Pregnant Together success in Yeovil

A GROUP of mums - including Juliet Sturgess (pictured here with baby daughter Rebecca) - are celebrating the success of an innovative antenatal group which was set up by midwives at Yeovil District Hospital.

The pilot project, called ‘Pregnant Together’, was such a hit that midwives are now planning to offer it to more mums.

The project transformed the antenatal care provided to a group of nine women from the Yeovil area in South Somerset. Instead of having one-to-one antenatal check-ups with their midwife they were invited to attend two-hour long group sessions where they not only had their health checks but were involved with discussions and debates with other mums-to-be with the support of two midwives and a student midwife.

One of the mums on the group was Juliet Sturgess who is now kept busy caring for baby Rebecca.

Juliet said: “Early on in my pregnancy my midwife contacted me and offered me a chance to join a group of eight other women who were expecting their babies at the same time as me.

''I thought it was a great idea and we had the opportunity to share all sorts of ideas from maternity clothes to birthing plans. It allowed us to have quality time with the midwives and we learned so much from the questions which everyone asked.

''I felt so much more confident in my pregnancy knowing that the others were experiencing similar issues. We are now a ready-made support group – we even chat on Facebook in the middle of the night when we are up feeding.

“One of the babies arrived six weeks early and he joined the group towards the end. It made us realise that all the months of pregnancy were worth it! Now we have all had our babies, there were two boys and seven girls, we are joining baby groups together and I expect our friendships will continue for many years during our child’s development.

“The group was perfect for me, so much better than having my checks in isolation. I would certainly recommend it to mums-to-be.”

 

Midwifery clinical leader, Sara Stride, said: “Midwife, Nicki Crouch had heard about a similar scheme, which originated in America, which was being run at King’s CollegeHospital in London and suggested we do the same in Yeovil.

''We visited the midwives in London, thought it was a great idea and decided to implement it at Yeovil District Hospital as a pilot project.

''As it has been so successful we have been given the go-ahead to offer it to a new group of mums and, as far as I am aware, we are the only hospital outside London to be offering this.

“Pregnant Together increases choice for mums-to-be, offers continuity of midwifery care with the same two midwives, provides peer support both antenatally and postnatally and increases satisfaction with the level of care we provide from the Women’s Health and Maternity Unit.”

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