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Training
It takes time, experience and training to gain the confidence needed to tackle the difficult topic of fetal abnormality. ARC training helps health professionals to be able to respond both practically and emotionally to parents’ needs as well as meeting health professionals' own support needs.
“I am grateful to ARC not only for what it does for parents but also for the way it helps professionals do their jobs better by increasing awareness of the needs of parents facing these dilemmas. ARC works together with hospital staff and other professionals in order to improve the care that parents receive. We all value their work highly."
Professor Charles H. Rodeck, Former Head of Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Free and University College London Medical School.
Dramatic developments in antenatal care have led to many new ways to screen for and diagnose fetal abnormality. Parents are now faced with the need to make difficult decisions based on complex information and often uncertain outcomes. Health professionals need to be able to give this information in a clear non-directive manner and interpret the information in a way that is appropriate for parents’ needs.
This is not an easy task as the language that is used centres around terms such as 'risk', 'probability' and 'chance'. Furthermore, the way in which information is delivered can lessen anxiety and make a real difference to the parents’ experience of antenatal care.
Most pregnancies do result in a healthy baby, but for parents who receive the news that their unborn baby has an abnormality the result comes as a great shock. Therefore the need to communicate this information in a clear yet sensitive manner is paramount. ARC is unique in that it is the only specialist organisation of its kind working directly with parents at all stages of the screening process - and beyond.
This allows ARC to offer professional training based on parents’ experience of antenatal screening and testing, as well as their experience when faced with a diagnosis of fetal abnormality.
ARC training is informed by the contact and feedback ARC has had from parents in the last 20 years and research in the field. The training affords practitioners the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences around issues such as communicating risk, breaking bad news and supporting parents’ decision making.
ARC can provide health professionals with comprehensive training designed specifically to meet their needs, with two hour seminars, half day workshops or full day training. ARC regularly runs Level 1 and Level 2 study days throughout the year in Central London. We can deliver training on-site at hospitals to teams of health professionals involved in antenatal screening and testing. Please contact ARC's Liaison and Development Manager on 020 7631 0280 for more information.