MAMA Wellbeing Wallet pilot gets underway

We are on a mission to reduce baby loss and promote safer pregnancies with a simple antenatal initiative, for which we were lucky enough to receive funding from NHS England to reach nearly 75,000 women this year. We developed our Wellbeing Wallet as a means of relaying key health messages for expectant mums to have to hand at all times, and are now happily in a position to provide the wallets free of charge to 15 hospital trusts across the country in a pilot roll-out.

The wallets are a robust plastic zip-lock pouch in which mums can keep their handheld antenatal notes, which they are expected to keep with them as their pregnancy progresses. The wallets ensure the notes are kept protected, but they are also colourfully printed with important advice regarding mum’s health, and that of her baby. This ensures that key messages such as monitoring babies’ movements become second nature to the woman as she carries the wallet with her.

Our charity’s founder, Heidi Eldridge, who was shortlisted for this year’s Tesco Mum of the Year Awards for her work to promote positive pregnancies, says “Providing a durable wallet to safely keep antenatal notes in will ensure the wallet will remain with a mum for the duration of her pregnancy, helping her retain important information. Trying to provide the same information on a leaflet is unlikely to achieve the same results as it is easier for a leaflet to be thrown away or lost”.

The information contained on the wallets complements the work of NHS England’s Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle currently in development, and is in line with the new safer pregnancy messaging by Sands and Department of Health. The wallets are also supported by The Royal College of Midwives.

The launch of the wallets last year was supported by TV’s Dr Ranj Singh, who hosts CBeebies show ‘Get Well Soon’ and regularly appears on ITV’s ‘This Morning’. Dr Ranj says, “Whilst acting as a helpful reminder for healthy pregnancy guidance, the wallets also give midwives a way to initiate conversations with women about some potentially difficult topics, aiding communication and reinforcing important advice. They are a must-have for every mum-to-be”.

The wallets are typically given to each woman at the first booking appointment, although mums also have the opportunity to purchase their own wallet directly from our website for only £2 if their local trust does not yet offer them. It is hoped that the success of this initial roll-out will encourage all maternity service providers across the country to purchase them to distribute to women in their care.

We hope that more trusts will have signed up to use the wallets by the end of this year.

Find out more about our Wellbeing Wallets and purchase your own from our shop here.