There are many options when you are thinking about where and how to birth your baby. Here at Medway we are able to facilitate births both within the hospital and at home. When making your preferences for birth it is important to consider what sort of pain relief you would like, how you would like to birth your baby and where it is safest for you to do so. The following information is to help explain about what is available, however birth preferences should be discussed with your Midwife or Obstetrician so that a plan personalised to you can be made.
Home birth
Home birth is becoming increasingly popular and all women should be offered choice when deciding where to birth their babies. There is no evidence to suggest that home birth is not generally safe, if you are experiencing a straightforward (low risk) pregnancy and labour and the birth has been planned at home. Having your 2nd or subsequent baby at home is as safe as having your baby in our Midwifery Led Unit (The Birth Place) or Delivery Suite.
Having your baby in the comfort and surroundings of your own home is a realistic option for many women.
Birthing at home allows women to feel more relaxed and leads to increased hormone levels which allow the labour to progress well.
There are a number of benefits for home birth, including:
- Feeling more relaxed and in control
- More likely to have a normal birth
- Less likely to have difficulties afterwards
- Control over your birthing environment, lighting, music etc.
- Less likely to experience a painful labour
- Greatly reduced need for medical intervention
- Lower rates of postnatal infections for mother and baby
- Other children can be as involved as you want them to be
If you would like more information regarding home birth, please contact your community midwife.
The Birth Place
The Birth Place is our Midwife-led unit (MLU). It provides a welcoming, supportive environment for women and their families in comfortable homely surroundings. Our team of highly skilled Midwives and Maternity Support Workers will provide one to one care to women who have experienced a low-risk pregnancy. Our focus is on normality in birth; we believe that pregnancy and birth are natural processes and support minimal interventions. Birth is a celebration; a precious life event which is of huge significance to all family members. Our aim is to support women and their families to ensure a positive experience. Our calming and supportive environment enables women to have the freedom to maintain control of their own labour and birth. We aim to empower and enable you to make informed decisions around your care.
Who is The Birth Place recommended for?
If you are expecting a normal labour and birth but do not want to have a home birth or an epidural for pain relief in labour.
We recommend The Birth Place if you:
- Are 37 or more weeks pregnant when you go into labour
- Have a BMI of less than 35 for first time mums or less than 40 for subsequent pregnancies at booking.
- Are expecting a single baby
- Are expecting up to your 5th baby
- Have no pregnancy or general health complications
- Iron levels which are higher than 90g/l
The Birth Place is staffed by experienced midwives who specialise in normal birth.
Situated at Medway Maritime Hospital, Level 4 Green Zone, The Birth Place is staffed by experienced midwives; no doctors are based within the unit but it offers the reassurance of delivery suite being just down the corridor should there be any concerns.
The unit has 5 en-suite birth rooms two with birth pools and is based on a home from home environment. We offer the use of birthing aids (balls, bean bags, mats). There is a stereo system in each room and soft lighting and lamps.
Whist on The Birth Place you may be offered a number of ways to make your birth experience more comfortable.
These include Entonox (gas and air), sterile water injections and aromatherapy.
Women who choose a MLU birth are less likely to have intervention during labour and report a greater satisfaction with the care that they receive. It has been found that women with a low risk pregnancy who birth in a MLU have no increase in complications for their babies, compared to those that birth in an obstetric led delivery suite.
The Delivery Suite
The Delivery Suite is a consultant led unit that has a multidisciplinary team approach to caring for you and your baby; care is provided by Midwives, Obstetricians, Neonatal Staff, Maternity Support Workers and Students.
All members of the team will ensure the focus is on respecting your individual preferences. Our aim is to support women and their families to ensure a positive experience. Our en-suite birthing rooms and pool room offer a safe environment where our staff will empower and enable you to make informed decisions around your care. We will also offer wireless fetal monitoring for high-risk pregnancies where possible.
We recommend The Delivery Suite if you:
- Wish to have your baby in an Obstetric led environment
- Have medical or obstetric complications
- Have had complications in a previous pregnancy or birth
- Go into labour before 37 weeks
- Require a high risk induction of labour
- Would like additional pain relief such as an epidural or remifentanil PCA
- If continuous monitoring is recommended during labour
Our staff will support your choices for labour wherever possible. Our birth environment can be adapted to support your preferred environment and physiological birth principles.
Planned Caesarean Sections
A caesarean section, or C-section, is an operation to deliver your baby through a cut made in your tummy and womb.
The cut is usually made across your tummy, just below your bikini line. A caesarean is a major operation that carries a number of risks, so it’s usually only done if it’s the safest option for you and your baby.
You may be considering a caesarean for personal reasons, if this is the case please speak to your Midwife who will be able to help you and refer you to an Obstetrician.
Team Aurelia
Team Aurelia Midwives work closely with a dedicated multi-disciplinary team of obstetricians, anaesthetists, theatre staff, neonatal staff, the delivery suite, post-natal ward, specialist diabetic midwives and community midwives.
The story goes that Julius Caesar was born by Caesarean section and the operation gets its name from this association. Aurelia was his mother, and by using her name, Team Aurelia aims to emphasise that our focus is on the mother.
