Early Bird Clinic helping to detect conditions in early pregnancy
A new community clinic, Early Bird Clinic, has been set up to reduce health inequalities for women and birthing people accessing Antenatal Screening and blood bookings at the beginning of their pregnancy.
The Early Bird Clinic has been set up as a pilot for six months across areas covered by the Edward Road Community team from our Women’s Hospital.
They are being hosted at a local GP surgery in Balsall Heath every Saturday to improve the accessibility of appointments for blood tests taken before 10 weeks pregnancy.
The clinics have seen more families attending appointments and have also led to early identification of sickle cell and thalassaemia carriers, an inherited blood disorder caused by genetic mutations.
Antenatal screening is a vital public health service and these blood tests can show whether you have a higher chance of inherited conditions and if you have infections like HIV, hepatitis B or syphilis.
Paige Lindup who is the Newborn Screening Lead heading up the Health Inequalities work within screening, said: “Timely antenatal screening is so important to find people who have a higher chance of health conditions. This means they can get earlier, potentially more effective treatment or make informed decisions about their health, as well as their pregnancy.
“We know that women and families from certain backgrounds are less likely to access these appointments before 10 weeks pregnancy, so it’s important to understand why and work to make the appointments more accessible.”
Currently 60 per cent of expectant parents who had blood tests after 10 weeks pregnancy were from ethnic minority backgrounds, with nearly 70 per cent being from the most deprived areas in Birmingham.
Alongside the Early Bird Clinics, new posters and leaflets have been created to signpost expectant parents to the ‘Screening Tests For You and Your Baby’ online leaflet that is available in multiple languages and easy‑read formats to reduce language and accessibility barriers.
Paige added: “Feedback so far has been positive across the community.
“We’re currently looking at developing a survey to gain feedback from the women attending the Early Bird Clinic to learn how we can improve the service further.
“Community teams from other areas in our hospital are also looking at ways to implement Early Bird Clinics in different areas in a sustainable way.”
The clinics were set up after the antenatal and newborn screening team were successful in gaining funding from NHS England and form part of the Trust’s Strategy looking to address healthcare inequalities faced by communities across Birmingham.