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What does it take to build a change platform? A year ago I had no idea. #MatExp

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What does it take to build a change platform?
by Gill Phillips

If you had asked me this question a year ago, I would probably have said that I had no idea. And yet a year later, it seems that that is what we have done. On Friday we were absolutely delighted when Helen Bevan and team included #MatExp as one of the top change platforms in a global webinar.
MatExp - change platform


I was sitting last night contemplating this. Then serendipity struck when Jodi Brown, who had co-hosted the webinar with Helen, posted this tweet:


Jenny's bottle of matexp wineI think a big part of my philosophy is not to try to ‘bottle’ something that is a bit magic – other than in this wonderful #MatExp bottle distilled by Jenny Clarke. 😉 People want to feel part of growing something themselves rather than just taking on a formula dreamt up by others, however successful it may be. It always felt like a let-down on Blue Peter when they said “Here’s one I made earlier” and all the fun of discovery was removed.

Similarly, whilst it felt exciting to read a tweet the other day saying that our Whose Shoes? workshops should be ‘mandatory training’ for all, this goes directly against what I am desperate to achieve, which is to help people, users and healthcare professionals, devise and own their own solutions, working together as equals. It can never be a top-down approach.

Florence Wilcock wrote:
Florence Wilcock wrote:
“A very small pilot….!”

The #MatExp journey has been and continues to be extraordinary. Starting as a planned ‘very small pilot’, it has combined the energy of vibrant workshops with the speed and connectivity of intensive social media.

I started using the #MatExp hashtag back in about September 2014 and registered it with Symplur as a way of monitoring its reach. I had previously done this with #dementiachallengers, so knew this would be be important.

I am somewhat blown away by the fact that #MatExp now has over 144 million Twitter impressions.

It has created a virtuous circle. People tweet photos of the workshops, make positive comments about the experience and take real action. As other people see this and pick up the energy, they too want to get involved; as more people get involved, the workshops get even better. In the jargon ( I am not a fan of jargon) we ‘pull’ people in rather than telling them what they should do.


Bazaar - Helen BevanSome of the slides that Helen Bevan included really struck a chord with me.
I absolutely love the idea of comparing building a change platform to running a bazaar. You cannot see anyone in charge but no doubt someone somewhere has thought to get it started in the first place … and then perhaps would be in a lot of trouble if they tried to stop it!

A bazaar is such a colourful, vibrant and slightly chaotic image – it describes #MatExp perfectly.

As you may know, I am not one for a lot of rules. So here, in an unusual ‘tip of the hat’ to a popular formula, I decided to write a kind of ‘List of 10 things’ – the first 10 things came into my head rather than anything more scientific. The whole thing has been a fantastic team effort – the ‘core’ team from the project as originally envisaged made so much stronger by all the fabulous people who have stepped forward as leaders as the campaign has progressed. I have missed loads of things out, for which apologies, but there is masses of #MatExp stuff on the internet so it is pretty much all available to someone wanting to do their own research…

TEN (or perhaps a few more) THINGS…

#Matexp – Emotional Wellbeing – what do families really need?

by / #MatExp Actions, About MatExp, Baby Loss, Birth Trauma, Environment and Facilities, Feeding, Postnatal Care, Pregnancy Complications, The #MatExp Journey, Uncategorized / Comments Off on #Matexp – Emotional Wellbeing – what do families really need?

 Supporting families – Emotional Wellbeing

#Flamingjune is well under way and there has been so many wonderful conversations taking place on the Matexp facebook group. As part of this months campaign, ACTIONS to improve services have very much been at the forefront with everyone sharing ideas to make sure support given to families is the best it can be.

With this in mind one of the subjects discussed was Emotional Wellbeing. Many shared heartfelt stories, and personal experiences as well as ideas that would have made a difference them and their families.

Matexp asked;

  1. How much do you feel your pregnancy, birth and postnatal care affected your emotional wellbeing?
  2. How do you think we can help prepare women and their partners for the impact that birth and caring for a new baby has on emotional wellbeing ?
  3. What supported or helped you to protect your emotional wellbeing?
  4. What can be done to help health care professionals be able to support families better?

Many commented on how we often under estimate the impact having a new baby has on a family. It was said that ‘adapting from working life to being at home was overwhelming’, ‘that often dads are working long hours and need support too’ and having somewhere to go to talk to others and relax was vital. Emotional support was mentioned as being a “basic need” for families.

One comment noted that ‘real life’ parenting needs to be discussed at antenatal contacts. “We are bombarded with the prefect images of parenthood, I don’t think people are prepared for the realities of parenthood – being totally exhausted but this little person still needs feeding and there is no milk in the fridge so you cant even have a coffee to wake up you”.

Another commented’ ” professionals need to understand the stresses which parents face not just with the birth, but financial, logistical etc”. What suggestions were made that would help? “By looking through the eyes of the patient, and trying to see things from their point of view”. Yes walking in another’s shoes so to speak showing empathy, and understanding helps provide support that protects the emotional wellbeing of families.

Many voiced feeling left alone, isolated and ‘fending for themselves’ after the birth of their babies and how this impacted their emotional wellbeing. Many felt afraid to voice they were struggling with motherhood and kept it to themselves worrying they be dismissed or viewed as ‘failing’.

Others voiced how important good support from health visitors, peer support and support groups was to their emotional wellbeing and not just for mom but dads too. In fact is was mentioned how important it is to ask dads how they are doing too!

