Parentcraft Classes

Summary

The request sought correspondence regarding the decision to move parentcraft classes from face-to-face to an online model. The authority disclosed a parliamentary answer and supplementary information explaining the rationale for the change, though some internal correspondence was withheld under exemptions.

Key Facts

• Parentcraft sessions are transitioning from in-person to video-based to improve accessibility, flexibility, and consistency.
• The online content was launched in early February 2025.
• The decision was not driven by cost savings but by the need for inclusivity and self-paced learning.
• The new initiative will be reviewed in six months to evaluate its effectiveness.
• Video sessions include a virtual tour of the maternity ward and Neonatal Unit, which was not previously available to all parents.

Data Disclosed

• 2025-02-11
• 2025-03-11
• 28 January 2025
• September 2024
• early February 2025
• 6 months
• 24 pages
• 3 documents

Exemptions Cited

• Part exempt (specific exemption clauses not detailed in the provided text)

Original Request

In relation to Manx Care's decision to move parentcraft sessions for expectant mothers to an online model please provide: - All correspondence received by the Department of Health and Social Care from Manx Care which relates to the suspension of face-to-face parentcraft sessions for expectant mothers. - All correspondence sent internally within the DHSC which relates to the decision to stop the face-to-face parentcraft sessions for expectant mothers. - All correspondence between the Department of Health and Social Care and Manx Care which relates to the decision to stop the face-to-face parentcraft sessions for expectant mothers.

Data Tables (7)

Full Response Text

Page 1 of 6

IN THE KEYS

28 January 2025

FOR ORAL ANSWER

O-202501-1803

The Hon. Member for Douglas East (Ms Faragher, MHK) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care:

Why in-person parentcraft courses are no longer being offered to expectant mothers; upon what this decision is based; and what feedback about this decision her Department has received.

Thank you Mr Speaker

Maternity parentcraft sessions are essential for educating and supporting expectant parents in preparation for childbirth and early parenthood.

Until recently these sessions have been conducted face-to-face, requiring physical attendance. However feedback received from the users of the service was that there should be a more accessible and flexible approach to this now.

There are several factors supporting the transition to video-based sessions: 1. Parents can access the sessions at anytime, anywhere, allowing partners or family members to participate more easily. 2. Parents can watch sessions at their own pace and revisit key topics as needed. 3. Useful for those who may not be comfortable in group settings. 4. Can be used with other technologies to translate information for families whereby English is not their first language.
Page 2 of 6 5. Can be scaled to reach more parents. 6. Ensures all parents receive consistent expert-approved information. 7. This will be reviewed regularly to ensure the most up to date information is available.

As per the in-person parent craft sessions, the video-based sessions will include modules about labour preparation, newborn care, breastfeeding and postnatal recovery. This will also incorporate a virtual tour of the maternity ward and the Neonatal Unit, which is not something we have been able to offer all parents previously.

Parents will have the opportunity to speak with their midwife throughout their pregnancy and any questions generated from the videos can be asked at their appointments.

An online electronic feedback form will accompany the video-based training session to help inform and shape service delivery. Feedback on the effectiveness of the online training programme will be evaluated against expected outcomes: 1. Increased participation rates due to flexibility. 2. Improved knowledge retention through self-paced learning.

The focus of the sessions will be on high priority areas such as the maternity unit, outpatient services and community clinics. Transitioning maternity parent craft sessions to video-based sessions will help with flexibility of resources whilst maintaining service delivery, consistency for families and safety.

Public communication on the plans to transition from in-person parent craft sessions to online sessions were issued in September 2024. Feedback received since then evidenced the value of parentcraft sessions and the need for consistency. Our intention is for the face to face Parent craft sessions to cease but continue online for the foreseeable, however as this is a new initiative for families, this will be reviewed in 6 months’ time.
Page 3 of 6

The online content will be launched early February 2025.

