Warwickshire mum becomes first chairperson of local Maternity Voices Partnership
3 May 2019
Local solicitor and mum of one, Leanne Howlett, has started in the role of Chairperson of the newly formed Coventry and Warwickshire Maternity Voices Partnership, following her appointment in March.
Leanne said: “Despite feeling like I was really prepared for the birth of my son, it took me by surprise how challenging a time pregnancy and the postnatal period can be for parents. Since then I’ve become passionate about helping to improve maternity services locally and ensuring that they meet the needs of local families.
“I’m also chair of South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust’s maternity engagement group, so I’m looking forward to expanding on what I have learnt and done so far to help make a difference for families across the whole of Coventry and Warwickshire.”
Maternity Voices Partnerships, sometimes called MVPs, are a national initiative set up to be an independent advisory group to local maternity services. It is made up of new mums and their families, midwives, doctors and other health professionals who work together to ensure the views, experiences and ideas of local mums and mums-to-be contribute to the development of local maternity care.
In 2018, Leanne founded By Your Side, which is a service user forum linked to Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust’s Perinatal Mental Health Team working across Coventry and Warwickshire. By Your Side offers peer support to local families accessing mental health services before, during and after pregnancy.
The Coventry and Warwickshire MVP has been set up as part of the Local Maternity System and the Maternity and Paediatrics workstream in the Better Health, Better Care, Better Value partnership. The partnership involves NHS organisations and local authorities in Coventry and Warwickshire working together to meet the ‘triple challenge’ of providing better health, transformed quality of care and sustainable finances.