Pictured at the recent Royal College of Midwives Awards held in London where the Northern Health and Social Care Trust received the Partnership Working award are left – right, Gill Walton, RCM CEO, Sophie Russell, RCM President, Abbie Aplin, Director of Maternity Reform at the RCM, Debbie Pinkerton, Paula Morrison and Shona Hamilton from the Northern Trust’s Nurture Clinic and presenter Andrea McLean.
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust’s Nurture Clinic based in Antrim has won a prestigious award for its collaborative approach to helping new mothers who are experiencing drug and alcohol misuse.
The Partnership Working Award was presented to the clinic team at the recent Royal College of Midwives (RCM) awards ceremony in London.
The award recognises a midwifery or maternity team that demonstrates dynamism, commitment and enthusiasm, and high levels of excellent inter-professional partnership with others.
Offering her congratulations, Caroline Diamond, the Trust’s Assistant Director for Women’s Health and Head of Midwifery said:
“We are extremely proud of Paula, Debbie and the entire team, who have worked collectively across specialties to establish the innovative Nurture Clinic. It offers much needed continuity and compassion as part of a supportive addictions care pathway.
“I would echo the judges’ comments in commending its success so far, with its ‘think family’ approach, an understanding that addiction is not a choice, how the past continues to have an impact, and that the cycle can be broken.”
Recognising that screening for drugs and alcohol during early pregnancy required a higher level of expertise, the clinic team collaborated with the Trust addictions team who also provide inpatient care for women experiencing detox and withdrawal during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
An addictions pathway was established, involving obstetrics, midwifery, the addictions team, inpatient addiction services, paediatrics, various safeguarding practitioners, pharmacy and anaesthetics.
While this initial pathway was successful, 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, 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 from 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.”