The aims of Team Aurelia
Team Aurelia aims to enhance your birthing experience and your birthing partner’s by recognising that, “It’s a birth first, an operation second!” We want to empower you by addressing your expectations and choices, and by alleviating your anxieties.
Contact Team Aurelia
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.
Call: 01634 974287
Kent Ward: 01634 825100
We may be in theatre and unable to take your call immediately but if you leave a message, we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Your caesarean section date will be calculated according to your clinical indication, the Obstetrician’s decision and the due date obtained from your dating scan.
Your caesarean date will be finalised one week before and the team will contact you then.
We ask that you come to Kent Ward (Green zone, Level 4) at 7am on the day.
Theatre days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday are morning sessions. Wednesday and Friday have morning and afternoon sessions.
Should you require a review with the anaesthetist prior to your surgery, this will be discussed with you by the Obstetric Consultant. The Team Aurelia administrator will arrange the appointment and contact you with the date and time.
If you do not receive an anaesthetic review because of your caesarean being booked quite late, you will be assessed by an anaesthetist on the day of your caesarean.
At the pre-assessment clinic, to ensure continuity of care, we discuss your birth choices and make sure you are physically and psychologically prepared for delivery. We gather relevant information for the multi-disciplinary team, discuss the enhanced recovery programme and familiarise you and your birthing partner with the unit.
Team Aurelia will conduct your pre-assessment on Kent Ward (Green Zone, Level 4). Please ensure you bring your maternity notes with you if you do not have digital notes.
We discuss the following birth options:
- Lowering the screen so the mother and birthing partner can see the baby and take photos
- Aspects of hypno-birthing techniques
- A quiet theatre for a peaceful delivery for mother and baby
- Your choice of music
- Skin to skin at delivery with mother
- Partners cutting the cord.
We follow an enhanced recovery pathway that helps you to recover more quickly, be discharged sooner, increase your confidence following your baby’s birth, and reduce hospital acquired infections, complications and readmissions to hospital.
Team Aurelia ensure that there is continued skin to skin contact between you and your baby in theatre and recovery. This aids bonding, breastfeeding, brain development, and parenting skills, reduces infant crying, and regulates the infants temperature, breathing and heart rate. We offer additional support with breastfeeding as soon as possible to make sure that you are given the same opportunities that mothers have following a vaginal birth.
It is very important that your baby’s first feed is given while he/she shows signs of readiness to feed and while in direct contact. If you choose to artificially feed your baby you will be shown how to hold and feed your baby safely and bottlefeed in a responsive way.
Even if you do not intend to breastfeed your baby, he or she can benefit from having a very small quantity of colostrum. Your baby’s gut is sterile at birth, colostrum is perfectly designed to line the baby’s gut and be absorbed, laying down the groundwork for future healthy development and proper digestion.
Useful Information – labour and birth
No matter where you choose to have you baby it is a good idea to be prepared. Here is some useful information about labour, delivery and the first few hours with your baby. You will find information including what to bring to hospital with you and options for pain relief.
Packing your hospital bag – It is a good idea to have a hospital bag packed by 36 weeks of pregnancy. Space is limited within the hospital and we advise that baby car seats are not brought in until needed. Don’t forget to pack things for your birth partner including light weight sleep wear and foot wear. We ask that all birth companions dress appropriately at all times.
Fit For Birth – A booklet designed to help you cope with your labour giving lots of information on coping strategies during labour and birth. Regular pelvic floor muscle exercises early in your pregnancy will help the muscles cope with the changes during the pregnancy and afterwards.
5 positive ways to prepare for labour – If you’re feeling a bit anxious about giving birth, there are things you can do that may help.
Breech Babies – Information if your baby remains in the breech position after 36 weeks of pregnancy. Babies lying bottom first or feet first in the uterus (womb) instead of in the usual head-first position are called breech babies
Induction of labour – In some circumstances it is necessary to induce labour which means that labour will be made to start by a medical process. There are several different reasons this may be recommended but one of the most common reasons is being ‘overdue’.
Vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC) – This information is for you if you have had one caesarean section and want to know more about your birth options when having another baby.
Pain relief in labour – Labour can be painful – it can help to learn about all the ways you can relieve the pain.
Complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) are treatments that fall outside of mainstream healthcare.
Sterile water injections may be helpful if you are experiencing severe back pain during labour.
Water Birth – Are you thinking about having a water birth? Find out about the advantages and disadvantages of giving birth in the water, what to wear and what the pain relief options are.
Meeting your baby for the first time is a special moment. Skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible after the birth is a special time for mother and baby and is a fantastic opportunity for helping them both recover from the birth and to get to know each other through all the senses.
Watch: A video produced by the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative, covers both the theory and practice of skin to skin, and what it can mean to mothers and babies meeting each other for the first time.
Skin to skin and bonding with your baby – Some parents bond with their baby immediately, while others find it takes more time. Take a look at some ideas for how to spend quality time with the newest member of your family.
Vitamin K For babies is offered to your baby because of its role in reducing the chance of complications from excessive bleeding known as Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding
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