little lonely and overwhelming at times, I set out to create change through words and deeds.
I have done some postnatal care campaigning and now I have produced a book which, I hope, will be a helpful guide for mums as they navigate their new normal.
I’m immensely proud of this book - however, if I ever say I’m going to write another book - please have a stern word with me!
“I have set up a bereavement steering group, which is predominantly made up of bereaved families and communicate regularly with the team”
Hannah Horne
I am a Head of Midwifery & Gynaecology and in June 2022 my manager gave me a project to improve bereavement services within my organisation. I felt honoured, overwhelmed and privileged to lead and develop this precious and important service however, I knew that I could not do this alone therefore, from the beginning of the project 27 bereaved women/families worked with me to map bereavement services by bravely sharing their story and making recommendations.
In July, during bereaved parents' month, we held an away day in a beautiful hotel. During this day we used art therapy to support the families to share their stories, Hobbycraft donated art supplies after I wrote to them to share the work I was doing.
The families and staff who attended decorated pebbles, cross-stitched and made scrapbooks… seeing the art and my vision of collaborative boundary-less working was so humbling. This is a true co-produced and trauma-informed piece of work and is really led by the families - for families and staff. I have now set up a bereavement steering group, which is predominantly made up of bereaved families and communicate regularly with the team - I have ensured that all documents, guidelines, job descriptions, patient information etc are approved by the steering group prior to publication.
Being a Make Birth Better Champion and undertaking the amazing training gave me the skills to navigate this project whilst offering support to families and staff who have experienced loss.