Bolton Maternity & Neonatal Voices Partnership

22/10/2026

A flattering photo from our focus group today. I think it was the moment I realised I’d drawn out the impact-feasibility matrix wrong.

We did an ‘if anything were possible’ exercise for maternity triage, then collectively decided how impactful each idea would be to families, and how easy each idea would be to implement.

Feedback from participants today was that they didn’t know that these kinds of activities existed - where we share our experiences and then work out practical ways to use what we’ve learned from one another.

I’d like to keep a mailing list of people who’d be interested in participating in future focus groups - email [email protected] if that’s you!

20/10/2026

Two spots left!

This Thursday, Little Lever Library, 11am -
12.30.

This is more than just sharing your experience - so there’s a £30 voucher for your contributions and your time.

Book here 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/help-shape-maternity-triage-in-bolton-a-focus-group-tickets-2002196202740

15/10/2026

I’m always amazed by how many people visit the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust baby remembrance garden for Wave of Light. Some have been coming for years, for others their grief is very new.

For all of us, the rain held off until the last gazebo was taken down and the last biscuit packed away.

Now the little candles for Bolton’s babies still light the empty pathways and will glow there until morning.

14/10/2026

People in Bolton who have been affected by baby loss are invited to share their heartfelt memories on an online dedication page, as we mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

The online Much Loved page allows families to upload messages and pictures to help keep the love and legacy of their little one alive.

Donations to Our Bolton NHS Charity are entirely optional, but any support would be deeply appreciated and will help the charity continue providing comfort and care to families affected by baby loss.

💙 You can leave your message here: https://boltonwaveoflight2026.dedicationpage.org/

The parents of Alfie James, who was born at Royal Bolton Hospital, have shared their own message and thanks to the midwifery teams who supported them during such a difficult time in their lives.

“When we gave birth to our beautiful Alfie James, the bereavement team and the bereavement suite we stayed in gave us something we will forever be grateful for — time.

“We truly cannot thank the staff enough for everything they did for us during the darkest and most heartbreaking time of our lives. A special thank you to Bereavement Midwife Seema Kala, who has been our rock and our shining light throughout a time that felt so incredibly dark. Her kindness, compassion and continued support will always hold a very special place in our hearts.

“Even now, the bereavement team continue to support us on our journey as we await the arrival of our little rainbow baby girl. Their care hasn’t ended with our loss — they have continued to walk alongside us, and for that we will always be grateful.

“Alfie will forever be our son, forever loved and forever missed. Thank you for giving us the space, support and precious memories that allowed us to say goodbye to our beautiful boy.”

01/10/2026

New email address! Amy and Wardah are still keeping their own, but this is one is best for members of the public wanting to share feedback - if one of us is one leave, the other will be able to pick it up and respond more quickly. 💜

01/10/2026

You’re warmly invited to join our Wave of Light service at Royal Bolton Hospital 🥰

People across Bolton are warmly invited to join Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s annual Wave of Light service at Royal Bolton Hospital.

The event provides a space for people to remember and honour babies who sadly died during pregnancy, at birth, or in infancy, and to acknowledge the lasting impact of loss on parents, families and loved ones.

The Wave of Light service, which is held to mark the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October), will take place at 6.45pm on Thursday 15 October in the hospital’s Baby Memorial Garden.

Candles will be provided for people to light in memory of the precious babies, as well as light refreshments.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

17/09/2026

What am I doing with your feedback?

I’ll often explain that over recent years, my interaction with Maternity Services at Bolton has evolved.

It’s shifted from meetings where I would share feedback I’d been hearing from local families, to becoming a presence within existing governance, quality and safety meetings, bringing a service-user perspective into conversations where there wasn’t one before.

That’s still a bit vague, so here’s an example.

Yesterday I was at the Maternity Safety Champions meeting. Every Trust is expected to have Maternity and Neonatal Safety Champions – people who, alongside their usual roles, have a particular focus on safety.

They bring different perspectives: senior midwives, nurses, obstetric and neonatal consultants, non-executive directors. And, for the last few years, me.

My contribution is: what might this look and feel like for the person receiving care? What do I know is concerning people right now?

I also took part in a simulation exercise yesterday – thankfully not one where I had to pretend to be in labour, although there is one of those coming up and I CANNOT ACT.

The team were practising using one of the NHS maternity safety systems so they’re familiar with the process and prepared to respond.

This feels like an important shift.

It’s gone from gathering intelligence about families’ experiences and taking it into the Trust, to using that intelligence as part of the work already happening ‘behind the scenes’ in a maternity service.

Boring photo as it was a meeting 🤷🏻‍♀️

19/08/2026

Continuing on the theme of ‘only working term time’

When I did a session at the Maternity Support Worker training for the second time earlier this year, they challenged me to do a shift so I could see what ward life is like from their perspective.

I don’t think they expected me to say yes 😂

I realised that the people at the bedside are a missing link in our partnership - mostly because while we are having meetings and focus groups they are all on shift. It makes sense for me to go and be where they are.

I spent 12.5 hours shadowing Rachel on G3 Antenatal and am so grateful for that opportunity.

I’m also absolutely desperate to know how everyone got on with their labours after I left.

15/08/2026

It’s gone a bit quiet on here because one of us works term time only and that’s the one of us with the social media log ins.

While Wardah is still doing her regular engagement rounds on the unit and out in the community around Bolton, Bury and Salford, Amy was supposed to be taking the school holidays off.

You can see how well that’s going as here are both of them presenting to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust board this week.

An NHS Trust board brings together executive directors, who run the organisation day to day, and non-executive directors, who provide independent oversight, challenge and scrutiny to help ensure the service is well governed and serves patients and communities effectively. Your feedback cannot go higher within an NHS Trust than this.

We presented a snapshot of your feedback (January - May 2026), and discussed the challenges and opportunities our work presents.

One of the most interesting conversations is how and why maternity differs from other areas of healthcare, particularly in how service user experience is understood.

01/07/2026