Harrogate | Maternity Voices HNY

Harrogate MNVP

Meet Your Harrogate MNVP Engagement & Neonatal Lead

Hannah Watson
MNVP Engagement & Neonatal Lead

About Hannah:

I am thrilled to be the Engagement and Neonatal Lead for Harrogate. I had my twin boys in Harrogate at 29 weeks gestation. The three of us were quickly whisked off to LGI where we remained for 13 days before being transferred to St James for what ended up being 7 weeks! After some ups and downs and some of the hardest weeks of my life we were FINALLY transferred back to Harrogate for 3 further weeks before we made it home. Since then I have been working closely with the wider North Yorkshire and Humber Neonatal and Maternity teams to try to help improve services where possible and ensure the parent voice is always heard. This in turn has been a wonderful opportunity to meet other parents and ‘bang the drum’ about some of the fantastic things being done across the network to support families.

Interests:

Absolutely anything that brings a smile to my kids’ faces. As a mum of two boys that is often some form of heavy machinery so you will often find me riding trains, buses or staring at tractors on any and all local farms. I love to sing, bake and spend time with some wonderful friends and a very supportive family.

What would you like to achieve as the Community Engagement and Neonatal Lead?

My aim is to provide as much support to families as I can. I want to ensure that every single voice is heard and understood, and the community knows that I am a safe and judgement free space. The feedback I receive is discussed with the team at the hospital monthly and where possible improvements are made for future service users.

I am incredibly passionate about Neonatal care and know first hand what a scary and often traumatic time it can be, even after discharge. I hope that by being there to listen I can help families feel less alone.

Meet the Harrogate MNVP Team

Katie Jones
Group Lead for Humber and North Yorkshire

" I get to coordinate the work across four fantastic MNVP teams. I will be covering the Harrogate Maternity and Strategic Lead role for an interim period, with the brilliant support of Hannah and Ilayda. I worked closely with Ruth, and previously Jen and feel privileged to continue their work elevating the lived experience of Harrogate families. The birth of my second really ignited my desire to advocate for others in a maternity and neonatal system that needs to consider your experience at the heart of it. Becoming a parent is life changing moment and I know we all want to work together to make sure you receive safe, kind, and personalised care"

Ilayda Gill
Social Media Manager

"I’m really excited to introduce myself as the Social Media Manager for Harrogate MNVP. I am also the Engagement Lead for York & Scarborough MNVP. I’ve spent the past 7 years supporting parents and working within maternity services, and I’m truly passionate about making sure families feel informed, heard, and supported throughout their journey. I’m an IBCLC Lactation Consultant, and I have a big interest around infant feeding support. I’m looking forward to connecting with you all and sharing helpful information"

Our meetings

The MNVP meetings are made up of a small group of service users, user representatives* and healthcare professionals. Meetings are held regularly, where feedback from service users is reviewed. Updates on changes that have been implemented from previous feedback received is recorded for our annual review. The annual review is produced each year and delivered to service users at the annual ‘Your Voice Matters’ meet up which is an open event.

* User representatives: local people who are passionate about volunteering time to help, support and shape local maternity services.

Next Meeting: Future 2026 dates will be circulated shortly. Our last meeting was on 3 March 2026.

Venue: to be advised.

If you would like adding to our distribution list, please get in touch.

Get involved

You can do this in a number of ways:

Follow us on social media - links are on Your MNVPs
Come along to one of our meetings
Share your experience, either as part of our meeting agenda or via email/social media
Tell us about any local groups or events we could attend to listen to people’s experiencesIncrease awareness of MNVP, particularly with families who voices may not have been heard.
Attend focus groups, listening events or complete surveys linked to specific MNVP projects, and contribute to the co-production of services
Or click here to complete a short survey to share your feedback directly with us.