We want to make sure that every woman and her family has access to safe, high-quality maternity care, giving babies the best possible start in life.

Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems (or LMNSs) were created in 2016 following the recommendations made in the Better Births report.

Gloucestershire Local Maternity and Neonatal System is a partnership of local organisations working with women and birthing people, families, commissioners and healthcare staff to improve maternity and neonatal services in Gloucestershire, and make them safer, more personal and kinder for the people who use them.

Members of our Local Maternity and Neonatal System include:

  • Midwives and health visitors
  • Obstetricians and gynaecologists
  • Neonatal staff
  • Perinatal mental health team
  • Managers and commissioners
  • Public Health
  • Educators
  • GPs and primary care staff
  • Service users through the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership
  • Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations

Who provides services in Gloucestershire

Maternity care

In Gloucestershire, maternity services are provided by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Health visitors

Health visitors are registered nurses or midwives who support families with young children. In Gloucestershire, health visiting services are provided by Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Mental health care during pregnancy and after birth

Mental health services are provided by Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. This includes specialist services for women and birthing people who are pregnant or have recently had a baby.

You can find a list of sources of support for mental wellbeing here – www.nhsglos.nhs.uk/perinatalmentalhealth

Healthy Lifestyles Gloucestershire can provide advice and support with things like exercise, eating and stopping smoking during pregnancy.

What the Local Maternity and Neonatal System does

The Three-Year Delivery Plan

NHS England’s ‘Three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services’ brings together the recommendations and requirements from:

The plan is all about delivering safe and personalised care, with a focus on equity and equality. It asks services to concentrate on four main themes:

  • Theme 1: Listening to and working with women and families with compassion
  • Theme 2: Growing, retaining, and supporting our workforce
  • Theme 3: Developing and sustaining a culture of safety, learning, and support
  • Theme 4: Standards and structures that underpin safer, more personalised, and more equitable care

We have worked closely with NHS England, our local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership, and other system partners, to develop our local version of the three-year delivery plan.

Download a PDF of our Three-Year Delivery Plan here.

Equity and equality

In September 2021, NHS England published guidance for local maternity and neonatal systems around improving equity and equality.

The aims of the guidance were to:

  • Understand the local population – its health outcomes and community assets
  • Understand staff experience, using Workforce Race Equality Scheme data

In response to the guidance, we carried out a health needs analysis based on data from the local population. We identified risk groups and the factors that define these risks. We also looked at responses to the Staff Survey to understand experiences of staff around race equality.

The next step is to use this understanding to:

  • Engage with women, communities and staff in the priority areas to find out what matters to them
  • Co-produce interventions to improve equity for women and babies
  • Co-produce an action plan to improve race equality for staff.

These interventions and actions will form a five year plan which will aim to reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes and equity for staff, women and babies in Gloucestershire.

You can download our plan summary here (PDF).

You can download our full plan here (PDF).

Update – We have now published a review of the 2022-2025 activity, and our plans for 2025-2027.

Read the 2025-2027 Equity Action Plan here.

Governance

The work of the LMNS is overseen by the LMNS Board, which every two months and has representatives from a number of different organisations.

Contacting us

If you would like to contact Gloucestershire Local Maternity and Neonatal System, you can email glicb.gloucestershirelms@nhs.net.

Maternity services review

We are reviewing maternity services in Gloucestershire to help make sure care is safe, high quality, equitable and able to meet the changing needs of women, birthing people, babies and families now and in the future.

As part of this work, a Maternity Health Needs Assessment (HNA) has been completed. This looked at national and local data, trends and outcomes, alongside feedback from women, families, staff and partners. It helps us better understand who is using services, how needs are changing and where changes may be needed.

The HNA, together with a case for change, will help inform the next phase of this work. The case for change sets out why services may need to develop or adapt and will support future conversations about how maternity services could evolve, with the views and experiences of local people remaining central to that process.

View the Maternity Health Needs Assessment.

View the Case for Change.

Next steps

We are now moving into the next phase of this work, which will explore in more detail how maternity services may need to change in the future:

  • The Maternity Health Needs Assessment
  • The Case for Change
  • Clinical input
  • National guidance, including the independent review of maternity and neonatal care led by Baroness Amos

Later this year, we will speak to women, families, staff and local partners to understand people’s experiences, what matters most to them, and their ideas for how services could develop.

We will work with the local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership, as well as local groups and communities, to design an approach that works well for women.

What we hear through this engagement will be considered alongside the available evidence as we continue to plan the future of maternity services.

Get involved in improving local maternity services

Gloucestershire Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) is responsible for gathering and understanding feedback and experiences from women, birthing people and their families who are current or recent users of maternity, neonatal or health visiting services in Gloucestershire.

The MNVP is independent of the NHS, but aims to work closely and in partnership with services to help inform, challenge, bring about positive change and celebrate good practice.

You can find out how to get involved at https://evolvingcommunities.co.uk/gloucestershire-mnvp/

More information