Using design thinking to reimagine postnatal ward care for future-focused healthcare

Postnatal care is an integral part of maternity care and support, but NHS England's national data have consistently shown an unmet need in postnatal care. This article describes the outcomes of an improvement project that used design thinking methodology to understand the experiences, needs and challenges in an NHS postnatal ward in London, then used these insights to co-design a solution to support the delivery of joint-up mother and baby care. Challenges identified included difficulties coordinating care and reliance on standalone communication systems (such as paper-based ward handover sheets and wipe-down whiteboards for ward activity planning). The project aimed to improve communication and information sharing, ward discharge processes, time and resource management, and data capability. This involved a co-designed, bottom-up digital innovation that centralised all operational processes relevant to postnatal ward care, implemented at the trust in December 2018. The bespoke online portal integrates mother and baby care, and helps to ensure joined-up working among healthcare professionals, with real-time data and predictive analysis to inform integrated, dynamic and iterative responses to an individual maternity system's operational needs and challenges. Learning from this approach is shared in this article, with recommendations for future practice.