Working to improve outcomes for teenage parents and their children by developing maternity services to meet their needs.
Welcome!
To contact or join the network, please email Jenny Mcleish on tpmidwives@yahoo.co.uk, giving your name and work address.
What is the National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network?
Founded by two teenage pregnancy specialist midwives in 2001, the network aims:
· to increase support for midwives working specifically with young parents
· to enable midwives to share good practice and innovative work ideas.
The network is funded through the Teenage Pregnancy Unit as part of the National Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk).
Who is the network for?
The network is for midwives who work with teenage parents or have an interest in teenage pregnancy, and for anyone else interested in the contribution midwifery can make to improving outcomes for teenage parents and their children. It now has over 400 members. Joining the network is free.
What does the network do?
The network co-ordinator gathers evidence on effective practice on the maternity care of pregnant teenagers, and disseminates this evidence to network members, commissioners of maternity services and policy makers.
A termly newsletter summarises policy initiatives, relevant publications and practice developments.
An online e-group enables members to exchange messages with others working with teenagers. Members can post a question, answer one or share information.
To join the group, click this button:
Regional networks co-ordinated by volunteers enable midwives to meet and share practice issues at a local level.
Resources developed by network members
Care pathway - Gloucester
Hierarchy of specialist support - Burnley
Audit tool - Gloucester
Data collection form– Burnley
Preventing unplanned second pregnancies - models of service delivery
National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network Newsletters
Useful publications and links
Teenage parents: who cares? A guide to commissioning and delivering maternity services for young parents (2nd edition, 2008)
The Department of Health, Teenage Pregnancy Unit and the Royal College of Midwives jointly produced this guide to help commissioners and local Teenage Pregnancy Strategies plan and deliver maternity services that young people trust and use. This fully revised edition includes sections on the poorer outcomes and access to services for teenagers and their babies; how improving maternity services for teenagers can help PCTs and Local Authorities meet a range of targets and policy goals; the importance of multi-agency working in commissioning and delivering services for this group; the minimum standards for a high quality maternity service for teenagers; emerging models of care and innovative practice in providing maternity services for pregnant teenagers and young fathers; and a toolkit of useful resources.
Free hard copies can be ordered from the Department for Children, Schools and Families by calling 0845 60 222 60 quoting reference 00414-2008BKT-EN.
Getting maternity services right for pregnant teenagers and young fathers. A practical guide for midwives, doctors, maternity support workers and receptionists (2nd edition, 2009)
The 2009 edition of this popular guide has been updated in partnership with the Fatherhood Institute to include more on young fathers. It is particularly aimed at practitioners working in mainstream services or areas where there are no dedicated services for teenagers, but is useful to all who want to improve the service they offer to young people. It sets out reasons why it is important to improve the maternity services offered to young parents, and offers practical guidance on working with pregnant teenagers and young fathers.
Free hard copies can be ordered from the Department for Children, Schools and Families by calling 0845 60 222 60 and quoting reference DCSF-00673-2009, or via www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications
Pregnant teenagers and diet
A short guide from Tommy's, the baby charity, for professionals who work with pregnant teenagers but don't have specialist training in nutrition. It covers why pregnant teenagers are at particular risk of poor diet, how to use Healthy Start, how to talk effectively to pregnant teenagers about changing their diet, how to help a pregnant teenage problem solve, and the key positive and negative messages about a healthy pregnancy diet.
Free copies are available from www.tommys.org
The young woman's guide to pregnancy (2009)
This comprehensive 96 page guide from Tommy's, the baby charity, has been written and designed especially to appeal to young women with text, pictures and real life stories all featuring young pregnant women. It covers topics such as what to do when you find out you're pregnant, emotions, diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol, antenatal care, how the baby develops and preparing for birth. It could replace the Pregnancy Book for young women. Free copies are available from www.tommys.org
Multi-agency working to support pregnant teenagers: a midwifery guide to working with Connexions and other agencies
The Teenage Pregnancy Unit, Department of Health, and Royal College of Midwives produced this guide in 2007 to support midwives in providing optimum care for teenagers.It explains why routine information sharing with other agencies (with the mother's consent) is critically important to meet their needs and to help them achieve better outcomes for themselves, their partners and their children. It suggests some straightforward mechanisms for the sharing of information between maternity services and other agencies, and also provides examples of care pathways specifically for pregnant teenagers.
Sure Start Plus Evaluation
The findings of the national evaluation of the Sure Start Plus pilot programme carried out by the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London, were published in 2005.
Sure Start Plus evaluation - final report
Sure Start Plus evaluation- executive summary
Good enough to eat
The Maternity Alliance, in association with The Food Commission, produced a report looking at the diet of pregnant teenagers. Based on interviews with 46 pregnant under 18 year olds, the report looks at what they are eating, as well as factors influencing dietary habits, such as financial hardship, and attitudes to improving their diet.
Reaching out to pregnant teenagers and teenage parents: innovative practice from Sure Start Plus pilot programmes
A rich collection of examples of practice considered effective by staff and/or teenagers, which provides a snapshot of the range and diversity of services for supporting pregnant and parenting teenagers developed through the Sure Start Plus pilot programme. For a free hard copy contact Prolog on 0845 60 222 60 or email dfes@prolog.uk.com, quoting product reference 0-9550487-1-0.
Pregnancy and parenthood among young people in and leaving local authority care: implications for policy and practice. London: National Children's Bureau, 2006.
National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network conference presentations
Teenage pregnancy strategy and the NSF
Angela Edwards - Teenage pregnancy strategy 2006 (18.10.06 conference)
Jill Demilew - Teenage pregnancy - where is the NSF taking us? (18.10.06 conference)
Sure Start Plus evaluation
Angela Edwards - Sure Start Plus Evaluation presentation (09.11.05 Conference)
Funding for teenage pregnancy work
Rachel Ambler - Funding issues presentation (13.05.04 event in Southampton)
Writing bids presentation
Smoking cessation
Workshop notes: Smoking cessation for teenagers workshop (Tracey McDonald and Sue Carpenter, Doncaster) (18.10.06 conference)
Breastfeeding
Fiona Dyke - Midwifery Network presentation (18.05.05 Conference)
Angela Smith and Elaine Doherty - Postnatal contraception planning (RCM conference 11.05.06)
Sara Kirk - National Network presentation (09.11.05 Conference)
Young fathers
Workshop notes: Working with young fathers (Trefor Lloyd)(18.10.06 conference)
Care leavers
Workshop summary: Working with looked-after children and care leavers (Elaine Chase)(18.10.06 conference)
Care leavers workshop exercises
Postnatal contraception
Workshop summary: Preventing unplanned second pregnancies (Angela Smith & Elaine Doherty)(18.10.06 conference)
Angela Smith and Elaine Doherty - Postnatal contraception planning (RCM conference 11.05.06)
Lessons from the network
Sara Kirk - National Network presentation (09.11.05 Conference)
Research and statistics
For research and statistics related to teenage pregnancy, please visit the Every Child Matters website.
