Hi Zoe, please tell us about the brilliant work you’re doing to make The Real Birth Company more accessible and personalised?
We are committed to making RealBirth more accessible and personalised to meet diverse needs of expectant parents. Our efforts include translating preterm-birth modules into multiple languages, ensuring vital information reaches communities where English is not the first language. We’ve introduced the first British Sign Language (BSL) programme specifically for maternity care, making our resources more inclusive for the Deaf community.
We’ve introduced the first British Sign Language (BSL) programme specifically for maternity care, making our resources more inclusive for the Deaf community.
In addition, we are developing personalised content to reflect a broad range of experiences and circumstances. This includes providing targeted information for individuals facing specific challenges, such as diabetes in pregnancy, low Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein A (PAPP-A), or the risks associated with female genital mutilation (FGM). We’ve also tailored support for transgender and non-binary parents, ensuring that everyone feels represented and supported throughout their maternity care.
We’ve also tailored support for transgender and non-binary parents, ensuring that everyone feels represented and supported throughout their maternity care.
Our goal is to ensure that every parent, from all backgrounds and circumstance, feels seen, heard, and empowered. By focusing on personalisation and accessibility, RealBirth is working to break down barriers to information, supporting a more inclusive environment where all parents receive the support they need for a positive pregnancy experience.
"The modules have been life changing! I never expected to learn all of this information as a Deaf Mother. It has been a great experience and I know that it will give me a positive birth experience because I will know what will be happening without worrying about my communication barriers." Steering Group supporter
Why is accessibility and inclusion so important?
In maternity care, accessibility and inclusion are essential as personalised support directly improves outcomes for parents and babies. When access to information is limited, it can lead to stress, inequality, and poorer health outcomes, particularly for marginalised and underrepresented groups. By making resources inclusive and easily accessible, we empower individuals with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions, enhancing both understanding and overall experience. This approach helps with trust, ensures no one is overlooked, and promotes equitable healthcare across diverse communities—ultimately delivering better, more positive outcomes for all.
What barriers have you seen and how have you overcome them?
We recognised several barriers to engaging with expectant parents while creating our resources. Some individuals faced challenges in finding time to attend group sessions, so we introduced anytime sessions including days, evenings and weekends, allowing parents to join discussions at their convenience. This approach helped accommodate busy schedules.
we introduced anytime sessions including days, evenings and weekends, allowing parents to join discussions at their convenience.
Developing BSL has provided some challenges, especially with some of the direct translations due to the differences in language. We have worked closely with the team and women to decide how best to present the information, making it clear and easy to understand. By integrating their insights and perspectives, we developed sensitive resources that reflected experiences. For other groups our 1-2-1 sessions allowed for open dialogue, creating a safe space to ask questions and share concerns without judgement. This personalised approach helped support those with lived experience share their stories, emotions and how they were impacted without clinicians being present.
For other groups our 1-2-1 sessions allowed for open dialogue, creating a safe space to ask questions and share concerns without judgement.
Clinician input was also vital for developing effective maternity care resources; however, limited availability and time constraints can hinder their engagement. We established clear agendas and focused discussions to maximise efficiency, ensuring that their expertise was integrated into our resources.
How is your work helping narrow health inequalities? What impact have you seen?
One significant impact we have observed is an increase in engagement from historically underserved groups. Nationally, we have seen a rise in participation from pregnant women and people living in areas with multiple deprivation levels 1 to 3. Our most recent real-world evaluation also highlighted a notable increase in Black and Asian women using RealBirth compared to population levels.
Nationally, we have seen a rise in participation from pregnant women and people living in areas with multiple deprivation levels 1 to 3.
Collaboration with Deaf women has revealed that the available resources for this group are extremely limited. Our work has impacted significantly here to support, providing tailored resources that address their unique needs. By focusing on accessibility and inclusivity, we are committed to ensuring that all women and people have the information and support necessary for a positive pregnancy experience, narrowing the health inequality gap by providing the ability to gain access to information that supports more people's personal circumstances. Simultaneously by tracking and monitoring data we are helping hospitals be more responsive to their birthing communities.
by tracking and monitoring data we are helping hospitals be more responsive to their birthing communities.
Is personalised care the future of healthcare?
Personalising maternity information is essential for advancing maternal healthcare in the future. For many pregnant women or people, pregnancy is not an illness but a significant life event. However, there are those with additional healthcare needs, and for them pregnancy can present unique challenges.
It is crucial to recognise that we cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, yet currently, there is no tool available that offers the level of personalisation required to meet individual needs outside of acute care settings. People’s awareness and understanding of birth significantly impacts how they navigate it and their experience, and RealBirth is designed to address this gap.
It is crucial to recognise that we cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all approach
What advice would you give to other healthcare companies about how to become more accessible and inclusive? Where can they go for advice?
To become more accessible and inclusive, healthcare companies should focus on understanding the diverse needs of their patients or users. Engaging with local ICBs and Health Innovation Networks can be a really helpful way to understand the needs that each area is addressing. Making contact with clinicians and finding out the challenges that they face in practice is also a helpful exercise.
Engaging with local ICBs and Health Innovation Networks can be a really helpful way to understand the needs that each area is addressing.
It is also vital to engage with people from different backgrounds when developing resources. Think about where people spend most of their lives - in maternity that is not often the hospital or clinic.
There are also some amazing resources out there to start, The King's Fund, Health Innovation Networks, and many more examples of how to work towards achieving inclusivity.