By Chloe Mendum
Midwifery encompasses a variety of different duties and roles, but in the end we all share the same end goal – to practice compassionately and safely (or so I thought).
I have been a qualified midwife for over 8 years now and have branched out into the world of Midwifery Governance. My expertise lies with patient safety and, as much as I never thought about it, it appears to be my true calling. I know initially it can sound quite boring and often people will ask me ‘so, what do you do then, just fill in datixes (if you know, you know!)? Or a jovial ‘you’re not a real midwife then’. I find myself sometimes stepping back and having to justify why I went into this role, rather than providing your typical face to face clinical care.
Midwifery Governance is a framework which supports accountability for the continuous improvement and quality of the services we provide, whilst keeping patient safety at the core. It ensures Midwifery practice is effective and safe by incorporating different processes to minimise risks and supporting staff in achieving this.
Unfortunately, Midwifery Governance anecdotally has been given a bad name. It is seen as an organisational structure that penalises and reprimands, rather than supporting professional development and improvements to service. However, within the current Midwifery climate we all know this is a National issue and not just in siloh. Systemic understaffing, poor workplace
cultures and lack of accountability has put our Midwifery service in a position of peril and unpredictability. No one goes through the hardship of healthcare training to then purposely cause harm to families, we are all human beings capable of mistakes and this is my internal driving force. This is why I chose to specialise in maternity patient safety.
Making mistakes is not a design flaw, but a way in which we continuously learn and build resilience. When developing new processes and policies, human ergonomics and factors must sit at the center. Our processes and policies should cater to our environment and capabilities, not the other way round so then shortcuts or workarounds are created, which increases the risk of mistakes. Our processes and policies should include staff involvement, from all levels, to ensure all variations are considered from those who have the clinical expertise. Our processes and policies should empower a culture of continuous learning and not filter down to blame.
And this is where my role comes in.
I analyse safety incidents and use my own expertise to consider the potential gaps in practice. I advocate for families and the wider Midwifery team to consider all perspectives. I empower change and collaborate with the wider governance team to try and prevent reoccurrence and educate staff. I will liaise with families to ensure there is openness and transparency so no one is left with the ‘what ifs’.
But in order to achieve this, the whole maternity team needs to be on board.
Midwifery Governance is not a ‘them’ and ‘us’. It really is a team effort. In order to really make sustainable changes and improve outcomes we need to change the narrative and empower everybody to be a part of the bigger picture – providing compassionate and safe care to all the families that walk through our doors.
Cloe is a patient safety midwife who has a passion for turning learning into meaningful change and keeping families and colleagues at the heart of it all.
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