Sheffield maternity care above national average in some areas with mum "empowered to give birth how she hoped"

Jessop Wing, providing maternity care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, has scored above the national average and better than their previous score in a number of areas.

One new mum noted that she had been "empowered to give birth in the way [she] had hoped".

The National Maternity Survey 2023 shows patients felt they were treated with respect and dignity (9.3 out of 10), had confident and trust in staff (8.7 out of 10), and felt involved in decisions about their care (8.6 out of 10).

All these ratings showed an increase from the 2022 results, although some categories, such as patients feeling as though they have enough information about induction, were lower than the national average.

Ana Javornik from Crookes, Sheffield, gave birth to her baby boy Max in August 2023.

Ana, aged 39, said: "Thanks to the care and encouragement from my midwives, I was empowered to give birth in the way I had hoped.

"Once I was admitted and my contractions began to ramp up, I was really happy to be taken to the birthing pool room with my supportive midwives, Vicky Wilkins and Yisha Jackson.

"They were really positive and encouraged me to breathe through the contractions and reassured me that I was on the right track. I was given small amounts of pain relief as I requested which helped alongside the relief from the pool.

"As this was my first birth it was great to have midwives that really gave me the confidence to keep going all whilst making sure that my husband was fully included in the process.

"This made it feel like we were a team and even though Vicky’s shift was coming to an end, when she saw I was very close to delivery she continued for an extra 40 minutes to see Max come into the world rather than change midwives at the last minute."

Ana said that when Max was placed on her chest, immediately after he was born, it was the "most beautiful moment of her life".

Max is now five months old, and "thriving.

Laura Rumsey, Midwifery Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It’s fantastic to see lots of areas of good practice highlighted in in the survey in the same year Jessop Wing’s CQC rating has improved following inspection.

"It was particularly great to see that nearly every person surveyed agreed that they were treated with kindness and compassion which we strive to ensure happens every time.”

“We recognise there are some areas in which we would like to score better such as patients feeling as though they have enough information about induction in which we scored lower than the national average.

"We have recently launched a new website which has a full section on induction and many other areas of maternity care which we will be signposting women to from the start of their pregnancy."

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