As we approach the fifth year of our programme, our collective aim to make maternity care personal and safe for women and their babies, is becoming more of a reality.  However, whilst much has been done, there is still so much more to do and, through the Long Term Plan commitments, we can ensure Better Births is here to stay.

This year we are focusing on the interconnecting themes of Safety, including reducing the impact of health inequalities, and Choice and Personalisation.

There will be a range of workshops running designed to support us in this endeavour, each of which will focus on hearing your stories, and providing you with practical suggestions to support local improvement.  The workshops will be co-hosted by service user voice representatives as part of our on-going commitment to women and families.

The workshops we are running are:

1. Continuity of Carer – Achieving Equity in Health Outcomes for Mothers and Babies, led by Prof Jacqueline Dunkley Bent OBE, Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England and Improvement
2. Digital – Ditch the Burden; Get Digital, Get Outcomes, Get Time Back to Care
3. Choice and Personalisation – Embedding Choice and Personalisation locally, led by the Choice and Personalisation Team
4. Safety and Prevention – Preventing Risks and Promoting Safer Maternity Care in Women with Health Inequalities
5. Post-natal Care
6. Neo-natal Care – Implementing the Neonatal Critical Care Review – Insights from the Front Line
7. Change Management – Making Change Happen and Staying Safe, led by Phil Duncan, Head of Patient Safety and Improvement,  Maternity Neonatal Service Improvement Programme.

We have also published Better Births Four Years On: A review of progress.