What we do
Collaborating together to provide safe, high quality and equitable care for all who access maternal medicine services
The North West Maternal Medicine Network (NW MMN) is responsible for ensuring that all women in the network’s footprint with significant medical problems will receive timely specialist care and advice before, during, and after pregnancy.
This Network covers Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire, Cheshire and Merseyside & Lancashire and South Cumbria. Three Specialist Maternal Medicine Centres are located within St Mary’s Hospital Manchester, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals (Preston) alongside services delivered in 18 provider hospitals supporting the population of the Northwest of England.
NETWORK FOOTPRINT
The North West of England has joined together to form a Maternal Medicine Network. This Network covers Greater Manchester & Eastern Cheshire, Cheshire & Merseyside, and Lancashire & South Cumbria. There are three specialist maternal medicine centres – St Mary’s Hospital Manchester, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals (Preston) alongside services delivered in all provider hospitals supporting the population of the North West of England.
The aim is to provide equitable and expert support for women/birthing people with pre-existing or pregnancy-induced medical conditions, to ensure sustainability of maternity care wherever in the region they may live.
MISSION STATEMENT
“Collaborating together to provide safe, high quality and equitable care for all who access maternal medicine services”
Network Objectives
Access to specialist care
Around 76,000 women gave birth in the North West over the last year.
Around 76,000 women gave birth in the North West over the last year. The number of pregnant women with complex coexisting medical conditions is increasing and with advances in medicine more women with complex illnesses who may not have contemplated pregnancy in the past are now becoming pregnant. Many are at higher risk of complications, both to their and to their baby’s health. The NW MMN strives to ensure the best care possible with the right specialist input as needed.
The majority of women with complications during pregnancy will continue to be managed by their local maternity team, however according to individual need, some women may receive a proportion of their care under the MMC. For some, a single visit or communication with the MMC will suffice. For the highest risk and most complex women, it may be that the majority of their care will be delivered by the MMC.
Details of each centre and how to refer can be accessed in Maternal Medicine Centre.
We are fortunate in the North West to have excellent hospitals as well as three geographically dispersed Maternal Medicine Centres. This allows us to create personalised care plans for all women with a focus on safe care as close to home as possible.
The MMN will network all maternity providers through the MMCs by further developing existing care pathways and creating new pathways and clinical guideline as service provision and expertise develops. Every Trust within the region that provides maternity services (any level) is a member of the NW MMN.
The MMN will work with other relevant networks including clinical networks for maternity services, perinatal mental health networks, neonatal ODNs, fetal medicine services and other clinical networks (e.g Congenital Heart Disease Network) to ensure the health needs of women and babies are met.