Background: UK antenatal guidelines state that midwives should discuss nutrition, diet, and vitamin supplementation at booking-in appointments (1). Our earlier research suggests that this rarely happens (2). Participant and Public Involvement (PPI), enhances research by making it more meaningful and reliable. This study incorporated PPI to elicit the experiences of postnatal women regarding the nutrition and weight management advice they received during antenatal care and their opinions regarding the design of a future resource for midwives.
Methods: Eight postnatal women were recruited from a Children’s Centre in Liverpool. They were asked questions by one researcher, about: a) any nutrition advice given by midwives during their antenatal care and b) their opinions regarding the development of a nutrition resource for midwives in future. Notes of the conversations were made by a second researcher; these were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Participants were given a shopping voucher to thank them for their input.
Results: Regarding the development of a resource, three themes were identified: 1) Factual information, 2) The Midwives approach, 3) Include us. They identified that they wanted more in-depth facts from midwives, particularly regarding key nutrients and food that should be included in a healthy diet “Good nutrition grows babies”. However, they felt that midwives needed to improve their approach to discussing diet and weight, to include more empathy and sensitivity, as women often felt judged or anxious by comments that were made “It’s not what they say – it’s the way they say it”.  Finally, they agreed that their voices should be included in the development of a resource, with midwives and service users coming together to share their views “Get them [midwives] involved in something like this”.
Discussion & Conclusion:
All women agreed that a nutrition resource for midwives was needed as they were dissatisfied with the advice they received. They wanted less focus on food safety/food to avoid and increased emphasis on food and essential nutrients to include. Involving the expertise of dietitians/nutritionists in the resource would help to address knowledge gaps and inconsistencies. Midwives would benefit from training regarding sensitive weight management advice too, as weight was rarely discussed or was approached in a distressing way. This has been documented elsewhere with the recommendation that training regarding sensitive weight management advice should be included in the midwifery curriculum and mandatory training (3). Support and expertise from a health psychologist would help to develop this aspect of the resource. Including the experiences and opinions of service users alongside midwives will be vital to the success of developing a suitable resource for midwives, so ongoing PPI activities need to be considered.
References:
1.  NICE (2021) Antenatal care guidelines [ https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng201/resources/antenatal-care-pdf-6614370969594]
2.  McCann, M, Newson, LM, Burden C., et al. (2018) Matern Child Nutr 14 (2), e12520.10.1111/mcn.12520
3.  Olander, E.K., Hill, B. and Skouteris, H., 2021. Healthcare professional training regarding gestational weight gain: recommendations and future directions. Current Obesity Reports, 10, pp.116-124.

**Background:** UK antenatal guidelines state that **midwives** should discuss nutrition, diet, and vitamin supplementation at booking-in appointments (1). Our earlier research suggests that this rarely happens (2). Participant and Public Involvement (PPI), enhances research by making it more meaningful and reliable. This study incorporated PPI to elicit the experiences of postnatal women regarding the nutrition and weight management advice they received during antenatal care and their opinions regarding the design of a future resource for midwives.
**Methods:** Eight postnatal women were recruited from a Children’s Centre in Liverpool. They were asked questions by one researcher, about: a) any nutrition advice given by midwives during their antenatal care and b) their opinions regarding the development of a nutrition resource for midwives in future. Notes of the conversations were made by a second researcher; these were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Participants were given a shopping voucher to thank them for their input.
**Results:** Regarding the development of a resource, three themes were identified: 1) Factual information, 2) The Midwives approach, 3) Include us. They identified that they wanted more in-depth facts from midwives, particularly regarding key nutrients and food that should be included in a healthy diet “_Good nutrition grows babies_”. However, they felt that midwives needed to improve their approach to discussing diet and weight, to include more _empathy_ and _sensitivity_, as women often felt _judged_ or _anxious_ by comments that were made “_It’s not what they say – it’s the way they say it_”.  Finally, they agreed that their voices should be included in the development of a resource, with midwives and service users coming together to share their views “_Get them [midwives] involved in something like this_”.
**Discussion & Conclusion:**
All women agreed that a nutrition resource for midwives was needed as they were dissatisfied with the advice they received. They wanted less focus on food safety/food to avoid and increased emphasis on food and essential nutrients to include. Involving the expertise of dietitians/nutritionists in the resource would help to address knowledge gaps and inconsistencies. Midwives would benefit from training regarding sensitive weight management advice too, as weight was rarely discussed or was approached in a distressing way. This has been documented elsewhere with the recommendation that training regarding sensitive weight management advice should be included in the midwifery curriculum and mandatory training (3). Support and expertise from a health psychologist would help to develop this aspect of the resource. Including the experiences and opinions of service users alongside midwives will be vital to the success of developing a suitable resource for midwives, so ongoing PPI activities need to be considered.
**References:**
1.  NICE (2021) _Antenatal care guidelines_ [ [https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng201/resources/antenatal-care-pdf-6614370969594]](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng201/resources/antenatal-care-pdf-6614370969594%5d)
2.  McCann, M, Newson, LM, Burden C., et al. (2018) Matern Child Nutr 14 (2), e12520.10.1111/mcn.12520
3.  Olander, E.K., Hill, B. and Skouteris, H., 2021. Healthcare professional training regarding gestational weight gain: recommendations and future directions. _Current Obesity Reports_, _10_, pp.116-124.

OC29 - Developing a nutrition resource for midwives, incorporating a patient and public involvement approach.

Unique to the new Congress (previously the Summer Conference) is that you will have greater opportunity to engage with more nutrition science than ever before. In 2024 the core programme will be delivered by the Irish Section of The Nutrition Society, supported by the Science Committee. The theme of these symposia will be ‘new data – focused approaches and challenges’. Outside of the core programme you will have the chance to hear the latest research from the Society’s partner organisations, universities, the private sector and more, on a diverse range of research.