A trial that allows fathers to spend the night on maternity wards to help out overstretched midwives has proven so successful, there are calls for it to be rolled out across the country. Under the scheme, new dads are able to sleep at their partner's bedside to help feed and bathe the baby, giving midwives more time to deal with other patients and allowing new mums to rest.
Popular approach
Professionals say adopting the scheme nationwide would help boost standards and improve maternity services that are struggling to cope with a rising birth rate. There is a shortage of almost 3,000 midwives, according to the Royal College of Midwives. And figures reported to the Nursing Midwifery Council show that more than 60 per cent of maternity units had to close their doors to women in labour last year because they were full.
Jacque Gerrard, director of the Royal College of Midwives, thinks the scheme improves care and could be cost effective, especially since almost half of the NHS negligence bill is accounted for by claims relating to poor maternity services.
"It's a very positive idea and helps dads feel included," she explains. "It allows midwives to focus on the technical side of things and to concentrate on good clinical care. In units that have tried this out, complaints have dropped dramatically."
Gerrard adds that she expects the practice to become more widespread, especially if the shortages continue. "We need the government to support and make sure there is funding for 5,000 midwives by 2012," she says. "At the moment, there are only around 2,000."
The three-month pilot of Partners Staying Overnight, was launched at the Princess Anne Wing of the Royal United Hospital in Bath in June. The scheme has subsequently received so much support that Wiltshire Maternity Services has decided to run it indefinitely.
Antenatal tutor, Noreen Hart from the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), says families seem to appreciate being given the opportunity to stay for the first night. "The feedback from families is that this has made a huge difference to the partner's involvement in their baby's first hours," she says.
Improving postnatal care
One dad who took part says: "All the staff were very helpful and accommodating. The opportunity to stay was ideal - it would have been so hard to be separated on our first night."
A report from the NCT, released at the beginning of the month, called on the NHS to improve postnatal care and recommended that "all postnatal care settings should be welcoming to fathers and other family members to allow them to spend time and provide support in caring for baby and mother". The NCT also pointed out that women and their partners appreciate services that provide this opportunity.
Gerrard says the only negative aspect of the scheme would be applying it to old-fashioned wards. "It wouldn't be appropriate because of bed space and the way the wards are laid out," she says.
A Department of Health spokesperson agrees that multi-bedded postnatal wards would not have facilities for partners to stay overnight, but adds: "We would always encourage fathers to be involved in the birth of their baby. It won't always be easy for local NHS organisations to provide accommodation to new fathers but we welcome this innovative approach."
