The City of Helsinki and HUS have developed the services in maternity and child health clinics and the maternity hospital taking into account feedback received from families. The experiences of new mothers on the implementation of care and services were surveyed at the maternity and child health clinics in Helsinki and at the HUS Women's Hospital in the autumn of 2022. Based on the survey responses, the continuity of care, the individuality of care, and the quality of client encounters were identified as key development goals. Read more about the 2022 survey.
Focus on continuity of care and unhurried encounters with families
Going forward, the continuity of care in maternity and child health clinics in Helsinki will be promoted through measures such as changes in appointment practices, which include the possibility for clients to schedule several visits at the same time. A particular objective is that after childbirth, the family would have their own public health nurse carry out the home visit.
Maternity wards in the HUS Women's Hospital have introduced care meetings which focus on comprehensive family care and guidance. The purpose of these centralised meetings is to enable empathetic and unhurried encounters with every family that has had a baby.
Renewed family coaching to start in June
Antenatal classes and family coaching have been developed to better meet the needs of families. Remote coaching sessions will start in June. The antenatal classes will focus on the stages of childbirth and the first days with the baby. The coaching will be done by a HUS midwife and a public health nurse from a maternity and child health clinic in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa or Kerava.
Clinics will also organise two separate family coaching sessions covering the life changes brought about by the birth of a baby, the wellbeing of the parents, and the first weeks with the baby. The aim is to help expectant families prepare for the birth, childbirth recovery, parenthood and daily life with a new baby.
The coaching will be offered in Finnish, English or Swedish. Finnish-language coaching will be available from June, English-language coaching from August, and Swedish-language coaching from October onwards.
Individual guidance and integrated service paths under development
In the autumn of 2024, maternity clinics will collect feedback through visit-specific surveys. Before the scheduled visit, the pregnant person can let the nurse know of their current needs and any topics they wish to discuss during the upcoming visit, enabling expectant families to get more individualised support and guidance.
The City of Helsinki and HUS will continue to develop the service path for expectant families. The service path starts with a positive pregnancy test and continues until the postpartum examination. Through an integrated service path, the aim is to provide an overview of the services that are available during and after pregnancy and clarify where families can get the help they need during pregnancy and after childbirth.
This development work has been carried out as part of Helsinki’s sustainable growth project, which aims to streamline clients' treatment and service paths and develop preventive and digital services. Our development measures in Helsinki are part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland, which is funded mainly through NextGenerationEU, the European Union’s economic recovery package.