Building a safe space: optimising maternity care for survivors of modern slavery by co-creating supporting resources for women and professionals
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN28610053 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN28610053 |
- Submission date
- 12/07/2024
- Registration date
- 03/02/2025
- Last edited
- 14/08/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Modern slavery is the exploitation of individuals through activities such as sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced criminal activity, the sale of children and the forced movement of people via human trafficking. Estimates suggest up to 122,000 adults live in modern slavery in the UK, with over 18,400 women and girls confirmed as potential victims since 2018. Around three in every ten women survivors of modern slavery are pregnant while being trafficked. These women and their babies are more likely to experience poor health outcomes. All childbearing women should receive care that is respectful, safe and appropriate to their situation. Maternity care professionals have limited knowledge about how best to provide care for survivor mothers. Collaborative working between maternity services and community agencies requires support.
We want to understand how the best maternity care and support can be provided for survivor mothers and their babies.
Who can participate?
Survivor mothers who have experience of maternity care in the UK.
Maternity professionals (working clinically or strategically) and non-statutory service staff providing care and support to women survivors.
What does the study involve?
We will work with organisations that support women survivors nationally to complete interviews or focus groups with up to 22 survivor mothers from varied backgrounds and cultures. We will also interview up to 8 staff in total from support agencies and maternity professionals. We will be flexible in how we work with everyone. Women will have access to emotional and language support, anonymity will be maintained, and survivors’ time will be paid for. We will use recognised approaches to analyse the data collected. From this information, we will co-create with stakeholders best practice resources to support women’s decision-making and guide those providing care and support during maternity.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
We cannot promise that the study will be of direct help to the participants, but the information we get from this study may help improve future care provision for women and their babies. Some participants enjoy taking part in interviews and sharing their views and experiences. There are few risks involved in interviews/focus group research, including emotional distress. We ask that people only share what they are comfortable with. If the participants become distressed during the interview/focus group due to the sensitive nature of the discussion, they will be free to pause or terminate their participation.
Where is the study run from?
University of Nottingham (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
June 2024 to December 2025
Who is funding the study?
NIHR Research for Patient Benefit and Salvation Army (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Sara Borrelli, sara.borrelli@nottingham.ac.uk
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator
School of Health Sciences
The University of Nottingham
B Floor, Room B236, Queen’s Medical School
Nottingham
NG7 2UH
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-0826-5516 |
|---|---|
| sara.borrelli@nottingham.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Observational |
| Secondary study design | Qualitative study |
| Study setting(s) | Charity/Voluntary sector, Other |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet. |
| Scientific title | Building a safe space: optimising maternity care for survivors of modern slavery by co-creating supporting resources for women and professionals |
| Study objectives | Project aims: 1. To identify how optimal maternity care and support should be provided for survivor mothers and their babies 2. To co-create recommendations and resources for survivor mothers, maternity professionals and non-statutory service staff. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
1. Approved 25/06/2024, University of Nottingham, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ethics Committee (Faculty Hub, Room E41, E Floor, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre Campus, Nottingham University Hospitals, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, United Kingdom; -; FMHS-ResearchEthics@nottingham.ac.uk), ref: FMHS 191-0524 2. Submitted 09/07/2024, The Salvation Army, Research & Development Unit (Territorial Headquarters, 1 Champion Park, London, SE5 8FJ, United Kingdom; -; rdu@salvationarmy.org.uk), ref: - |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Maternity care and support for survivor mothers and their babies |
| Intervention | In depth, semi-structured, audio-recorded face-to-face/virtual interviews or focus groups (depending on participant preference) with survivor mothers; in-depth, semi-structured, recorded virtual interviews with professionals; template analysis; co-creation. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | To identify how optimal maternity care and support should be provided for survivor mothers and their babies measured using qualitative interviews and focus groups |
| Secondary outcome measures | There are no secondary outcome measures |
| Overall study start date | 25/06/2024 |
| Completion date | 31/12/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Health professional, Service user |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Upper age limit | 100 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 30 (22 survivor mothers + 8 professionals) |
| Total final enrolment | 34 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Survivor mothers: 1. Experience of maternity care in the UK (pregnancy or labour or postpartum) 2. Self-identify or identified by professionals as a survivor of modern slavery 3. Aged 18 years or over; within 5 years of giving birth. We will include a range of characteristics to support heterogeneity (various ages, nationalities, ethnicities, rural/urban areas) Professionals: 1. Maternity professionals (working clinically or strategically) and non-statutory service staff providing care and support to women survivors |
| Key exclusion criteria | Survivor mothers: Mothers who have no experience of any aspect of UK maternity care Professionals: Not meeting the inclusion criteria |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/09/2024 |
| Date of final enrolment | 16/06/2025 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)115 951 5151 |
|---|---|
| sponsor@nottingham.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/01ee9ar58 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme, RfPB
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/06/2026 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Findings, recommendations and resources will be presented at a half-day virtual end-of-project knowledge exchange event (month 14), which will launch recommendations and resources. Invited stakeholders will include survivor mothers, NHS maternity professionals, non-statutory services staff, commissioners and policy makers. The event will be advertised through newsletters, webpages and mailing lists via established links with statutory and non-statutory services who have agreed to support the project, including VITA Foundation, The Salvation Army, Unseen, Human Trafficking Foundation, Maternity Stream of Sanctuary, University of Nottingham Rights Lab and Causeway. Representation will be invited from relevant government agencies (Home Office Modern Slavery Unit), professional bodies (Royal Colleges) and academic departments engaged in this field. Twenty-five stakeholders who attended our pre-project stakeholder event expressed an interest in further supporting the project and will be invited. The organisations invited have committed to rapid incorporation of recommendations and resources into existing materials (newsletters, online platforms, webpages) and into training resources (detailed above as part of project Phase III); this will, in turn, support our dissemination strategy. The event will be supported by a Press Release and attendees will be asked to provide informal feedback about use of resources and to support future formal evaluation. We have noted the project to the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC), with whom the Rights Lab Director has already met for preliminary partnership discussions. We intend to invite her to chair the end-of-project knowledge exchange event launching recommendations and resources. Additional dissemination of outputs will take place through the following publications and presentations: co-created recommendations and resources for use by maternity professionals, staff of non-statutory agencies, policy-makers and service commissioners and for incorporation into education (HEE) and training packages (e.g. VITA, RCM i-learn and e-Learning for Health) (Project team); a co-created infographic version of the recommendations and resources for survivor mothers; interim and final reports to funder; two papers will be submitted for publication to high-quality, open-access, peer-reviewed academic and practice-facing journals; a paper for a survivor audience will be co-produced and co-authored with the PPI Group for dissemination through survivors’ networks e.g Survivor Alliance, Maternity Stream of Sanctuary; a briefing paper prepared for professional bodies (RCOG/RCM/RCPCH) and NHS systems (Maternity Transformation Programme, Head of Safeguarding, Integrated Care Systems, NICE; two presentations offered to national/international conferences, targeting maternity audiences and organisations supporting survivors of modern slavery. Participants will be offered a summary of findings, recommendations and resources at study completion. |
| IPD sharing plan | The databases generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to confidentiality issues. |
Editorial Notes
14/08/2025: The date of final enrolment was changed from 31/05/2025 to 16/06/2025. Total final enrolment added. Completion date was changed from 30/09/2025 to 31/12/2025.
12/07/2024: Trial's existence confirmed by the University of Nottingham, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ethics Committee.