Again and again support was mentioned for birth trauma and loss of a baby. Things such as professional counselling to be available as standard and peer support on wards and units. As well as health professionals knowing where to signpost families for support including local charities and national organisations.

One comment read “the single biggest thing would have been to treat us respectfully”. Very sobering.

So what were some of the actions that came out of the discussion to help with emotional wellbeing?

  • Maternity units to have specially trained staff to care for those that have suffered birth trauma, loss or mental health issues.
  • To remember that care involves emotional support not just physical.
  • Peer support for families on wards and in NICU.
  • Specialist counselling services available as part of post-natal after care and on NICU unit so families do not have to leave their babies.
  • Antenatal support on ‘real life’ caring for a baby, as well as how to look after their emotional wellbeing.
  • After birth de-briefs for sharing of experiences both good and bad to help improve care given.
  • Remember that dads need support too.
  • Health professionals to be aware of support available to families so they can signpost.
  • For all staff supporting families to show kindness, compassion and empathy and provide care that is patient-centred meeting individual needs.
  • Most of all treat families with respect. “letting mums and dads know that being good is good enough – they don’t need to be perfect”.

Emotional wellbeing is important for families, by sharing experiences, listening and working together we can help improve the maternity experience for all.

There is beauty in giving to others

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Emma Jane Sasaru

@ESasaruNHS

 

 

 

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The #MatExp month of ACTION begins today. Why women everywhere need the Maternity Review Team to engage!

by / About MatExp, Continuity of Care, Informed Choice, Language, Maternity Review, The #MatExp Journey, Uncategorized / Comments Off on The #MatExp month of ACTION begins today. Why women everywhere need the Maternity Review Team to engage!

June is not going to be dull…! For me personally, this is a big week – I am looking forward to speaking at the NHS Confederation Annual Conference on Wednesday. The session I am involved in, chaired by Dr. Mark Newbold, is about urgent care of older people. The emphasis of my contribution is around prevention, holistic approaches and joined-up systems, ensuring that life is not over-medicalised – the simple things that make life worth living.


Mum, known on Twitter as @Gills_Mum, is extremely interested in my talk and threatening to write a blog of her own…

Preparing my presentation brings home yet again the parallels and key themes across all areas of my work. Hardly surprisingly really as we are all people; aspirations, hopes and fears and the desire to have control over our own lives do not suddenly change just because we get older.

FlamingJuneToday starts the month with a bang.

Our #MatExp campaign, to improve the maternity experience of women everywhere, goes up a gear.

For anyone who has been twiddling their thumbs and wondering what to do with themselves since the end of the #MatExp alphabet (yes, we know who you are!), you will be delighted to know that June is a month of action!

#MatExp #FlamingJune – we are just waiting for the weather to catch up … although perhaps it is just as well it is a bit cool outside or the energy burning in this remarkable grassroots campaign might just start some forest fires!

Sheena Byrom is an extraordinary woman. As her action for June, she is posting blogs from individuals who have information to offer to the new team set up to conduct a national review of maternity services in England, led by Baroness Julia Cumberlege. We all feel passionately that this new review team needs to engage with the action-focused, inclusive work of what has now become an unstoppable social movement for positive change.

And so it is a huge honour that Sheena invited Florence Wilcock and me, as the initiators of the #MatExp campaign, to write the opening blog and tell everyone what has been happening and why is it so important for these links to be made.

Sheena is publishing our blog today on her site. But for ease you can also read it below. We are all working together in a very strong collaboration and taking the view that the more different channels we can use to spread the word and involve more and more people, the better!

OUR GUEST BLOG FOR SHEENA BYROM IS REPRODUCED BELOW…

We would like to kick off Sheena’s June blogging series with a strong call for the Maternity Review Team to engage with our fabulous #MatExp grassroots community. We need to build on all the amazing work that has been happening over recent months through this passionate, inclusive group.

So what is #MatExp and how did it come about?

A lot has been written about this already – for example, Florence’s ‘in my shoes blog’.

Florence and Gill made this short video when, due to the phenomenal grassroots energy it had inspired, #MatExp was included as a major campaign in NHS Change Day, 2015.

300- 2 Graphic record from our #MatExp Whose Shoes? workshop, held at Kingston Hospital. New Possibilities are the graphic artists.[/caption]

Inevitably the themes are similar between the different sessions but with a strong local emphasis and most importantly local ownership, energy and leadership.

On Gill’s original blog there are LOADS of scrolling photos at this point showing #MatExp #Whose Shoes workshops and the wider campaign in action – take a look!

It would be easy for the NHS Change Day campaigns to lose momentum after the big day itself, (11 March). #MatExp has done the opposite, continuing to build and bring in new people and actions. #MatExp #now has 110 million Twitter impressions. We have just finished the ‘#MatExp daily alphabet’, a brilliantly simple idea to get people posting each day key issues related to the relevant letter of the alphabet.

This has directly led into the month of action starting today, 1 June!

Helen Calvert set up and ran a survey of health care professionals. She had 150 responses within about 10 days and analysed and reported the results – an extraordinary contribution.

We have a vibrant Facebook group (please apply to join – initiated by fab Helen Calvert @heartmummy) and the brand new website (LAUNCHED TODAY! – huge thanks in particular to Leigh Kendall @leighakendall) set up by the #MatExp team of mums who are incredibly focused, working long hours – all as volunteers. We are all absolutely determined to keep working together to improve maternity experience for women everywhere.

Gill Phillips and Florence Wilcock

There will be LOADS of ideas to help you…
So please get involved.

Share the Word About MatExp!