The Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Act 2010 was given Royal assent. The Act ended eligibility for child trust funds for children born from January 2011 onwards; repealed the Saving Gateway Accounts Act 2009, following the decision by the coalition government not to introduce the saving gateway scheme; and abolished the health in pregnancy grant from January 2011.
Source: Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Act 2010, HM Revenue & Customs/TSO
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes
Date: 2010-Dec
A report set out the work of the Infant Mortality National Support Team in addressing inequalities and improving infant and maternal health in disadvantaged areas, and identified good practice.
Source: Marilena Korkodilos, Ray Earwicker and Marcia Perry, Tackling Health Inequalities in Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes, Department of Health
Links: Report
Notes: The Infant Mortality National Support Team (IMNST) was established in 2008 to help disadvantaged local areas in England to address inequalities in infant mortality and improve infant and maternal health outcomes.
Date: 2010-Dec
The inspectorate for healthcare and social care said that most women felt positive about maternity care services, with some 'encouraging improvements' since 2007: but information and support still needed to improve.
Source: Women's Experiences of Maternity Care in England: Key findings from the 2010 NHS trust survey, Care Quality Commission
Links: Report | CQC press release | DH statement | NCT press release | RCM press release | RCN press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Dec
A study found that the majority of women were pleased with the care that they had received from the National Health Service during pregnancy and childbirth: but there were important areas where improvements could still be made.
Source: Maggie Redshaw and Katriina Heikkila, Delivered with Care: A national survey of women's experience of maternity care 2010, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit/University of Oxford
Links: Report | Oxford University press release
Date: 2010-Nov
An official advisory body called for the reorganization of maternity services in order to improve access to, and uptake of, antenatal care. Too many women in difficult social circumstances were not using maternity services, with potentially negative consequences for their own health and for that of their baby.
Source: Pregnancy and Complex Social Factors: A model for service provision for pregnant women with complex social factors, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Links: Guidelines | NIHCE press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Sep
An article examined the relationship between mobility and health among pregnant women, new mothers, and infants. Mobility was weakly and non-significantly associated with most health variables with the exception of self-rated health and depression among mothers who moved for negative reasons (such as relationship breakdown or problems with neighbours), or who had been homeless since birth.
Source: Helena Tunstall, Kate Pickett and Sarah Johnsen, 'Residential mobility in the UK during pregnancy and infancy: are pregnant women, new mothers and infants "unhealthy migrants"?', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 71 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
An article examined gender differences in the relationship between urban green space and health.
Source: Elizabeth Richardson and Richard Mitchell, 'Gender differences in relationships between urban green space and health in the United Kingdom', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 71 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Aug
A think-tank paper examined the existing state of general practice involvement in maternity care in England, what family doctors could do to stimulate and maintain care quality, and how care quality could be measured. It said that the care of pregnant women was being undermined by the lack of involvement of family doctors.
Source: Alex Smith, Judy Shakespeare and Anna Dixon, The Role of GPs in Maternity Care: What does the future hold?, King's Fund
Links: Paper | King's Fund press release | BMA press release | NCT press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Aug
The new coalition government announced new measures designed to end most mixed-sex hospital accommodation in England.
Source: Press release 16 August 2010, Department of Health
Links: DH press release | Mind press release | RCN press release | Sane press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Nursing Times report
Date: 2010-Aug
An article provided a critical examination of the 'new paradigm' of health and its relationship to femininity. Femininity involved an attitude to the body that was also found in recent health policy, and in cultural representations of health more generally.
Source: Sarah Moore, 'Is the healthy body gendered? Toward a feminist critique of the new paradigm of health', Body & Society, Volume 16 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jul
An article examined ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England. Minority-ethnic women, lone mothers, and those with an earlier age at completing education accessed maternity services late, had poorer outcomes, and reported poorer experiences across some – though not all – dimensions of maternity care.
Source: Veena Raleigh, David Hussey, Ian Seccombe and Karen Hallt, 'Ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England: results of a national survey', Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Volume 103 Issue 5
Links: Article | Guardian report
Date: 2010-May
A manifesto for health policy was published, written by women health experts.
Source: What Women Want: A Manifesto for Health 2010, 2020health
Links: Manifesto
Date: 2010-Mar