The Lullaby Trust Chief Executive, Jenny Ward, yesterday stood as the oral witness to give evidence on behalf of 13 Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting organisations (PBPOs). She highlighted the significant impact of the decisions made about the management and delivery of maternity services during the pandemic, and the devastating impact this had on pregnant women, new parents, and their families.

The evidence is clear that throughout the pandemic, maternity services – including early pregnancy, antenatal, neonatal, and postnatal care – were consistently overlooked in critical healthcare decisions. 

The key themes that Jenny, on behalf of the 13 PBPOs, highlighted through the evidence included the fact that:  

  • Maternity services were overlooked in healthcare planning during the pandemic, leaving pregnant women and new parents, especially those facing complications, birth trauma, or loss, without adequate support.
  • In these unique settings, partners should not have been categorised as visitors and subject to the strict rules they were. Partners, often fathers, are a fundamental part of this journey, including scans, during and after the birth and in the neonatal unit.
  • Specific groups, including those with multiple pregnancies, neonatal admissions, or from ethnic minority backgrounds, had unique needs that were not considered and addressed adequately. 
  • Hospitals and healthcare providers struggled with unclear, frequently changing and delayed national guidance. This placed significant pressure on services and caused emotional distress for families. 
  • The traumatic experiences endured by pregnant women and new parents during this time continue to affect their mental health, with the long-term impact still uncertain. 
  • Post-natal services suffered immensely as health visitors and other health professionals were re-deployed in the early months of the pandemic to front line services, leaving families without anyone to support them. 
  • Charities filled the gaps left and supported families and professionals, providing vital services 

Charities Were There to Fill the Gaps

Many of The Lullaby Trust’s services work in partnership with the NHS and work incredibly closely with health visitors. Many health visitors were re-deployed to front-line services in the first wave of the pandemic, which inevitably had knock on effects towards the families they were supporting, particularly on our Care of Next Infant (CONI) Programme where those who have had a baby die get extra support and equipment.  

During evidence Jenny said “It was those health visitors who were trained in the CONI programme who called us immediately saying “there is nobody to look after my families, are you going to be there?” And we were. We [The Lullaby Trust] were there for families who needed us”.  

After the inquiry Jenny commented, ‘It is clear that we are still seeing the negative impact of reduced access to health professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic in our work on providing safer sleep education, bereavement support and in our role leading our CONI programme. We hope that our involvement in the inquiry can help lessons to be learned and shape policy in the future, with the families and professionals we support at its heart.” 

Supporting you 

We understand that reading about the pandemic and thinking about and sharing your experience of the death of a young baby or child may be difficult and bring up many complex emotions. If you require any support, please do get in touch with us. 

The Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting Organisations presented evidence collectively as part of Module 3 of the Inquiry, which is looking into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the 4 nations of the UK. 

The charities involved are Aching Arms, Baby Lifeline, Bliss, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, Group B Strep Support, ICP Support, The Lullaby Trust, The Miscarriage Association, National Childbirth Trust, Pelvic Partnership, Pregnancy Sickness Support, Tommy’s and Twins Trust.