A new course in sign language has been made available to prospective midwives, in a bid to help them care for deaf patients.

The Nursing Times reported that deaf women in labour are not always afforded the support they required; however that is set to change with the course's introduction. 

The sign language course should enable midwives to better communicate with their patients, and increase social carer-patient relationships. Midwives going the extra mile and taking the course should reassure those in nurse manager jobs that their staff are providing optimum care.

Two organisations, the De Montford University in Leicester, and hearing charity, Action Deafness, have teamed up to offer the course.

Bernadette Gregory, a midwifery lecturer at the university, told The Nursing Times: "We decided to run these sessions to highlight the fact midwives are personally and professionally accountable under the new Equality Act, which came into force in October 2010, to offer the best care to all women and their partners."

"We hope to teach the next generation of midwives how to communicate and provide better care to these women at such an important time in their lives," she added.

Gregory went on to say that De Montford University was one of the first offering the course, and that she hoped by highlighting it and the importance of providing the best-possible care for all patients, more healthcare professionals would incorporate it into their training programmes.