Midwife, Nicola Johnson, recognised for her work with expectant mums with HIV
We caught up with midwife Nicola Johnson to discuss her nomination for The Sun Who Cares Wins award and to highlight the important work she is being recognised for.
How you feel about this nomination?
I feel honoured to have been nominated and would like for it to represent a small aspect of the hard work seen and unseen that midwives do because we care.
I recognise the hard work that all of my colleagues in Maternity have displayed and are still doing in response to the covid-19 pandemic.
What does the nomination mean for you but also for the project itself?
The nomination will help to raise the profile of the efforts being made to continuously improve the health outcomes of our women and families.
How have you been working across the group on this project?
We are working collaboratively as a multidisciplinary team of midwives, obstetricians, HIV services and paediatricians from Whipps Cross, Newham and the Royal London hospital. We have to work in this way to make sure that standard operating procedures of what? why? how? and when? are standardised cross site for successful implementation and sustainability.
What’s next for the project?
Well, firstly it will be implementing it. We will update when a launch date is agreed.
As long as this type of scheme has relevance and is of benefit to this group of women, my hope is that it can be duplicated across every NHS Trust and funded through sustainable means, rather than an ad hoc service only available in certain areas.
Barts Health have supported this vision and funding has been granted to provide this care.
How many women have benefited from the project so far and/or do you have a specific target?
It is estimated that the scheme will benefit approximately 20 women across the Trust per year, a small number of women and babies where significant outcomes can be achieved.
Can you tell us a little more about what this initiative entails?
The project is to implement a scheme satisfying the provision of free non means tested infant formula milk for a small cohort of women who have been advised not to breastfeed their babies for medical reasons.
For women living with HIV, breastfeeding is not recommended in order to eliminate the identified risk of mother to child transmission of HIV, however if a mother wishes to breastfeed we provide extensive support to implement and sustain exclusive breastfeeding.
Based on multi agency recommendations and as part of a commitment to end all new cases of HIV in a generation, successful milk schemes have been implemented that address the provision of free infant formula milk for babies whose mothers are living with HIV up to their first year of life.
The cost of giving an infected baby lifelong treatment for HIV far outweighs the cost of providing formula milk.
Making formula milk available to parents living with HIV who are advised not to breastfeed fulfils a key prevention right, as well as providing value for money, facilitating choice and improving retention in care.
With this cross site project, all women living with HIV who have their care and deliver their babies at Barts Health will receive funding via vouchers to supply their babies with infant formula milk up to the first year of life.
The annual celebration of healthcare staff will air on Channel 4 on Sunday, September 19 from 7.30pm to 9pm.
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