Your options may include:
A consultant unit is usually part of a general hospital, staffed by obstetricians (specialists in birth where there are complications) and midwives (specialists in normal birth).
A woman is usually booked under the care of a particular consultant, but may only see them rarely throughout her pregnancy. Most of her care will be given by midwives. If complications arise during pregnancy or labour, the doctors will become more involved. Interventions such as epidurals and Caesarean operations are usually available in the unit.
Each consultant in the maternity unit will have their own policies for the management of labour. Therefore if you are thinking about giving birth in a consultant unit, you may wish to find out what a consultant's preferences are, to make sure they fit in with your view of birth.
Some consultant units offer midwifery-led care, such as team midwifery or DOMINO schemes. These give continuity of care, allowing women to get to know their midwives before the birth. You may need to ask about these options if you are interested in this type of care. Some consultant units include a midwifery-led unit (see below).
These types of maternity units provide maternity care for women who have chosen a "low-tech" birth environment. They include midwifery-led units, GP units and birth centres. They provide friendly, personal care from midwives. They can be grouped according to whether they are at a hospital which also has a consultant unit, or if they are situated away from a main obstetric hospital (community units).
Recently midwifery-led units have been opening up next to some consultant units. They are a "low-tech" option for women who want to give birth with little or no medical intervention although women can easily be transferred to the consultant unit if there are complications.
The advantages of giving birth in this type of unit include:
However, if the adjacent consultant unit is busy, midwifery-led units within hospitals can be understaffed.
Community units are another birth option for women who do not want a home birth but do not feel comfortable with a hospital environment, or live a long way from their nearest hospital. They tend to have a "home-from-home" atmosphere giving many of the benefits of home birth.
In some places they are near a hospital so that women with complications can be transferred quickly. In rural areas, community units are a place for women to give birth without travelling a long way to the nearest consultant unit. Because epidurals and Caesarean sections are not usually available at these units, they tend to be suitable for women expected to have a good chance of having a straightforward birth ("low-risk" women). This can include first-time mothers. In GP units, a GP specialising in birth is available for interventions such as forceps deliveries. In some community unit, a doctor may be available to carry out Caesarean operations in an emergency.
A recent report on an NHS-run Birth Centre shows that women booked with the unit have fewer interventions in labour (even if they are transferred to hospital in labour) than low-risk women booked for hospital birth.4
All but one of these community units are owned by the NHS. There is currently only one birth centre in England which is run privately by independent midwives, which is in South-West London. To give birth there, you would normally have to pay, although some GPs may be able to refer you free of charge.
For more information on how midwifery care is organised see Maternity Care
Now you know about the types of different maternity units, return to the Checklist to find out your local options.
|
|
|
|