The Nurture Clinic at the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in Antrim has won a prestigious award from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) for its collaborative approach to helping new mothers who are experiencing drug and alcohol misuse.
The award is for a midwifery or maternity team that is able to demonstrate attributes of dynamism, commitment and enthusiasm, and high levels of excellent inter-professional partnership with others.
Within the Antrim region, it is estimated that around 40,000 children live with parents who have substance misuse issues. Approximately 40% of these children are on the Child Protection Register as a direct result of parental substance misuse.
The team at the Nurture Clinic realised that addressing some of these issues required a multi-disciplinary approach. Recognising and screening for drugs and alcohol during early pregnancy required a higher level of expertise than that held within the midwifery team so they collaborated with the Trust addictions team who also provided inpatient care for women experiencing detox and withdrawal during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
An addictions pathway was established by involving obstetrics, midwifery, the addictions team, inpatient addiction services, paediatrics, various safeguarding practitioners, pharmacy and anaesthetics. This initial pathway was successful but multiple appointments caused women to disengage so the specialist midwife and advanced addiction nurse practitioner established a joint clinic to provide continuity of care as well as liaison with all key health professionals.
The clinic now offers three sessions per week, enabling those who attend to not only benefit from physical and psychological support but also from monitoring for up to six weeks after having given birth.
At the awards ceremony in London on 18 October, the RCM’s Chief Executive, Gill Walton, said: “Women living with social complexities are vulnerable and often hesitant to engage with maternity services and beyond due to fears of subsequent involvement form social services. This clinic operates on the deeper understanding of how to act to improve outcomes through better understanding of these many and varied complexities.
“Feedback has shown that the partnership working approach reduces the sense of stigma and shame that a woman may experience, especially in relation to the fact that they do not have to re-tell their story repeatedly.
“The tag line ‘everyone wants to hold the baby, but who wants to hold the mum?’ succinctly captures the team’s underpinning motivation for extending the service so successfully.”
ENDS
To contact the RCM media office call 020 7312 3456 or email media@rcm.org.uk.
Notes to Editors
- For more information on the RCM awards visit here: https://www.rcmawards.com/
- Individual media releases on each winner or winning team available on request, email media@rcm.org.uk.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance, and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences, and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website www.rcm.org
