What is a MVP?
A Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) is an independent multi-disciplinary advisory and action team, working together to review and contribute to the development of local maternity care. It is led by an independent lay Chair and Vice Chair, who ensure service users are represented. Maternity Voices Partnerships (MVPs) have been around for years – we used to be known as MSLCs (Maternity Services Liaison Committees).
The MVP includes:
▪ Maternity Service Users, their partners and their families
▪ Maternity Service Providers (people who deliver services, such as midwives, obstetricians etc)
▪ Commissioners (people who plan, buy and monitor services)
▪ The Local Authority (LA) – commissioning public health and social care and support services
▪ Other community representatives – for example breastfeeding support charities, doulas, sling libraries and other mother/baby health related services
What is the MVP for?
The role of the MVP is to provide independent, formal feedback to help improve local maternity services. MVPs are made up of recent maternity service users (within past 5 years), local families, providers and commissioners, who come together to design services that meet the needs of local women and birthing people, parents and their families. They are independent from any organisation and are often chaired and run by parents who have used the services within the last 5 years and are passionate about all things maternity.
What doesn't the MVP do?
Although we are always interested in receiving comments and suggestions from women and their partners who are using, or have recently used local maternity services, we are unable to handle queries from individuals about their personal care. In these circumstances, we recommend you contact your midwife or GP.
If you wish to make an official complaint about your care, please visit here and also contact the Patient Experience Team on 01639 683363 / 683316 Or email SBU.complaints@wales.nhs.uk
How can I get involved with the MVP?
There are several ways you can get involved with the MVP. You can:
Join our mailing list, so you are notified of surveys as they are released, and kept updated with our progress
Complete our surveys
Volunteer as a Service User Representative and email us to join our Service User Forum (must have used maternity services in past 5 years and no minimum time commitment)
Email us to join our Service Provider forum (must be current maternity service provider, NHS or private and no minimum time commitment)
Follow our social media pages (Facebook & Instagram), and help like, comment and share our posts to widen the reach and impact of our surveys and work
Offer your skills - we need all sorts of skills to help us grow our MVP, e.g. web development, communications, social media, marketing, Welsh translation, etc. If you would like to offer any assistance please let us know!
Spread the word - as a brand new MVP we are still building our community, so if there are local families, colleagues or professionals you know who would be interested in our MVP, then please share the website, surveys and social media pages with them.
I work within Maternity Services, can I help?
Yes, absolutely. In order to represent all maternity voices and offer relevant, accurate and timely suggestions on ways to improve our local maternity services, we recognise the value that Service Providers are able to offer. Both from their own experiences working within maternity services, but also as advocates to the patients and families they support. As part of our MVP community and the formal MVP wider structure, there is a Service Provider Forum which feeds into our quarterly MVP Board meetings, to ensure the voices of our maternity service providers are also represented, heard, and acted upon. Please do get in touch, and sign up to our Mailing List to ensure you are kept in the loop on how you can help and get involved.
Is the MVP just for women?
No, not at all. The MVP is an inclusive, multi-disciplinary working group of families, maternity Service Providers, local commissioners, maternity medical staff etc. Although a lot of feedback and suggestions will be sought from the voices of birthing women and people, we are keen to also hear from birth partners, the dads and wider relatives of birthing families, as well as male and female professsionals working within our Swansea Bay maternity services.
Is the MVP just for families who have given birth?
Absolutely not. We understand that not every journey through maternity services results in the birth of a baby. To be an effective MVP, we recognise we need to be fully inclusive, and we readily welcome anyone who has used any part of the Swansea Bay Maternity Services within the past 5 years to get involved and join our growing community. We're here to represent ALL voices, especially those that are a whisper. We would love to hear from you.