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Heartbeat: Focused maternity care for vulnerable women

September 10, 2021

A new team of midwives looking after the most vulnerable pregnant women in the Trust’s area has been formed.

The Phoenix team will care for pregnant women who have mental health needs, have a history of substance and alcohol abuse, have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and those who fall under the young parents category.

Elizabeth Kellie, from the team, said: “We already have midwives leading in these areas, and it was decided to put us all under one umbrella, to form a team so that we are able to deliver a better and more improved service.”

Elizabeth will look after women with mental health needs along with Olive Downer. Alison Byrne will continue in her role as FGM lead midwife, whilst Angela Arnold will care for women with substance and/or alcohol abuse. Fiona Rochelle,

Ashley Pederson-Gosling and Lyndsey Hemsley will continue working with young parents and Gail Fearnsides will support the team from an administrative point of view. The matron for the team is Shelly Colley.

Each have their own specialties and referrals will be direct to the specialty.

Elizabeth added: “Each of us have a different pathway in how our patients are treated and we will continue to follow that. In regard to the specialist mental health service we work closely with the perinatal mental health teams across the city, which is part of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust.

“We have future plans to develop the team as we recognise that there are vulnerabilities that our team do not cover at the moment, for instance refugees, women with learning disabilities and those experiencing domestic abuse. It’s important that we are able to reach them and care for them in a way which improves the quality of their lives.”

The team’s mission statement is: “We will value and empower women to blossom during their pregnancy so that their families flourish, creating a happy healthy future.”