A brand new initiative which plans to give pregnant women access to a virtual budget to improve and personalise their maternity care goes live this week.
Maternity providers within Birmingham and Solihull have today (18 January) announced their plans to continue working together towards the implementation of Personalised Maternity Care Budgets (PMCBs) for all expectant mums, with women able to choose from both new and existing maternity services by April 2018.
Whilst women will not receive any money directly, the idea is to create greater choice, control and input into what elements of additional care they wish their personal budget to be spent on. How that money is spent will depend on clinical expertise, as well as a woman’s own personal knowledge of her pregnancy to determine what she would like in relation to antenatal care, place of birth and postnatal care.
The initiative is being driven by Birmingham and Solihull United Maternity and Newborn Partnership (Bump) as part of the National Maternity Review: Better Births, which includes 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.
Bump will revolutionise maternity and newborn services in the region over the next few years by creating a single point of access for all expectant mums to access the same range of services available from home births and hypno-birthing, to birthing centres and delivery suites.
The choices that they make as part of their PMCB will ensure they have the pathway that is right for them and will also help to inform which maternity providers will provide the care they need/want based on their individual care plan.
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.”
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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