Maternity SIG

Why does maternity specific simulation matter?

Pregnant women present in all healthcare settings, from general practice to the emergency department, the ambulance service to mental health services. From the most recent MBRRACE-UK report (2019-2021) we know that 10% of the women who died at >20 weeks gestation did so with the ambulance service or in the emergency department, with a further 6% dying at home where the ambulance service would be the first responders. If we are to improve maternal morbidity and mortality in the UK it is essential that we share expertise from the maternity services with other members of the wider healthcare team.

If teams do not frequently encounter pregnant women, high quality simulation is even more vital to improve communication within and between teams and identify factors that can hinder professional performance. Reports continue to reiterate that these factors play a crucial role in shaping the outcomes for pregnant women.

What are the aims of the maternity SIG?

We aim to bring together a group of enthusiastic healthcare professionals from different sectors to identify key areas where maternity specific simulation would benefit those who do not usually work within maternity services. What situations do other professions find the most challenging? Where do they feel they have important knowledge gaps? How should they best communicate with maternity services? What helps a team function best in an obstetric emergency?

We aim to learn from other simulation educators to improve existing simulation practices within maternity services, looking beyond emergency simulation.

We aim to educate simulation leaders in other fields about changes we are seeing within the pregnant population, with multi-morbidity and rising pregnancy complications, using simulation to stimulate discussion about management of these more complex scenarios.

We aim to shine a light upon conscious and unconscious biases that we know affect pregnant women in the UK. We will work as a group to identify ways we can use maternity simulation to raise awareness of these biases and introduce practices in professional areas to reduce the health inequality faced by our pregnant women.

Should I be part of the maternity SIG?

We invite any health professionals who encounter pregnant women in their practice to join the maternity SIG, particularly those with an interest in updating their simulation practice to improve maternal outcomes and reduce health inequity for pregnant women. Together we can shape the next steps in transforming and disseminating best practice in maternity simulation.

Contact us here to join the group

For up to date SIG meetings dates, please search the below events calendar.