Maternity safety champions

Every time I am asked to explain the role of the maternity safety champion, I think about how healthcare policy is translated into action and how it influences the practical, day-to-day operations of maternity care. I also reflect on how new roles are developed and deployed. A guide to support maternity safety champions (NHS Improvement, 2018) outlines key actions, which should increase awareness and knowledge of the role and assist with the consistent deployment of the role across the maternity system. However, to understand the development and implementation of this important role and its effect, evaluation is required.

This is a relatively new role in the NHS in England. It was developed to help improve the safety of maternity care alongside the Maternity Transformation Programme, which aims to drive improvement in maternity services.

The Safer Maternity Care action plan (Department of Health and Social Care, 2017) set out to make maternity care in England the safest in the world, and describes the actions needed to halve the rates of stillbirths, maternal and neonatal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth, by 2025.