PACT vision statement
PACT empowers professionals to navigate maternal medicine with confidence and care. Through focused upskilling and workplace awareness, we strengthen clinical expertise and emotional wellbeing. By offering essential support after adverse outcomes, we help ensure every pregnancy is safer and expertly managed.
What is the professional aftercare toolkit (PACT)?
This project begun as the NWMMN wanted to provide support to midwives following adverse clinical outcomes so to prevent and manage long-term impact such as work-related burn-out. These staff work in high-pressure environments with exposure to adverse clinical outcomes for mothers and babies. The time following an adverse clinical outcome can be challenging emotionally and the investigation process uncertain.
The project aimed to develop, deliver and evaluate a support package offered by the NWMMN to support the midwifery workforce in maternal medicine following an incident adverse clinical outcome in the workplace.
How was it designed?
A systematic behavioural science approach was taken over three phases. The development work begun in 2023 by Catherine Chmiel (lead midwife at NW Maternal Medicine Network) and Dr Debbie Smith (health psychologist at The Manchester Centre for Health Psychology (MCHP), The University of Manchester) with stakeholder involvement throughout including hearing from midwives in interactive information-gathering workshops and stakeholder meetings. A rapid scoping review was also conducted to inform the support package (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871519225002410?via%3Dihub).
Reference: Brennan, H.M., Long, H.A., Chmiel, C., & Smith, D.M. (2025). Coping strategies and interventions to prevent and alleviate work-related burnout in midwives: A rapid scoping review of quantitative and qualitative research. Women and Birth,38(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2025.102107.
Our step by step tool will guide you through the steps following an adverse clinical outcome with resources and support throughout
Interactive online flowchart – this flowchart will guide you through the steps following an adverse clinical outcome with resources and support throughout.
If you want to get involved with PACT, please contact: NWMMN@nhs.net
Provide feedback
If you use any elements of PACT, please tell us why you used it and how you found it. This will help us to continue to delelop PACT and support midwives working in maternal medicine: LINK