Lister Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership

15/05/2026

You said… we did 💜

Families told Lister MNVP that communication on the postnatal ward could be unclear, particularly around discharge. Women shared that they often didn’t know what was still outstanding for themselves or their baby, or why delays were happening.

Working together with maternity teams at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, this feedback helped shape wider postnatal discharge pathway improvements focused on reducing delays caused by process and communication issues rather than clinical need.

As part of this work, we co-produced:

✅ A “Going Home” discharge video
✅ A “Journey Home After Birth” checklist

These resources aim to improve communication, provide clearer information for families and help women feel more informed and prepared when leaving hospital with their baby.

Thank you to all the women and families who shared their experiences through walk the patch, surveys and community engagement to help make these improvements possible.

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05/05/2026

You may have seen recent media coverage about baby sleep advice 📢

Reports have highlighted that some unregulated infant sleep consultants are promoting practices that do not follow safer sleep guidance. This includes advice such as placing babies on their front to sleep - something that is known to significantly increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

At Lister Maternity & Neonatal Voices Partnership, we want to take this opportunity to gently remind families about safer sleep guidance - advice that has helped save almost 32,000 babies’ lives since 1991 💛

If you’re ever unsure about sleep advice you’ve seen online or been given, please know you’re not alone - and trusted support is available.

You can:
• Speak to your midwife or health visitor
• Visit NHS safer sleep guidance
• Access trusted resources from The Lullaby Trust

Find out more: https://bit.ly/4hXVWfq

Please share to help keep babies safe.

05/05/2026

📢 Dads with neonatal experience, we need your help! 📢

We’re making improvements to the Bliss website and we want to hear from more dads and non-birthing parents to help us ensure our site is supporting everyone who needs us.

We’d love your help with a short online activity (around 20 minutes) where you’ll be asked to navigate a prototype version of our new website.

💙 We’re not testing you! So please don't worry, there are no right or wrong answers.

📌 The activity is open until 10th May 2026.

🎁 As a thank you, you can opt into a prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher.

We’d love to hear from all kinds of families - anyone who supported a baby in neonatal care. It doesn’t matter when your neonatal experience took place!

Feel free to share this with friends or family too, the more responses we get, the better! We want the website to work well for every family. Your perspective could really help.

Take part here: https://maze.pulse.ly/t4keq7xqzn

05/05/2026

Meet Dede Thorpe - Dede is a Preterm Birth Specialist Midwife, playing a vital role in identifying, monitoring, and supporting women at high risk of giving birth before 37 weeks.

In her role, Dede works within multidisciplinary teams to provide tailored antenatal care, including cervical length screenings, personalised birth planning, and interventions to prevent premature labour.

On International Day of the Midwife, we’re celebrating the skill, dedication, and wide-ranging roles that midwives carry out every day.

Interested in the varied and rewarding careers midwifery has to offer?

Find out more about the different midwifery roles on our website: https://www.enherts-tr.nhs.uk/news/international-day-of-the-midwife-5-may-2026/

05/05/2026

Today, on International Day of the Midwife, we proudly celebrate the incredible midwives and neonatal nurses at Lister Hospital 💜

Your compassion, strength, and dedication touch lives in ways that words can never fully capture. From the very first moments of life to the care and reassurance you provide every day, you are the calm in the storm, the guiding hand, and the reassuring voice for so many families.

You go above and beyond - through long shifts, emotional moments and life-changing experiences - to ensure every women, family and baby receives the highest level of care. Your work doesn’t just support births; it shapes futures.

Thank you for your unwavering commitment, your kindness and the difference you make every single day.

You are truly extraordinary.

We’d love to hear your stories—share your messages of appreciation below 👇

11/04/2026

Coming today? Follow this video look forward to seeing you there!

11/04/2026

💜TODAY💜

A space to be heard
A space to connect
A space to make change.

📍Garden City Academy, Letchworth
🕐1pm - 4pm

1pm - Start
2pm - Food being served
2.30pm-4pm - Your time to share your experience and to be heard

🎫Free event
👉Food and Refreshments
👉Activities for little ones

10/04/2026

💜TOMORROW IS THE DAY💜

We can't wait to welcome you!

Join us for a safe, supportive space for Black women, Black birthing partners and families to share their maternity experiences and be heard.

Your voice matters 💜

09/04/2026

This week's goes to Sally, one of our amazing lead bereavement midwives, has bravely signed up to take on the Lister Abseil to raise funds for the bereaved families she supports 💙

Sally said: “I have decided to take on the challenge of abseiling down the Lister to raise money to support the bereaved families within maternity. This is a cause close to my heart and our team and the families we care for are so grateful for everyone's generosity and kindness.”

You can join Sally at the abseil and raise funds for a department you care about by signing up at: www.enhhcharity.org.uk/abseil26

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

✨Just 3 days to go! ✨

Join us for a safe, welcoming space created for Black women, Black birthing partners and Families to share their maternity experiences.

📆11th April
🕐1-4pm
📍Garden City Academy, Letchworth

✔️Free food and refreshments
✔️Kids soft play area
✔️Share your story and be heard
✔️Connect with others

Your voice matters - come and be part of shaping change..

👉Book your place via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tell-your-story-tickets-1982962754980?aff=oddtdtcreator

Lister Hospital East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust East Herts Family Centre Service North Herts Family Centres