Equality and Diversity

Following a review of maternity data and outcomes for women and birthing people in our communities, we identified some actions to improve equity of outcomes for women and birthing people and babies from:

• Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups/global majority
• People with protected characteristics
• Those living in the most economically deprived areas.

We also identified the need to improve race equality for staff. The action plan can be downloaded below. We regularly review and update our strategies across BSW to ensure we are improving outcomes for our local population.

Equity and Equality Action Plan - Maternity

What work are we currently doing across BSW?

• Within our Local Maternity and Neonatal System, we have a dedicated Equity and Equality Steering Group which ensures that we are transforming services in line with the Maternity and Neonatal 3 Year Plan and improving outcomes across BSW for women and birthing people
• In 2023, we commissioned Anti Racism training with Representation Matters and BCohCo for approximately 600 maternity staff across BSW
• Anti Racism training is now a compulsory requirement for all staff within maternity providers across BSW
• We have paired up with Black Maternity Matters/Health Innovation West of England to encourage midwifery staff across BSW to attend training to become Black Maternity Matters champions
• As part of the Black Maternity Matters programme, staff participating in the programme have undertaken quality improvement projects improving outcomes for black women and birthing people.
• We are currently working with Changing Suits in the Swindon area to reach and improve services for women, birthing people and families from South Asian Communities
• Co-production with individuals who have previously been in the care system and young parents via our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership
• Work with our infant feeding specialist teams to improve breastfeeding rates and provide education about infant feeding whilst ensuring our maternity services are compliant with Baby Friendly Initiative
• We developed a team dedicated infant feeding peer supporters to support women to breastfeed 
• Promoting and Improving access to the Healthy Start Scheme
• Work with Julian House and co-production with service users from boating communities, to improve pathways, experience and access to maternity services
• In the future, we aim to improve pathways via co-production with Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Polish communities. If you are part of these communities and would like to get involved, please contact our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership
• Baby Steps who offer a targeted approach to Antenatal Education
• Reviewing digital and physical access to our maternity services to ensure our services are accessible to all, including individuals who have disabilities and long term health conditions
• Improving data collection processes to ensure better understanding of local population needs
• Employing more individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds to reflect our local population
• We aim to ensure all care is personalised and to support this, we have created the my maternity choices resource to support women and birthing people with informed decision making
• We continue to work towards a continuity of carer model whereby women are seen by the same team of maternity staff throughout their pregnancy journey, where possible
• Where possible, we have been able to support families within Bridging hotels via our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership
• We continue to develop a pool of resources in a range of various languages and formats, including our hello baby videos
• We are currently working on procuring a resource to help with translation
• We continue to commission a maternal mental health service(s) and pelvic health services
• We have been one of the first systems to pilot a Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocate role for individuals impacted by adverse outcomes
• We work alongside family hubs, health visiting teams and public health partners in Swindon, Wiltshire and BaNES to ensure care is provided close to home
• We continue to commission DadPad which is a free resource for Dads and Partners
• We continue to work towards smoke free pregnancy initiatives to improve outcomes for babies across BSW