What have we been up to so far this year?

So far this year the committee and user reps have been busy…

• In January a few of the user reps shared their work on a birth environment audit of Tunbridge Wells Hosptial
• Also in our January meeting, feedback from women attending the Tunbridge Wells Baby Cafe was shared and discussed.
• In February Hannah attended a discussion at Kent County Council regarding the changes to infant feeding support.
• Also in February the core group of user reps met up to discuss plans for 2018 and areas that we would like to focus on.
• In March some of the user reps spoke to women and their partners on the postnatal ward at Tunbridge Wells Hospital about their experiences of maternity care. This feedback was then collated and shared at the full committee meeting in April. In particular we were asking women about their experiences of decision making around place of birth, experience of contacting triage and early breastfeeding support (areas which had been highlighted from previous feedback)
• In May the Matron of Community and Birth Centre midwifery requested the MVP to collect feedback specifically on women’s decision making around choosing to give birth in a birth centre vs. hospital. An online survey was produced and posted on our Facebook page. The survey received 68 responses in a few days and the feedback was incredibly helpful and insightful.