£3.4m in Midlands-based collaboration to support patient safety research for expectant mothers
We will be a key organisation taking part in the £3.4million Patient Safety Research Collaboration investment, provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), set to further support our patient safety procedures in maternal care for expectant mothers.
In partnership with University Hospitals Birmingham and the University of Birmingham, the research will be the first 
of its kind, focusing on the early identification of mothers at high risk of pregnancy complications, and how we can enhance and personalise our care to their specific condition from their very first visit with us.
The funding is set to empower expectant parents in their decision-making by accurately assessing their risk and the education of healthcare professionals. Our colleagues will be trained to keep families updated and informed to a greater level so that they can make decisions based on well-communicated facts and information. Risk-identifying will become a large part of patient safety at our Women’s Hospital so that we can ensure medical complexities are catered to in advance.
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam, Research Lead and Obstetric Consultant at our Women’s Hospital, and Co-Director of WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health at the University of Birmingham said, “One of the key priorities is identifying early in pregnancy those mothers who need the extra support and care.
“Maternal and perinatal mortality reports in the UK have highlighted that there are real issues when it comes to identifying and responding to risk. One of the key priorities is identifying early in pregnancy those mothers who need the extra support and care, thereby ensuring that women receive individualised care during pregnancy.”
Women from marginalised groups are to benefit from the research and execution of the NIHR funding as it has been proven that ethnic minorities are at greater risk of having poor pregnancy outcomes.
We aim to address the healthcare disparities and inequalities for women to ensure their pathways are smoother and refined to their medical needs. Acute care is set to be improved with the trialling of digital tools to support the decision-making processes of our clinicians when prescribing and managing the care of our perinatal women, sharing a full spectrum of information for clinicians to be informed.
With the funding, we will be improving our education and training for our colleagues, identifying how we can implement patient safety measures into day-to-day operations practically, and understanding how to better educate expectant mothers and families on their choices during pregnancy.
We’d like to say a big thank you to Professor Thangaratinam for speaking with us about the investments.