New plans to encourage pregnant women in Wales to follow healthier lifestyles were announced today as part of a new strategy from the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government to improve maternity services.
Wales has the highest rates in the UK of expectant mothers who smoke or are obese.
The draft strategy says that healthy lifestyle options which positively impact on a woman and her family’s health will be actively promoted by all health professionals caring for expectant mothers. Health services, social services and voluntary organisations will play a more prominent role as well as the traditional midwife, the strategy says.
Gwenda said: ‘This draft strategy will lay out new policies to improve the health of expectant mothers and their families. I would urge all individuals and organisations with an interest in child and family health to respond to this consultation, as there is nothing more important than making children’s health better’.
The proposed measures, which are part of a new draft strategy being published today for consultation by the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government, are designed to deliver high quality, safe and sustainable maternity services. The draft strategy sets out plans to ensure that maternity services in Wales will:
- aim to be among the best anywhere in the world;
- place the needs of the mother and family at the centre of maternity care, including offering support for all new families;
- provide a range of high quality choices of care, from midwife to consultant-led services, in a range of settings that include home, hospital, or midwife-led birth centres;
- employ a highly trained workforce which is empowered to deliver; and,
- encourage a learning environment that supports research and development and use of the best evidence, with constant monitoring for quality and safety of provision.
The draft strategy, and details of how to respond to the consultation can be found here
No comments:
Post a Comment