October Newsletter
Welcome to the First Edition of Southern Maternity - news you can use about providing the best maternity care for the women, babies and families of the Southern District. This newsletter is an initiative of Southern's Maternity Quality and Safety Programme and is aimed at promoting best practice, communication and collaboration within the maternity sector. Please contact Heather LaDell, MQSP Coordinator, with queries, if you have maternity news to share or if you wish to unsubscribe to this newsletter: heather.ladell@southerndhb.govt.nz.
Our Maternity Service
Our publicly funded maternity system is made up many different providers and services that work together to provide the best care possible to every woman and baby in the Southern district. We celebrate the good news that outcomes for women and babies are improving, as evidenced by the Perinatal and Maternity Morbidity Review Commission’s recent report (see below).
Midwives in the community and in our maternity facilities work in partnership with obstetricians, paediatricians, GPs, nurses, social workers and many others to meet the full range of care for families. We would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the individuals who work together to provide excellent care night and day for Southern families.
Thank You
Marion Poore, Medical Director, Women's Children's and Public Health Directorate
Chair, MQSP Governance Group
Heather LaDell, Coordinator, MQSP
Maternity Quality webpage launched
The new Maternity Quality webpage is now live on the Southern DHB website and has links to maternity-related resources as well as community-based maternity providers.
The launch of the Maternity Quality webpage is part of the Southern Maternity Quality and Safety Programme. The webpage has links to Southern's Maternity Report 2015, an overview of maternity services and outcomes across the District, as well as national maternity-related publications such as the most recent reports of the National Maternity Monitoring Group and the Perinatal and Maternity Morbidity and Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC).
The MQSP is focused on improving maternity outcomes for women and babies, improving communication and collaboration among all maternity providers, and linking consumers in to the improvement of maternity services so that maternity care fits with the needs and wants of the community.
The MQSP Governance Group is made up of DHB and community-based maternity providers from across the District, as well as three consumer representatives. The Group meets monthly to review progress toward improving maternity outcomes.
New District-wide Smoking Cessation Programme
Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is pleased to advise the free Southern Stop Smoking Service is up and running across the region with seven mobile coaches operating across the Southern region.
The Challenge: Maternity Clinical Indicator 16: Maternal tobacco use during postnatal period -- Southern rate 15.1%, above national average of 12.8% and rising, Southland’s rate 17.8%
The Opportunity: Helping women to stop smoking in early pregnancy will reduce preterm births, babies born small for gestational age, placental abruption, and SUDI.
Take Action: Screen all women and families for smoking status and help them to access the Southern Stop Smoking Service. Anyone can self-refer for support to be smokefree.
Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust's free Southern Stop Smoking Service offers community group clinics and one-on-one support with seven mobile coaches operating across the Southern region. They also provide free nicotine replacement therapy resources to support the journey to become smoke-free.
How to refer:
Phone: (03) 214 5260
Free Phone: 0800 925 242
Email: admin@stopsmoking.nz
OR
Refer online at Kai Tahu Online Referrals
Supporting women facing severe mental illness
The Challenge: Maternal suicide is the leading cause of maternal mortality (PMMRC 10th Report, 2016). Pregnancy and the postpartum period are not protective against mental illness, and can be a trigger for onset and for deterioration of mental illness.
The Opportunity: Recognizing signs of serious mental illness and exacerbating factors such as alcohol and other substance abuse, exposure to family violence, and relationship stress, will allow the practitioner to identify and urgently refer women at high risk.
Take Action: All professionals caring for a woman in the perinatal period, including pregnancy loss or termination, should consider the woman’s mental health status and history, as well as vulnerability factors, and access mental health services as required. Women who have a history of severe mental illness should be referred to a secondary mental health service even if currently well, as their risk of relapse in the postpartum period may be high.
Resources for Clinicians:
WellSouth
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale can be used antenatally or postnatally
Otago: Psychiatric Liaison Nurse
Southland Mental Health Nurses: Yvonne Alderson and Kathy Corcoran
Increased participation in Maternity Morbidity & Mortality (M&M) meetings
We encourage maternity providers to routinely participate in the multidisciplinary formal case review process that occurs at Queen Mary (Dunedin) on the first Tuesday of every month from 12:40 pm – 1:40 pm, and at Southland Hospital (Invercargill) on the first Friday of every month at 8:30 am.
These meetings are part of the Perinatal and Maternal Morbidity Review process, and cases are reviewed according to set criteria. Details of the cases are anonymised and the purpose of the meetings is to identify modifiable factors to improve our care and systems. Meetings are confidential and a protected activity.
If you are not able to attend in person, we encourage you to participate via VideoConference (VC). VC Hubs are available at Gore Health, Dunstan Hospital and Lakes District Hospital. Individual maternity practitioners or practices can also gain VC access from their private computers through WellSouth's VC platform by contacting Christian.Schonwald@wellsouth.org.nz Please notify the meeting coordinator prior to linking in by VC.
The PMMR representative for Southland is Mel McTainsh, and PMMRC representatives for Otago are Sheridan Massey, Tracey Morris, and Jana Morgan.
