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Meet our Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocates

With the recent launch of our Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senor Advocacy pilot, we would like to introduce the team behind this pioneering service. 

Annette, Ellie, and Jan work for People First, an independent advocacy charity, who are independent from the NHS and affiliated trusts.  Their work as Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocates covers the North East and North Cumbria. They are passionate and dedicated to representing people’s views in a dynamic, courageous way and not afraid to stand up and be counted.  Providing invaluable support designed to empower voices in maternity and neonatal care.

Their role is to support women, birthing people and families who have gone through a serious health implication or loss and have concerns about the care they received. Maternity is such an important time in a family’s life, and we firmly believe that women and birthing people deserve the best care.

Their professional and personal backgrounds are varied and include a joint passion for justice, fairness and equality and a commitment to supporting people to have their voices heard and acted upon. Some members of the team have themselves been in this position and feel strongly about using their experiences to help others in similar situations. Their professional work experience includes advocacy, human rights, candour and accountability, diversity and inclusion, counselling, family support, and bereavement support.

This in-depth knowledge combined with the skills and compassion across the team will deliver personalised support to people during their most difficult times, following life challenging situations and/or family trauma. Their role as advocates is solely to amplify voices, refraining from offering personal advice or opinions. 

Through this initiative, we strive to empower women, birthing people to navigate the healthcare system with confidence and dignity and help understand what happened if there are concerns about maternity or neonatal care. 

To find out more about this service please click here to go to our dedicated web page. 

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