Postnatal care – Getting it right

Series 17 - Episode 1: Postnatal care – Getting it right

The value of postnatal care

Oluwaseyi Akinlaja, Consultant Midwife, Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Inpatient midwifery staffing levels and postpartum readmissions

Dr Lesley Turner, Head of Practice Education (Nursing & Midwifery) Senior Teaching Fellow in Midwifery Care, University of Southampton

Postnatal care has often been likened to the Cinderella of the Maternity Services. However, the postnatal period, the time when the new mother is coping with and getting to know her new baby, or babies, dealing with tiredness and physical changes as her body should be returning to it's pre pregnancy condition, as well as the newborn baby requiring care and assessment, is a critical time for women, their babies and families. The midwife has a unique role in providing support and care during this transition, to confirm normality, develop the mothers and family’s confidence in caring for the baby and to act as a link to other services should these be required.

In this episode, we are joined by Oluwaseyi Akinlaja who will discuss the midwife’s role in postnatal care, the challenges and the value of postnatal care to women, their babies and the family.

Dr Lesley Turner will share her findings from the 3rd and 4th published studies in her PhD, which looked at large datasets of shift-level staffing in 3 NHS trusts over 4 years. Understaffing was identified and care consequences were also mapped and Lesley will present findings related to postnatal readmissions and reports of harmful events alongside the implications for staff planning and the direction of future research.

Hosted by:

• Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert; Host and Curator, Maternity and Midwifery Festivals/Midwifery Hour, Editor, Mayes Midwifery

Contribution from:

• Oluwaseyi Akinlaja, Consultant Midwife, Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

• Dr Lesley Turner, Head of Practice Education (Nursing & Midwifery) Senior Teaching Fellow in Midwifery Care, University of Southampton

Biographies

Dr Lesley Turner

Lesley joined the University in 2019 as a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Midwifery undergraduate team. She previously worked in BSc Adult Nursing / Trainee Nurse Associate education and has experience of educating students via UCAS university routes and apprenticeships. Her education journey started by teaching parent education and later contributing to an Access to Higher Education programme for a local college.Lesley has 14 years experience working as a midwife in local Trusts and has close ties with practice. Previous roles as Clinical Educator and Practice Development Midwife enable Lesley to support clinical skills for our midwifery students. Lesley completed a Masters in Public Health at St George's University of London and is dual qualified as both a nurse and midwife.

Lesley acted as Head of Practice Education from 2022-Aug 2025, where she oversaw the quality of clinical placements for both nursing and midwifery students. This involved close links with our partner organisations and other higher education providers to ensure that safe and effective learning environments are provided. She contributed to curriculum development and the strategic planning of clinical placements.

As a joint lecturer/researcher Lesley is developing a research programme on maternity staffing, having completed a PhD in 2024. She is co-applicant on nationally important workforce studies and has an excellent publication track record.

Lesley is a personal academic tutor and an academic assessor. She is a personal tutor for year 3 students and teaches on a number of modules on the midwifery programme.

Oluwaseyi Akinlaja

Biography to follow..

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Hosted by: Maternity and Midwifery Forum

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Supported by: MATFLIX

Filmed by: Narrowcast Media Group

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