The ‘dark art’ of Professional Midwifery Advocacy

Instrumental in producing a local and generic staff friendly PMA booklet. This has been used as a cross site resource that has been translated for the use for the local Trust PNA team, region and national wide as well as for the Academic network.
The concept was borne from cross site collaboration of two Lead Professional Advocates who were new into post supporting approx. 1,000 maternity staff across two sites. It became apparent that there was a requirement to formulate a resource for staff and for a signpost resource for the advocate, it was considered that there wasn’t anything out there at the time so it had to be assembled from scratch. The manifestation of the booklet was to clarify and celebrate the benefits of supporting staff, but could also be a resource for the sessional PMAs. Our thought process was humorously discussed as the ‘dark art’ of the PMA using the AEQUIP model. The booklet required to be more than an extended leaflet, in conclusion the booklet was a fitting resource that could be also be used in a generic form.

Keely Franklin, Lead Professional Midwifery Advocate, Bedfordshire Hospitals Foundation Trust

Tina McCann, Lead Professional Midwifery Advocate, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust