A national approach to unassisted birth notifications
NHS South, Central and West (NHS SCW) Child Health Information Services (CHIS) is the national point of contact for birth notifications following unassisted births, ensuring new parents receive information and support across England.
Challenge
An increasing number of families are choosing to give birth without medical assistance, while birth notification remains a legal requirement under Section 269 of the NHS Act 2006.
Until recently, there was no national process to support families in fulfilling this obligation, which created uncertainty for new parents.
With unassisted births on the rise, our objective was to develop a clear national process, enabling parents to notify a central source with confidence and without the risk of receiving conflicting information.
What we did
NHS SCW CHIS developed a robust internal process for unassisted birth notifications – designed with parents in mind. Here’s how it works:
- As soon as we are notified, we add the child’s details to our system, giving each baby a temporary number so we can keep track right from the start
- Babies born without a healthcare professional present receive a special flag in our system, making it easy to monitor this group
- Parents are sent a digital postcard as proof of birth notification, which they can present to the Registrar of Births
- The digital postcard also provides links to information on screening and immunisations, local support, and who to contact in a medical emergency
- We inform the local Health Visiting team so they can offer support and guidance to the family if required
By following these steps, we provide parents who choose an unassisted birth a clear path to follow, avoiding confusion and helping them feel supported every step of the way.
Activity
Child Health Information Services (CHIS)
Robust processes ensure notifications are processed accurately and promptly, recognising their importance as the first step in a baby's healthcare journey.
At-scale programmes
Through our delivery of 6 NHSE CHIS contracts, we support 4.29 million children, representing 32.18% of the child population in England, with this process we are covering families across the whole of England.
Health improvement and inequalities
Every child is front and centre in our approach, with failsafes in place to ensure no child is missed.
Impact
- NHS SCW CHIS has been selected by NHS England for an 18-month pilot to trial unassisted birth notifications from parents across England, based on our robust existing processes
- As part of the pilot, we have introduced additional steps, including a digital postcard for families, to better support parents across the country
- To date, 32 notifications have been received, with 27 parents (84%) requesting healthcare contact and NHS number registration
- Parents have provided positive feedback, describing the process as straightforward and the information as clear
- The pilot aligns with CHIS values to ensure no child is missed
- It also supports the NHS Long Term Plan, focusing on prevention and reducing health inequalities, and demonstrates how we contribute to these national objectives
