Members of the maternity team for South Warwickshire NHS have been thanked for their hard work and dedication by Princess Anne this weekend.

In 2020 South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust was awarded the prestigious 'Midwifery Service of the Year' prize in the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) annual awards.

Following this success, the trust's maternity team were invited to a private virtual event with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Patron of The Royal College of Midwives on Friday.

The trust was recognised for the work it has done to successfully implement a new model of care for women across South Warwickshire.The model focuses on providing continuity of care, which has made services safer and care more personalised to women and their families.

Following 'Better Births' recommendations in 2016, the trust listened to their staff, families and wider stakeholders as to what 'good' looked like in the local community.

Through ongoing co-design and partnership working the maternity team have achieved a safer, kinder, more personalised service. Maternity care is now provided by a small team of midwives; and women have a named midwife for all of their one-to-one appointments.

During the informal meeting HRH heard first-hand from the clinical team about how the new model has enabled women to build a strong relationship with their midwives before, during and after the birth of their babies.

Sarah Noble, head of midwifery at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, said: "It was such an honour to meet HRH and be given the opportunity to share with her the fantastic work our teams have done to enhance maternity care in south Warwickshire.

"I am so proud of the all the teams within our maternity services, their passion and enthusiasm for women and their families is inspiring. There is still work to do to enhance the new model of care further and we look forward to making more improvements."

Accompanying HRH The Princess Royal on the virtual visit was Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives. She said: "This is such a great honour for the team to get this visit.

"This is especially timely because of the efforts they and their NHS colleagues have made during the pandemic to ensure care remains safe and of high quality.

"They were able to showcase the wonderful work of the whole maternity team, and to reflect on their pandemic experiences with our Patron. This shone such a spotlight on the work they do and I know they were delighted to have shared their stories with Her Royal Highness."

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