-Ends-

Page 4 of 6 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Question Answer What other support is available? Open engagement is encouraged with the service and service users through the Maternity Facebook page. This platform is continually monitored and utilised to raise and influence awareness on key topics of importance and health promotion throughout pregnancy. Will this change improve resource utilisation Transitioning maternity parent craft sessions to a video-based format also ensures enhanced efficiency in resource utilisation within Maternity Services. Has an assessment in cost taken place? An assessment in cost has not taken place as this is not the driving factor. The priority for moving maternity parent craft sessions from face-to-face to video is for accessibility and convenience, flexibility and self- paced learning, inclusivity and continuity.
Info from Manx Care’s in response to Minister Caine’s enquiry We are aware of a once registered midwife who is supporting families and delivering a programme similar to parent craft sessions.
There is lots of information and support available to families through various third sector organisations and we have made a conscious effort to work with local Page 5 of 6 organisations to ensure information and materials are up- to-date and consistent with national guidance.
Whilst we make every effort to work with the third sector parties the service is not in a position to financially support the multiple agencies. In addition to endorse third sector organisations we need confidence in their knowledge and skillset.
For sessions such as ‘Parent craft’ and ‘Acquanatal’ we would only consider endorsing a registered practitioner who was up-to-date with current midwifery practice and local guidelines and policies.
As per our efforts to meet with local organisations we are aware of an individual who is supporting families and delivery of a programme similar to parent and craft sessions. Therefore will assess the information that is being provided to pregnant women and it is consistent with the information we provide. Info from Manx Care in response to Minister Caine’s query on Daddy Day Care sessions The Daddy Day Care sessions is a one off two hour session to support Dad’s confidence in the skills needed to care for their newborn baby.
Page 6 of 6 These skills are replicated to Mums whilst they are on the Maternity Unit, so the Dad’s are therefore not receiving anything additional to the Mums.
We decided to keep this option open as it is a good supplementary support to new Mums who may not be in a position to be up and about following birth.

