Homebirth
Some women choose to have their baby at home – it seems like the right place to be, where they will feel safe and able to relax to let their labour flow. Your community midwife, or another midwife from her team, will come to your home to provide support, reassurance and medical care. You can hire a birthing pool and your midwife will arrange to have gas & air delivered to your home.
We will provide more information about choosing a homebirth next week.
RVI Birthing Centre
The Newcastle Birthing Centre supports normal birth and women from across Tyneside and Northumberland can use the centre.
It is located on the ground floor in the Leazes Wing at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, which provides reassurance to many women. However, it is well documented that women who use midwifery led units need less pain relief, have less labour and birth intervention, and are more likely to be mobile during labour.
There are 12 single rooms and each one includes an ensuite with bath or shower. There’s also a TV and DVD player in every room, and all are fully air-conditioned. Five of the rooms have birthing pools.
Women can also use gym balls, bean bags, floor mats, birthing stools and birthing couches. There is also a specially designed Snoozelum sensory room, with relaxing lighting effects, bubble tube, waterbed, beanbags and pillows.
RVI Maternity Unit
This is an established consultant-led maternity unit, with staff who can handle any labour and birth – from normal and low risk to more complicated labours, that require more medical assistance.
There are twelve birth rooms, two pool rooms and two maternity theatres.
North Tyneside Midwifery-led Unit
The unit is based at North Tyneside Hospital and it is staffed by midwives. The unit has two large en-suite delivery rooms, one of which has a birthing pool, and 11 postnatal rooms.
Women who have their babies here are considered to be low-risk, with a healthy mum and healthy baby. Mums and their new babies can also stay for a few days after the birth of their baby to help them rest and get feeding established with some one-to-one midwifery care.
Wansbeck Maternity Unit
This consultant-led maternity unit is based at Wansbeck General Hospital and provides care for all women.
It has 13 en-suite delivery rooms and one of the rooms has a birthing pool to provide extra support.
Queen Elizabeth Maternity Unit
The delivery ward has six delivery rooms, and five of them have en-suite facilities. There is one birthing pool to provide extra support for labouring women. The unit also has one obstetric theatre and there is a relatives waiting room, which has a television.
The unit aims to provide one-to-one midwifery care for women in labour and a range of equipment is available to provide additional support for women – birthing balls, birth mats and rocking chairs. CD players are also available so that women can listen to music.
