Maternity care programme receives £1.7m funding

By Hollie Ewers on 03 December 2018 Each Baby Counts RCM RCOG - Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Maternity Services

The Department of Health and Social Care is supporting and funding a new programme by the RCM and RCOG to improve the care of mothers and babies.

The programme ‘Each Baby Counts: Learn and Support’ is a three-year partnership between the between the two colleges that will work with a number of local maternity units to support multiprofessional learning and clinical leadership, improve joint working and drive innovation from within the NHS.

The programme will build on the learning from previous collaborative initiatives to improve maternity safety, such as the Labour Ward Leaders and Each Baby Counts programmes.

The latest report from the Each Baby Counts clinical improvement programme, published on 13 November, shows that multiple contributory factors were behind poor outcomes in care for mothers and babies. 

The Each Baby Counts: Learn and Support programme is the next step in learning for maternity care and will take forward recommendations to support making the UK the safest place to give birth.

RCM chief executive Gill Walton said: ‘The RCM is pleased to be part of this exciting new programme. I believe that together we can build on the trust and buy-in we already have from frontline clinical staff for initiatives by providing them with the support they need to translate lessons learned into improvements in everyday care.’

Minister for health Jackie Doyle-Price said: ‘We want to make the NHS one of the safest places in the world to give birth by halving rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and brain injuries by 2025. We have already made excellent progress on this ambition but there is more to do, so I am delighted the department can fund this vital work that will support learning and improve best practice in maternity care right across the NHS.’