By: 1 November 2012

Annie Hughes, Midwife at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Maret Dymond, Lead Clinical Psychologist, Mindfulness, Childbirth and Parenting, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford; Dr Sian Warriner, Consultant Midwife at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust; Kim Paul, Bereavement Specialist Midwife at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust

We are pleased to announce that the 2012-13 Innovating for Life Awards are now open for entries, following their inaugural success last year. This initiative supports innovation and creativity in practice, to improve the care of infants.

There are two categories of entry, midwifery and neonatal care. Multidisciplinary teams or individuals can enter either category with the opportunity to receive a grant of £10,000 to develop their initiative, or to expand an existing innovation within their hospital. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2013. Visit www.innovatingforlife.co.uk to enter the award online, for more information and to view the full terms and conditions.

The winner of last year’s midwifery category was the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting Project led by Dr Sian Warriner, Consultant Midwife at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and details of the project will be published in the British Journal of Midwifery. The neonatal category was won by Improving Neonatal Airway Management, this was led by Dr Richard Mupanemunda, Consultant Neonatologist at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, and published in Infant journal. Both winners received £10,000 to fund their projects.

Dr Lynne Maher, Director for Innovation and Design at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, provided feedback on last year’s short-listed entries and was impressed by the quality of entries, saying that “It’s great to see so many examples of innovation within the NHS. Entering the Innovating for Life Awards is an excellent way of getting your idea put into practice and ultimately improving infant care.”

Dr Anthony Emmerson, Medical Editor of Infant journal, who was on the judging panel last year, said: “Innovation in neonatal care has been a key to many of the improvements in the quality of care and outcome over the years. Sometimes the smallest idea can make a significant change so don’t hold back and submit your initiative.”