Kernow Maternity Voices Partnership publish new report on people’s maternity journey in Cornwall

At KMVP we are passionate about listening to all families across Cornwall. We believe that to develop and implement safe and family centred maternity and neonatal services, we need to start with the voice of those who will use the services. This report is the end result of a lot of hard work and I want to thank everyone who has been involved, especially those families who have shared their experiences with us - It is always emotional to listen to someone share their story and we cannot exaggerate how much of a difference it makes. Your experiences have been shared with staff members from the ward to the Executive Board within Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and the local maternity and neonatal system, your voices have contributed to design, improvement and quality assurance of the services across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We are committed to ensuring all families are given evidence-based, accessible information, are encouraged to make informed decisions about their care that are respected, and able to access the support and kindness they need to have a safe and positive pregnancy, birth, and early parenting experience.

Firstly let me thank those who participated in this report. It highlights the high-quality care that the maternity services deliver here in Cornwall, and also brings to our attention some poor experiences that people have encountered on their maternity journey too. It is important that we hear and listen to your voices and act to make improvements. We always want to provide the highest possible standard of care and we commit to using your experiences as part of our ongoing training and education. The communities the services provide care for are at the centre of any work we do, and the local maternity and neonatal system are thankful to have such a strong MVP to support and challenge us to hear your voices.

This report gives an excellent insight into people's experience of their maternity journey over the last three years. Our dedicated, passionate and hardworking maternity teams always strive to provide the highest levels of care possible for people, however, we do recognise on occasion things don’t always go to plan which can result in very negative experiences. Thank you to Kernow Maternity Voices Partnership for sharing this feedback with us. We are committed to continuing our strong working relationship with KMVP to ensure our services provide safe care that is appropriate and accessible for our local communities.