Publish date: 4 June 2026
A Quality Improvement project within Mersey Care’s Specialist Perinatal Service is enhancing how women with mental health needs are supported during birth.
Mental health difficulties affect around one in five women during pregnancy and the postnatal period, making effective, personalised planning essential to make sure care is safe and compassionate.
To address this, the Specialist Perinatal Service introduced a redesigned Mental Health Birth Plan: Perinatal Mental Health Birth Plan guide :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Co-produced with women and healthcare professionals, the new plan aims to improve communication and coordination between all partner teams involved in a woman’s care.
A recent evaluation demonstrates clear improvements following the redesign:
- Use of birth plans in practice has significantly increased, from 44 percent to 82 percent, meaning the majority are now actively used during labour and birth
- Staff report improved usability, with the new plan rated highly for its clarity and ease of use
- Multidisciplinary working has strengthened, supporting better coordination across services
- Patient experience remains very positive, with women reporting that they feel heard, supported, and more confident during their birth experience.
This work shows how targeted changes - such as simplifying documentation, introducing a patient information leaflet, and strengthening team collaboration - can make a meaningful difference to both experience and outcomes.
The project has been led by the Specialist Perinatal Service (across Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Warrington) in collaboration with the Trust’s Quality Improvement team and there are plans to share learning and roll out across the rest of Cheshire and Merseyside. Learning from this work will be shared more widely with partners to support ongoing improvement across partner services.
To read more about the project, you can see the outcome presentations here and here.
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