The Welsh electronic maternity record has started a national roll-out, first to Aneurin Bevan University and Cardiff and Vale University health boards, with plans for the digital system to be available across all health boards by March 2026.
Alongside the roll-out of the maternity record platform, an app will be introduced to allow women access to their full maternity records, see tailored updates after every appointment, learn about their baby’s development and progress, enter blood pressure readings, and add details such as where they would like to give birth, to personalise their care.
Elleanor Griffiths, senior lead midwife informatics specialist at Aneurin Bevan, talked about the benefits of digital maternity records in supporting public health initiatives by allowing rapid access to data, adding: “The ability to review a woman’s history, send reminders, and access comprehensive reports significantly improves the quality of care.”
Commenting on the roll-out, the Royal College of Midwives added that the introduction of the record will be “crucial” in freeing up midwives’ time and enabling them to “spend more clinical time with pregnant women in appointments”. RCM has “already developed a guide on digital record keeping for its members”, but calls for additional training and support to be offered to help support the transition.
Digital in maternity care
Last year saw University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust going live with electronic system and app Badger Notes, with the aim of providing users with “more access to and control” of maternity records during pregnancy. The trust highlighted how use of Badger Notes would allow patients to view their maternity records on their phone, tablet or computer before, during and after birth; track weekly development of their pregnancy; view some test results; and enter personal diary entries and photos related to their pregnancy.
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust also announced the launch of online hub My Pregnancy Notes at Lister Hospital’s maternity unit, facilitating delivery of a maternity electronic patient record system. Through My Pregnancy Notes, care can be digitally tracked from the first presentation for maternity care right through to the postnatal period, with the system also enabling conversations and updates between service users and care providers. The trust highlighted how the EPR is “fully interactive”, with the opportunity to ask questions, receive appointment reminders, create a birth plan and access resources.
EPR plans were outlined as part of Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s maternity service strategy for 2024-2029, which highlighted innovation and technology as key enablers to developing the service, noting plans to launch a new maternity end-to-end electronic patient record in 2025. The EPR, according to the update, will play a key role in “supporting safe and effective risk assessment [and] care planning that is always accessible”.
