Edinburgh Access HPBL Listening Session, Part 1 Inger McGowan QN and Michele Stranger Hunter The views and advice of marginalised, traumatised women about their lived experience of reproductive health and pregnancy are too rarely solicited, heard or heeded. One mission of QNIS’ Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives programme is to redress that inequity. The overall results…
HPBL
Women, Alcohol, Pregnancy and FASD
Since training as a nurse in Edinburgh, I have been fascinated by the complex relationships between women and alcohol. This interest led me to become an alcohol specialist nurse here decades ago. In fact, I ended up considering the connections between drinking and healthcare throughout my career. My late husband and I both eventually became Professors of Alcohol Studies.
General Practice and Reproductive Health:
Primary care’s potential for pre-pregnancy counselling, assessments and services is a golden opportunity to prevent harm and promote health. It arose from their understanding that people of reproductive age are rarely getting the information and assistance they need from other health professionals. They understand that primary care providers are usually best placed within Scotland’s healthcare system to play this new role.
General Practice and Reproductive Health:
Listening Sessions are a key part of QNIS’ Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives programme. Lorna Dhami QN and I have been ‘testing the water’ on how prospective parents feel about their reproductive health care, and how General Practice Nurses feel about providing information, services and support in this area. Our focus was specifically on preconception and interconception health care. This included screening to identify risks and either eliminate or mitigate those risks prior to conception.
What Respondents Want to Happen Next
This is the fourth and final blog presenting the results of the spring 2022 QNIS/Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives survey of an illustrative sample of Scotland’s community nurses and midwives on Preconception Health, Care and Education.
Your Views and Experiences
This is the third blog presenting the results of the spring 2022 QNIS/Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives survey of an illustrative sample of Scotland’s community nurses and midwives.
Preconception Health Risks and Realities
Read about a fascinating mixture of answers showing what 212 survey respondents across Scotland do, and don’t, know about preconception care.
Post Pandemic – What Now for Relationship, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education?
Dr Colin Morrison is a partner in TASC (Scotland) and the lead developer of the national RSHP resource. He has a longstanding interest in children’s human rights, health and wellbeing. He has worked as a teacher, youth worker, play worker and adult educator. His doctoral study explored relationships and sexual health education for children and young people with learning disabilities.
Mind the Gap
In April 2022, QNIS’ Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives programme supported by The National Lottery Community Fund and Cattanach, conducted its second online survey. This survey focused on preconception health, education and care.
It sought to understand what Scottish community nurses and midwives know and do about this often-overlooked area of primary healthcare. This incredible community of healthcare professionals once again took time from their busy schedules to share their knowledge and help us learn from their experience. The questionnaire was designed by QNIS Senior Fellow (Dr Jonathan Sher), HPBL Consultant (Michele Stranger Hunter) and Project Coordinator (Lisa Lyte).
The Survey Facts:
They Spoke, We Listened
In looking internationally for answers 12 years ago, I realised policies and practices in reproductive health and pregnancy are not universal. Instead, they are deeply embedded in cultural and societal norms. That is why a strategy and tool developed in the U.S. cannot simply be franchised and remain effective in Scotland.