Women in labour will be warmly welcomed to the Andover Birth Centre (ABC) once inpatient services restart this Spring.
Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust’s maternity service was hit by staffing issues last year which resulted in the suspension of the birth and postnatal stay service at the ABC from December.
The maternity team, which works across Andover, the community and at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital (RHCH) in Winchester, was experiencing a higher than normal maternity rate itself!
But now, after some improvement in staffing levels and careful planning for a new way of managing births, the centre is looking forward to bringing more babies into the world than before.
The date set for resuming deliveries at the ABC is Monday April 26 – from 9am.
Safety is the Trust’s number one guiding principle which is why the inpatient element of services at the ABC was temporarily suspended. Clinics sessions, appointments with midwives and support for home births continued as normal.
During that time, maternity staff - led by midwives at the ABC - developed proposals for a new way of working. The period also enabled a thorough review of training needs and skill levels across the service. In addition, staff began to work more flexibly across the ABC, RHCH and in the community and this is now a key feature of the Trust’s maternity service.
The new ‘model of care’ at the ABC is highly responsive and will provide midwife support for births at the centre and also in the community.
Women who are in labour and want support with a home birth or to have their baby at the centre will need to call the ABC on 01264 352517. They should not arrive at the ABC without calling ahead.
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