The National Maternity Experience Survey is a new nationwide survey asking women who have recently given birth about their experiences of Ireland’s maternity services — from antenatal care, through labour and birth, to postnatal care.

Women who give birth in October (and or November in smaller maternity units) will be invited to participate in the survey. All eligible new mothers will be contacted by post in February or March 2020 and will receive a link to the online survey.

The aim of the survey is to learn from the experiences of women to identify where our maternity services are performing well, and where change is needed to improve the quality and safety of care.

The benefits of care experience surveys are significant for all those involved, including the person using the service, the service provider, the regulator and the policy developer. International research has shown that surveys of this kind not only lead to enhanced patient recovery and better patient safety and wellbeing, but also to higher staff satisfaction and lower staff turnover and absenteeism.

The National Maternity Experience Survey is part of the National Care Experience Programme — a partnership between the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health.

The National Maternity Experience Survey team will be visiting all 19 Irish maternity hospitals and maternity units this October to meet staff and ask for their support in raising awareness of the survey amongst the women in their care.

To find out more about the survey, visit www.yourexperience.ie.