Working to improve outcomes for teenage parents and their children by developing maternity services to meet their needs.
Welcome!
To read our latest newsletter click here or read previous editions of the newsletter here.
To contact or join the network, please email Jenny Mcleish on tpmidwives@bestbeginnings.org.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 improve maternity services for teenage parents and their children by
- collecting evidence on what works to improve outcomes
- enabling midwives (and others) to share good practice and innovative work ideas
- increasing support for midwives working specifically with young parents.
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 maternity care can make to improving outcomes for teenage parents and their children. It 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 email newsletter summarises policy initiatives, relevant publications and practice developments. To receive this newsletter send your details to tpmidwives@bestbeginnings.org.uk.
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 here.
Regional networks co-ordinated by volunteers enable midwives to meet and share practice issues at a local level.
Publications for young parents
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 http://www.tommys.org/
Healthy eating
(Tommy’s)
A short guide 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 http://www.tommys.org/
Good enough to eat (Maternity Alliance/ Food Commission)
Based on interviews with 46 pregnant teenagers, this report looks at what they are eating, as well as factors influencing dietary habits, such as financial hardship, and attitudes to improving their diet.
Smoking cessation
(Tommys)
A short guide for professionals who work with pregnant teenagers, focusing on evidence and practical strategies. Free hard copies are available from http://www.tommys.org/.
(18.10.06 conference)
Young fathers
(18.10.06 conference)
Fatherhood Institute research briefing: Young Fathers
Preventing unplanned second pregnancies
(Network paper)
(Hull)
(Hull)
Other resources developed by network members
(Gloucester)
(Isle of Wight)
( Burnley)
(Burnley )
(Wakefield)
(Gloucester)
Publications for practioners
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.
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.
: 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.
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.