New antenatal service at Fairfield

Midwife Catherine Cairns with a pregnant woman

Pregnant women who require closer monitoring during their pregnancy, but are well enough to avoid an overnight stay in hospital, can now be seen in Fairfield General Hospital’s new Antenatal Day Unit (ANDU).

Catherine Cairns, 49 from Rochdale, a midwife who has been caring for local women and babies for 25 years, has provided her expertise to lead the new service which opened in Bury in September.

The Antenatal Day Unit (ANDU) will remain in place at Fairfield General Hospital after the planned inpatient maternity service changes, which are going ahead in early March 2012 as part of Making it Better, are complete.

The changes will mean that the option to give birth will no longer be available at the hospital, with overnight maternity services transferring to North Manchester General and The Royal Bolton Hospitals, but all routine antenatal and postnatal care will remain at Fairfield General Hospital.

The ANDU aims to ensure that women with more complex health needs are closely monitored, whilst limiting the need for them to travel to hospitals outside the area for appointments.

Catherine Cairns, midwife at Fairfield General Hospital, said: “The new ANDU offers pregnant women in Bury a facility where they can be monitored for longer than is possible in the community without necessarily being admitted to hospital.

“It means that we can carry out procedures in order to assess the well-being of mother and baby, such as monitoring blood pressure over a couple of hours, performing blood tests and recording the baby ‘s heart rate.

“At the end of their short stay women can go home reassured that they have been properly checked out with appropriate management plans in place.”

The service is currently in a temporary location within the hospital but plans are in place to provide a permanent facility for the service following next year’s changes. The service is fully operational and is provided every day from Monday to Friday. It is receiving regular referrals from community midwives and GPs.