Maternity
Maternity Information Event
On Tuesday 31 May we held a virtual event to update about the suspension of community and home births. If you missed the event you can watch it back here, and read the questions and answers from the event here.Temporary closure of community birthing centres and home birthing service extended
Updated: 8 June 2022
Due to on-going staff shortages we have today taken the difficult decision to further suspend community births and home births until Monday 4 July. We have taken this decision in order to keep our mums, birthing people, babies and families safe as we focus our resources on ensuring a safe service.
We know that this news will be very disappointing for you but please be assured that we do not take the decision to suspend community births lightly and are working hard to address the staff shortages. We will keep the situation under review and reinstate community births and home births as soon as it is safe to do so.
Women and birthing people affected by this suspension will be contacted by their community midwifery teams to discuss their birth preferences at the RUH.
We would like to reassure you that our maternity units remain open. If you have any questions or concerns about yourself or your baby please don't hesitate to contact your midwife or local midwifery unit. We are sorry we have had to take this difficult decision and thank you for your understanding.
We will keep the situation under review and reinstate community births and home births as soon as it is safe to do so.
Sarah Merritt
Deputy Chief Nurse and Director of Midwifery
Appointments and visiting during COVID-19
Updated 16 June 2022
With immediate effect we are pleased to announce maternity visiting as follows:
Appointments
Antenatal Appointments
A support person can attend all antenatal appointment.
Labour and Birth (including Induction of Labour)
Your support people will be able to support you through labour and birth and we aim to facilitate a stay of up to 3 hours after the birth of your baby.One support person can stay overnight for the first night after for the birth. Additional overnight stays will be considered on an individual basis depending on clinical need.
Scans
Your support person can continue to attend all scan appointments.Visiting
Visiting (Postnatal Mary Ward)
Visiting is from 9am-9pm for your support person only.
Older Children
Children are able to visit the postnatal ward but this should be arranged in advance with the ward team
Further information
We work closely with the local maternity voice partnership:
You can give anonymous feedback via Maternity Voices Partnership survey.