Proposal for new birthing unit at Salisbury District Hospital approved

The changes have been approved today (Thursday, January 16) by Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (BSW CCGs).

The new alongside midwifery unit give low risk women the option to give birth where they can be transferred easily to an obstetric unit if needed.

Salisbury District Hospital (SDH) has welcomed the decision.

Fiona Coker, the head of maternity and neonatal services at SDH said: "The development will ensure we are delivering services that meet the changing needs of our local women.

"The new unit will run alongside our existing obstetric unit, and enable low-risk women to have a midwife led birth safe in the knowledge that obstetric, neonatal and specialist teams are close by and readily available if required. The additional capacity will allow the obstetric-led service to focus on supporting women with higher risk pregnancies.

"At the moment the only midwife led option for Salisbury women is a home birth, which aren’t suitable for everyone. Therefore the new Alongside Midwifery Unit will significantly increase the choice available to mums in our area.

"As the new unit requires reconfiguration of existing space rather than additional buildings, we are hopeful that the improvements will be completed by the Autumn of next year.’

The proposal approved today is as follows:

• Create an Alongside Midwifery Unit at Salisbury Hospital Foundation Trust and Royal United Hospital in Bath.
• Continue to support births in two, not four Freestanding Midwifery Units. This would mean births ceasing in Trowbridge and Paulton with antenatal and postnatal care continuing
• Enhance current provision of antenatal and postnatal care
• Improve and better promote home birth services
• Replace the five community postnatal beds in Paulton and the four community postnatal beds in Chippenham with support closer to, or in women’s homes. This will be phased with four beds remaining in Chippenham for up to 12 months to support co-creation of new pathways.

The decision comes after a three-year consultation with more than 4,000 mums, families, staff and partners.

The CCGs say the proposal was developed to "better meet the needs and choices of women and families across the whole of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire" and will mean "more equal access to choice for women about where to have their babies, a more effective use of resources, a better supported homebirth service and enhanced antenatal and postnatal care".

Dr Ruth Grabham, Medical Director for Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and Governing Body member said: “This proposal was approved to help us better meet the needs and choices of women and families across the whole of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire.

“As a result of feedback we have delayed the closure of four of the community postnatal beds to allow more time to work with mums, families and staff to co-design a new community postnatal offer that will meet the needs of local people. The feedback, for example around breastfeeding and mental health support, will also be used to help shape our future maternity services.”

Chaya Tagore, Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) lead and one of the members of the expert panel that reviewed the consultation results and developed the final recommendations said: “It’s really important that all women across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire have easy access to maternity services and this proposal means more choice to more women about where to have their baby. I encourage expectant parents and those who have used maternity services in the last five years to get involved with the MVP.

“The next steps as new community hubs are developed, where women can access integrated care from pre-conception to postnatal care are wonderful opportunities for co-creation. As MVP Volunteers we are really excited about enhanced support for home births and ongoing care.”