York & Scarborough | Maternity Voices HNY

York and Scarborough MNVP

Meet Your York and Scarborough MNVP Lead

About Helen

I I have been the lead for York and Scarborough MNVP since September 2022 I have an incredible little girl who was my pathway into this work, through the maternity care I received. I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done and continue to do at the MNVP, putting women, birthing people and their families at the centre of everything we do, ensuring their voices are heard and represented in all aspects of maternity and neonatal services planning and development. I am extremely driven to continue making sure your voices are included as York and Scarborough maternity and neonatal services continue on their improvement journey, the value of hearing those that are using the service has never been more important.

Some of the projects we've worked on or are currently working on (the list is long, so these are just a few highlights):

Implementation of snack/hydration trollies in all waiting areas
Personalised care plans
Utilisation of the B.R.A.I.N acronym to promote and empower informed decision making
Development of a maternity survey to ensure a rolling year round lens of feedback for the trust
Equity and diversity projects around translation of materials
A guideline to ensure those birthing outside of national guidance are supported in their informed choices (ongoing project)
SCBU (now NNU) refurbishment project

Focuses moving forward that we will be advocating and working with the services on are:

Homebirth provision
Maternity website re-structure and content review
Antenatal education
Feeding support

Helen McConnell
MNVP Lead
for York and Scarborough

Meet the York and Scarborough MNVP Team

Emma Johnson
Neonatal Engagement Lead

"I had my own premmie warrior born at 24 weeks so I have lived NICU experience. I have a passion for raising awareness of prematurity and supporting others who find themselves in this unique community. I am a Trustee for York Special Care Baby Unit Support group. I am also a part-time Primary School teacher and have recently become the Prem Aware Ambassador for York, raising awareness of the impact prematurity can have on a child's learning and how best to support them"

Ilayda Gill
Engagement Lead for Scarborough

"I have worked with families and within maternity services for over seven years. I am an IBCLC Lactation Consultant, I run a CIC in Whitby offering antenatal and postnatal support. I am particularly passionate about infant feeding, birth rights, informed choices, and personalised care. I hope to contribute both my professional expertise and advocacy experience to support meaningful improvements within the MNVP"

Leonie Eastwood
Engagement Lead for East Riding

" I am a local parent living in rural East Yorkshire. You’ll often find me at baby groups, children’s centres or awareness week events, chatting to new mums and families about their experiences of maternity care. With lived experience of baby loss and then pregnancy after loss, I have a passion to help all new and expectant mums and birthing people to have the care they need and deserve. I also enjoy running parent and baby groups, and I am particularly interested in infant feeding, birth choices and maternal mental health before, during and after pregnancy"

Our quarterly meetings bring together professionals from maternity, neonatal and family support services to share and learn from the experiences of women, parents, birthing people and families throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatal care.

Meetings are warm and welcoming, with updates from maternity staff, group representatives, and the MNVP on current activities, priorities and progress.

Quarterly Meetings

Next Meeting: Wednesday 20th May 10am to 12pm

Venue: York St Johns University, Foss Building, Room FS033

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 experiences
Increase 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.