Risk-free simulation lab transforms maternity training

A Birmingham simulation lab recreating emergency childbirth in a risk-free environment is changing how maternity staff train, according to the NHS.

The unit at Birmingham Women’s Hospital received £1m from fashion entrepreneur George Davies through his charitable trust.

Its launch follows nationwide scrutiny of maternity services after the Ockenden Report into Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust. That inquiry recommended that clinical teams train together – a central aim of simulation.

The lab includes spaces modelled on working wards such as a delivery room, neonatal unit and theatre.

Staff can rehearse emergencies from a home birth to a baby born in a car park, then follow the mother and baby through to the delivery room and neonatal intensive care unit.

Consultant neonatologist Matt Nash said the centre makes joined-up training possible.

He said: “The Ockenden report actually outlined that teams who work together need to train together, and simulation is the absolutely right way to do that.

“We’re able to get the neonatal teams and maternity teams, obstetricians, ancillary staff, theatre staff all together to be able to run through acute scenarios, to make sure that it’s as safe and effective as possible.”

The lab is used by teams from Birmingham Women’s Hospital and other hospitals in the region.

Perpetual, mother to five-year-old twins, saw the hospital’s expertise in 2020 when she contracted Covid.

She was placed in an induced coma, and her twins were delivered by Caesarean section at 26 weeks in a high-risk operation.

“This is an added advantage to training, which we didn’t have before. So I think personally, as a mum, that gives me huge reassurance,” said Perpetual, who is also a hospital consultant.

Davies has backed the trust since 2006, when staff saved his granddaughter Evie, born with a rare heart defect.

He chose to donate again after meeting advanced neonatal nurse Catherine Powell in his local pub.

Davies said: “There’s not a person I’ve met that I’ve not been impressed with – a nurse or a doctor.

“I think the biggest satisfaction to me in life now is helping people.”