>On Thursday 25th February I had the pleasure to speak at the Royal College of Midwives UK Welsh board conference.
The evening before the event was spent with a lovely dinner at The Park Plaza hotel http://www.parkplaza.com/cardiffuk
The venue for the event was the Swalec stadium http://www.swalecstadium.co.uk/
The programme began with an address by Chief Nursing Officer for Wales, Rosemary Kennedy http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/ocmo/professionals/officechiefnursing/?lang=en who spoke about Midwifery 2020 http://www.midwifery2020.org/ . This programme of work will look at maximising the midwifery contribution to improving the experience of women during their maternity care to meet the health and social care needs of a rapidly changing population and improve outcomes for mothers, babies and families.
We then heard from Dr Margaret Oates OBE NHS East Midlands Clinical Lead for Perinatal Psychiatry and Medical Director East Midlands. She spoke about the role of the midwife and importance of maternal mental health.
Eleanor Forrest (Midwifery Lecturer, Glasgow Caledonian University) then told us about the course they run on maternal mental health.
Alice Howard and Francesca Hopwood Road (Financial Capability Division, Financial Services Authority) spoke about their services and help for people with mental health problems http://www.fsa.gov.uk/financial_capability/our-work/partnership_development/mental_health.shtml
Kathryn Gutteridge, Consultant Midwife, Former RCM Council Member; current Chair of National Consultant Midwives Forum spoke passionately about her own experiences of motherhood and the Hope Clinic she is now running.
Victoria Vivilaki a Midwifery Lecturer from Athens, Greece spoke about the work she does.
Gail James, perinatal nurse and Francesca Fearn, occupational therapist, Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend discussed PRAMS – a Perinatal Response and Management Service project.
My favourite audiences tend to be midwives and I look forward to addressing more!
See the report of the day here:
http://www.rcm.org.uk/midwives/news/mental-health-tackled-at-st-davids-day-conference/
Elaine Hanzak