Action on Birth-Related Infections (ABRI)

Current care 

Once home, there can be a week or more between wound checks. Infections can start. If they are not spotted, they can get worse. Many women/birthing people don't get the support they feel they need. 

Antibiotics are medicines that treat bacterial infections. There are worries that these may not work well in the future. This is due to antibiotic resistance. 

What will we do? 

In this study, we will find out what is currently happening in NHS services across the UK, what behaviours or actions need to change to improve women/birthing people’s postnatal journey and recovery, and how we can support these changes. Together with experts we will make a ‘toolkit’. 

We want the toolkit to:

• Help NHS services monitor and reduce birth-related infections.

• Improve the safe use of antibiotics.

How will we do it? 

The study has four parts: 

1. NHS maternity services will share the documents they give to staff and families, like guidelines and leaflets. We will assess their quality and see whether their content is supported by evidence.   

2. We will invite midwives, doctors, and other health workers to groups to share their experiences of caring for those with wounds and birth-related infections. 

3. We will send a survey to BaBi participants who have recently had a baby. We will ask about their experience of preventing and managing birth-related infections. Some women/birthing people will be invited to share more in an interview. 

4. We will use the findings from Parts 1–3 to plan a new toolkit. We will bring together people with lived experience, midwives, doctors, and other specialists. Together, in stages, we will make a toolkit that is clear and useful.  

What do we hope the study will achieve?

We will share results with the NHS and the public. The toolkit will be ready to test in a larger study. 

We hope that in future the toolkit will mean that fewer people will develop infections after birth and that antibiotics will continue to work well for those who need them.

Getting involved

Would you like to support this study as an ABRI Lived Experience Team member?

We need women/birthing people from different backgrounds, with recent postnatal experiences, to be part of the ABRI team. This is vital to make sure the study:

• includes people who don’t always get heard;

• asks questions focused on what is important to them; and

• finds solutions that are acceptable to them.

ABRI Lived Experience Team members are paid £25 per hour. Tasks include reviewing documents and attending group meetings. Support is available for people with accessibility or interpreting needs. 

If you are interested, please email Holly Edmundson at holly.edmundson@phc.ox.ac.uk 

The Study Team

Supervisors

Professor Gail Hayward – University of Oxford

Associate Professor Katherine Tucker – University of Oxford

Professor Lucy Yardley – University of Bristol

Professor Christine McCourt – City St George’s, University of London

Dr Shashi Hirani – City St George’s, University of London