£7m digital system will improve maternity services in Wales

Vital information about the health of pregnant women and their unborn babies will be shared much faster with a new all-Wales digital system for maternity services in Wales, being created by a £7m investment from the Welsh Government.

Mothers-to-be will be able to access their records as well as receiving timely messages to help ensure a healthy pregnancy. 

Currently all the health boards in Wales use different systems, both digital and paper based. Creating one digital system for the whole of Wales will allow all the various professionals involved in care to share vital information more quickly, which could help reduce potential complications and ensure safe effective seamless care.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the Welsh Government will be investing £7m to develop the new system, which will be rolled out across the whole of Wales in the next two to three years.

She said:

Several recent reviews of maternity services in Wales and the UK have called for the creation of a unified digital system.

This new system will be safer and more efficient thanks to faster, better information sharing. It will also give women much more control over their maternity records and allow them to feedback to midwives and doctors much faster, via an app that will have records of all their discussions with health professionals.

Improvements in accuracy of data collection will also allow health boards to better plan services.

Chief Nursing Officer for Wales, Sue Tranka added:

During the course of their pregnancy women will see several different midwives and doctors sometimes across different health boards, so having one all-Wales digital system will make that journey much smoother.

It will also reduce bureaucracy and duplication, freeing up more time for those health professionals to focus on people.

Via the app we will be able to send pregnant women health advice, reminders for things like getting their flu jab as well as important personal medical messages.