The programme is led by Jane Walker, consultant midwife based at the Homerton University Hospital, who co-ordinates services delivered by the Homerton, the City and Hackney Primary Care Trust, the Shoreditch Trust and City University.  Trained local volunteers known as “bump buddies” and “birth buddies”, advise women during pregnancy and support them in labour.

Councillor Rita Krishna, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, and Chair of Team Hackney’s Children and Young People’s Partnership, which commissioned the programme, said: “We know from our own evaluation of the programme that it is meeting the needs of vulnerable women and their babies, and that there is huge enthusiasm among volunteers, professionals, and the families themselves.  I’m delighted that the success of the programme has been recognised at national level.”

A recent evaluation showed that the two-year integrated programme which is targeted at high risk groups such as black and minority ethnic women, has led to more breast feeding, earlier booking and better attendance at antenatal care, fewer emergency admissions for new babies, and fewer women referring themselves too soon to labour wards.

Hackney's infant mortality rate is higher than the average for London, especially among the Black African and Caribbean communities (see Notes to Editors below), where pre-term births are also more common. The Reducing Infant Mortality Programme (RIMP), a two-year programme costing £2.2m, was commissioned in 2007 by Hackney's local strategic partnership, Team Hackney, with the aim of reducing infant mortality in African and Caribbean women, women who sign up late for maternity services, and teenagers. 

The programme also includes nutritional advice and cooking courses; a midwives group practice based in the crypt of a Church in Shoreditch, and bi-lingual maternity support workers who offer both language services and clinical and emotional support.  A maternity phone helpline staffed by midwives provides instant advice seven days a week from 10am to 8pm.  Women most at risk have been supported by midwives working from two Children’s Centres and from the Sanctuary Practice, a GP practice working with refugees, asylum seekers, homeless people and other vulnerable groups.

Pauline Brown, Director of Nursing at Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted at the success of this innovative work and we thank everyone who has worked on the programme in any capacity.  It is clear that partnership working across
Health and social care structures is very effective and we look forward to taking the work forward into the future.”

Notes to editors

1. Government figures for 2004(ONS) showed that the infant mortality rate in Hackney was 6.5 per 1,000 live births, compared with 5.4 for London overall, and 5.2 for England and Wales.  The Fetal and Infant Death in East London (FIDEL study) in 2005  shoed that infant mortality rates among Black African and Caribbean women was significantly higher than the population as a whole,  This group is known to have a higher rate of pre-term birth – a significant contributor to infant mortality rates.

2. The RIMP programme includes three research projects.  These are looking into (a) high rates of very preterm birth among West African and Caribbean women in Hackney (b) updating the study of Fetal and Infant Death in East London (FIDEL) to include data beyond 2001 and (c) the possible role of lactobacillus and other bacteria in preventing preterm birth.

3. The RIMP programme was commissioned by the borough’s local strategic partnership, Team Hackney, following a comprehensive review of priorities relating to health inequalities.  Hackney’s infant mortality rate was highlighted as a cause for concern, and the programme was set up in March 2007 to run for two years until 2009.

4. Team Hackney is Hackney’s strategic partnership which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone in the borough by bringing together the different parts of the public private, community and voluntary sectors.