Tailoring a service to support pregnant women living in the LEAP area

This Learning Journey captures the story of LEAP’s Community Activity and Nutrition (CAN) service. Learn how LEAP used and adapted an evidence-based intervention to support local, pregnant women.

Discover how LEAP responded to the needs of its priority population who are at risk of poorer maternal outcomes, through providing personalised and culturally appropriate support: researching women’s cultural foods; translating service resources; and using translators to reach non-English speaking women.

Authors

Sheila O’Connor, Midwife Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Victoria Craig, Midwife Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Josefiina Valimaki, Data Analyst (Public Health)
Gemma Luck, Public Health Intelligence Manager, LEAP
Angharad Lewis, Public Health Officer, Lambeth Early Action Partnership
Carla Stanke, Public Health Specialist, Lambeth Early Action Partnership

Who is this for?

These learnings provide a blueprint for those responsible for supporting healthy weight and nutrition and achieving improved maternal and child outcomes in their communities. This report will be insightful to anyone with a professional or academic interest in maternal weight and childhood obesity.

The background

Maternal nutrition is critical for the health and well-being of women and their infants. Supporting pregnant women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or higher is important. BMI is a measure of whether a person has a healthy weight for their height.

Starting pregnancy with excess weight or gaining excessive gestational weight has both short- and long-term health problems for both the woman and the developing fetus. Maternal obesity has been cited as a major determinant of offspring health during childhood and later adult life. Within Lambeth, children are more likely to be overweight or obese at school entry if they live in areas of higher deprivation.

Inequities have a cumulative impact on health, particularly during pregnancy. The concept of intersectionality was important to the CAN service, which was delivered to pregnant women from diverse ethnic groups who live in areas of deprivation.

The LEAP Community Activity and Nutrition (CAN) service was based on an intervention used in a randomised control trial. CAN was commissioned by LEAP in 2015 and recruitment to the service commenced in January 2016.

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