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Maternity and Neonatal

The national Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement programme (MatNeo SIP) is delivered locally by Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley, led by our Maternity and Neonatal network made up of stakeholders across our system which marks its tenth anniversary in 2024. The programme aims to contribute to reducing the national rate of preterm births from 8% to 6% and reduce the rate of stillbirths, neonatal death and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth by 50% by 2025.

Critical drivers are our ability to improve safety in maternity and neonatal care by working collaboratively, introducing and spreading innovation and reducing unwarranted variation. This supports a high-quality healthcare experience for all women, babies and families, creating a culture of learning from errors and excellence.

Current improvement projects include:

  • optimising and stabilising the preterm infant – the National Neonatal Audit Programme 2022 shows our region consistently appearing in the top three for preterm optimisation care elements, as well as the lowest mortality for babies born before 32 weeks in England and Wales
  • early recognition and management of deterioration in women and babies through:
    • developing and rolling out a national Maternal Early Warning Score (MEWS)
    • spread and adoption of the Neonatal Early Warning Trigger and Track score (NEWTT)