From: Barlow, Emma To: Kennedy, Matthew Subject: FW: oral question from Joney Date: 04 March 2025 12:43:52 Attachments: HoK Oral Answer 1803 in-person parentcraft - due noon 23 January 2025.docx From: McAteer, Kira Kira.McAteer@gov.im Sent: 27 January 2025 10:58 To: Jones, Georgina Georgina.Jones@gov.im; Baggley, Regan Regan.Baggley@nobles.dhss.gov.im Cc: Cope, Teresa Teresa.Cope@gov.im; Barlow, Emma Emma.Barlow@gov.im; Radford, Oliver Oliver.Radford@nobles.dhss.gov.im; Subject: RE: oral question from Joney Hi Georgina, We have updated our response to clarify the future of Parent craft sessions. Also ask discussed please see our response to Minister Caine’s enquiry: We are aware of a once registered midwife who is supporting families and delivering a programme similar to parent craft sessions. There is lots of information and support available to families through various third sector organisations and we have made a conscious effort to work with local organisations to ensure information and materials are up-to-date and consistent with national guidance. Whilst we make every effort to work with the third sector parties the service is not in a position to financially support the multiple agencies. In addition to endorse third sector organisations we need confidence in their knowledge and skillset. For sessions such as ‘Parent craft’ and ‘Acquanatal’ we would only consider endorsing a registered practitioner who was up-to-date with current midwifery practice and local guidelines and policies. As per our efforts to meet with local organisations we will look to meet with our ex-employee who has recently established Parent craft sessions.  The once registered midwife left the midwifery register and has not practiced for a number of years, therefore it is important we assess the information that is being provided to pregnant women and it is consistent with the information we provide. The Daddy Day Care sessions is a one off two hour session to support Dad’s confidence in the skills needed to care for their newborn baby. These skills are replicated to Mums whilst they are on the Maternity Unit, so the Dad’s are therefore not receiving anything additional to the Mums. We decided to keep this option open as it is a good supplementary support to new Mums who may not be in a position to be up and about following birth. I hope the   above is sufficient. Kind regards S.25 - Personal Data S.25 - Personal Data   Regan & Kira   From: Jones, Georgina Georgina.Jones@gov.im Sent: 27 January 2025 09:28 To: Baggley, Regan Regan.Baggley@nobles.dhss.gov.im; McAteer, Kira Kira.McAteer@gov.im Cc: Cope, Teresa Teresa.Cope@gov.im; Barlow, Emma Emma.Barlow@gov.im; Radford, Oliver Oliver.Radford@nobles.dhss.gov.im; Subject: RE: oral question from Joney Importance: High   Good Morning   This Keys answer is required for the sitting tomorrow morning, so we’d be grateful for your urgent review of the answer following the below information being received.   Minister is chasing as she needs to review the answer ASAP.   Thank you   Kind regards   Georgina Jones | Executive Assistant to the Minister and Chief Officer                              Department of Health and Social Care   From: Jones, Georgina Sent: 24 January 2025 15:44 To: Baggley, Regan Regan.Baggley@nobles.dhss.gov.im; McAteer, Kira Kira.McAteer@gov.im Cc: Barlow, Emma Emma.Barlow@gov.im; Radford, Oliver Oliver.Radford@nobles.dhss.gov.im; Subject: FW: oral question from Joney Importance: High   Hi Regan, Kira   We’ve received some further supplementary information regarding the Keys question on parent craft classes – see below.  I think they’re saying that the retired midwife is happy to continue the in person classes but they would need our help with funding the room for this.   Can you take a look and see if the answer (attached) needs to be updated?   Are we able to be clear in the answer whether the online classes will continue permanently and that the in person classes will stop (if this is the case?).  Was the general feedback from people that they preferred online?  If so perhaps we could add this in too.   Thank you   Kind regards   S.25 - Personal Data S.25 - Personal Data S.25 - Personal Data Georgina Jones | Executive Assistant to the Minister and Chief Officer                              Department of Health and Social Care   From: Christian, Claire Claire.Christian@gov.im Sent: 24 January 2025 15:07 To: McCauley, Sam Sam.McCauley@gov.im; Igoea, Nicola (DHSC) Nicola.Igoea@gov.im Cc: Jones, Georgina Georgina.Jones@gov.im Subject: oral question from Joney   Dear Team,    I have received the below from Minister Caine, who received this from her constituents which is in reference to Joney’s oral question to me.  I hope this helps for answer and supps.   Hi ladies, do you have any idea how id manage a campaign to get the room hire for this funded by the health services. Theres a retired midwife currently running these antenatal classes for free as women currently have no access to parentcraft as it was dropped (due to funding but they still run the daddy day care, teaching dads how to massage a baby) plus theres a whole wellbeing week for pregnant women next week at the Roundhouse. She is paying the toom hire and has a few sponsors for it for the next 3 week course but would also be happy for it to be taken on and run by the jane but they don't have the staff. i went along tonight and there were at least 50 people in attendance all desperate to learn what to expect when having a baby. It seems wrong to remove this, whilst acknowledging that this work is important enough to keep doing the classes for expectant dads.   Best Wishes         Claire     Claire Christian BA ( Hons) MHK   Member of the House of Keys - Douglas South Minister for the Department of Health and Social Care Member of the Standing Orders of Tynwald Committee Member of the Housing and Communities Board Member of the Sub Committee on Justice Member of the Health Learning and Social Policy Board Member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association   Legislative Buildings Finch Road Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PW British Isles   Office Tel:  +44 (0)1624 686166 Mobile:  +44 (0)7624 209800 Claire.christian@gov.im Twitter: @Claire4MHK Facebook: https//www.facebook.com/clairechristianmhkdouglassouth Instagram:  Claire_christian_mhk www.tynwald.org.im   Please click the below link for privacy statement which can be found on the Tynwald website.   https://www.tynwald.org.im/memoff/member/Documents/ChristianCSB-Privacy- Policy.aspx     WARNING: This email message and any files transmitted with it are confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. You must not copy or deliver it to any other person or use the contents in any unauthorised manner without the express permission of the sender. If you are not the intended addressee of this e-mail, please delete it and notify the sender as soon as possible.   No employee or agent is authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of any of the Departments or Statutory Boards of the Isle of Man Government with any party by e-mail without express written confirmation by a Manager of the relevant Department or Statutory Board.   RAAUE: S’preevaadjagh yn çhaghteraght post-l shoh chammah’s coadanyn erbee currit marish as ta shoh coadit ec y leigh. Cha nhegin diu coipal ny cur eh da peiagh erbee elley ny ymmydey yn chooid t’ayn er aght erbee dyn kied leayr veih’n choyrtagh. Mannagh nee shiu yn enmyssagh kiarit jeh’n phost-l shoh, doll-shiu magh eh, my sailliu, as cur-shiu fys da’n choyrtagh cha leah as oddys shiu.   Cha nel kied currit da failleydagh ny jantagh erbee conaant y yannoo rish peiagh ny possan erbee lesh post-l er son Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh erbee jeh Reiltys Ellan Vannin dyn co-niartaghey scruit leayr veih Reireyder y Rheynn ny Boayrd Slattyssagh t’eh bentyn rish.     From: To: Cc: Barlow, Emma Subject: House of Keys 4 February - supp info requests for in-person parentcraft (1803) Date: 05 February 2025 14:34:00 Attachments: image001.png image002.png image003.png Hi   Apologies I can’t recall who answered the above oral question – possibly Oliver and I think Linda Thompson or Regan Baggley were involved? (I’ve copied in Emma from DHSC who was also involved and may be able to assist).   Following House of Keys yesterday, the Minister committed to providing the below information:   1. What steps were undertaken to make sure those who are digitally excluded would still be able to access the service? 2. What the process was of choosing this particular service, as opposed to other services in this area and what the impact assessments were done on how it would affect each cohort? 3. Did a drop in participation prompt the decision to go online?   I would be grateful if you could please provide answers to the above follow up questions so that we can go back to Members.   [transcript below of the Member’s questions and Mi

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