Bump goes live – Personalised Maternity Care Budgets for pregnant women in Birmingham and Solihull
Yesterday saw the launch of a new website: www.yourbump.nhs.uk
Bump is a new initiative which will change the way that maternity care is offered to women and families in Birmingham and Solihull.
It came about after last years National Maternity Review: Better Births.
Baroness Cumberlege who chaired the review stated:-
“Our vision for maternity services across England is for them to become safer, more personalised, kinder, professional and more family friendly; where every woman has access to information to enable her to make decisions about her care; and where she and her baby can access support that is centred around their individual needs and circumstances.”
The media very quickly picked up on the fact that the review talked about the possibility of PMCB’s (Personalised Maternity Care Budgets), which would enable women to have some choice around the kind of services they wanted to access during their pregnancy, birth and early postnatal period.
Shortly after the review was published in February 2016, CCG’s (Clinical Commissioning Groups) across the country were invited to apply to be involved in a pilot scheme to trial the personalisation budget, and Birmingham/Solihull were one of the 7 area’s that were chosen. We shared this exciting news last May in our blog:- Maternity Pilot – Personalisation Pioneers for Birmingham and Solihull.
Bump (Birmingham and Solihull United Maternity and Newborn Partnership) is the initiative which has been set up by the the CCG’s chosen, to provide women and their families who are to give birth within the Birmingham and Solihull area, greater choice, control and input into their maternity care during all 3 stages of their pregnancy journey.
Bump is a partnership which includes members from:- Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
All of this now means that expectant mums within the Birmingham/Solihull area, will be able to choose from both new and existing maternity services by April 2018. In discussion with their care provider, a personalised plan will be made to help support both the woman and her baby to access the right care pathway which will enable them to decide where to give birth depending on their own individual needs.
Whilst the women will not receive any money directly, they will have some input into what elements of additional care they wish their personal budget to be spent on, and we are hopeful that these will include complementary pregnancy therapies, antenatal classes and maybe even access to doula services to help prepare them for birth and beyond!
In an article released yesterday, Sarah-Jane Marsh, Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s Hospital and national Chair of the Maternity Transformation Programme, said:
“Birmingham and Solihull already has some outstanding maternity services, and thanks to project Bump, and the introduction of PMCBs, we will now be able to build further support around them, offering expectant mums more choice and control over where and how they give birth. Key to that is all our Bump midwives giving women the right information, at the right time, to help them make informed choices about the kind of birth they ideally want, and ultimately how their personalised budget is spent.”
“Maternity care is such a vital part of the NHS, not only ensuring women have the best birth possible, but also helping to nurture the bond between mother and baby, giving every child the opportunity to have the very best start in life.”
The article went on to say:- Each pioneer group piloting the PMCB scheme nationally will be addressing local priorities and needs. Bump will be gradually building their local approach to delivering maternity budgets over the next 12 months, working with women and families across Birmingham and Solihull to ensure they provide the right service for them.
If you are a mum, currently pregnant or considering having a baby and would like to engage with Bump to help develop their plans, including the introduction of PMCBs, please register your interest now at the new website www.yourbump.nhs.uk
For more information about Personal Maternity Care Budgets including some useful FAQs, visit: www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/mat-transformation/mat-pioneers/
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