Our Maternity Services

Preparation for a new baby should be an enjoyable experience. As well as the excitement, there's a lot to think about and plan. This is your pregnancy. We will of course observe your birth choices, keeping it in the forefront of your maternity care. However if any concerns arise during one of your visits this will be discussed with you in-depth so you are able to make an informed choice about your care and an agreed plan can be made.

To provide you with the quality service you deserve, and to help us involve you in the decisions around your care, we will encourage you to tell staff about your needs and expectations so that your pregnancy, delivery and postnatal care can be planned according to your wishes as much as possible.

Every mother will be under the care of either a midwife, consultant obstetrician or shared care between the two.

Midwifery-led care
For the majority of women, the care you receive will be midwife-led and you'll have the choice to give birth at home, in the midwife-let unit or in the obstetric led unit at the hospital.

Consultant-led care
Consultant obstetricians are medical doctors who specialise in more complex birth and pregnancies. Some mothers require additional care during pregnancy because of an existing or new medical condition or pregnancy-related problem. The multidisciplinary team (obstetrics, medical consultants, anaesthetics and paediatricians) will provide support for your pregnancy as required and together you will discuss your options for care and work in partnership to meet your needs.  

There may be some occasions where women are diverted to alternative maternity units due the unit being extremely busy. This possibility is discussed with parents as part of their antenatal care, so they could look at alternative journeys to local units, if they so desired.  We work closely with our neighbouring maternity units to ensure women are transferred safely, including by risk assessing all patients first. We do try to avoid this where possible but please be rest assured that you will be fully involved in any decision around your care.