Our first element of our citizen portal – the clinical maternity pathway – has gone live across the Dorset Care Record Partnership.
The pathway will be of particular benefit to midwives and health visitors, giving them a full audit trail of what is happening during the expectant mum’s pregnancy. They will also have a more holistic picture of the mum-to-be as they will be able to see their GP summary record and, in time, discharge medications.
Self- referrals have been submitted electronically via the Maternity Matters website since March and maternity admin staff from our three acute hospitals will be using this information to log pregnant mums’ details and enrol them on the pathway.
Chloe Mackenzie, Dorset County Hospital lead digital midwife, said: “We will be able to access GP records which will mean that midwives can ensure women have all the support needed to have a healthy, successful pregnancy from the start. Sometimes, information can currently take between two and seven days to get from partners.”
And under the future citizen maternity portal, mums-to-be will complete online pre-booking forms before they meet their midwife. They will also fill in pre and post-appointment questionnaires, ante-natal care plans, a birth preferences questionnaire about where they would like to have their baby and then antenatal care plans. The pathway also includes a section on goals and actions, covering issues such as weight loss, smoking cessation, healthy eating and alcohol reduction, which Chloe feels will also be particularly useful.
“At Dorset County Hospital we already have specialist teams to support women to give up smoking, maintain a healthy weight and ensure they have support with their mental health. Being able to select these goals at the beginning of pregnancy will help women and their families make a positive start for a healthy, happy pregnancy,” she added.