Midwives celebrate first year of life in the Bluebell Birth Centre

Amy Howarth, healthcare maternity support worker; Mandy Platt, community midwife; Shelley Bar-Ilan with Adina; Jane Roach, midwife and Shazia Ashraf with baby Zakariya

Midwives at North Manchester General Hospital’s Bluebell Birth Centre have seen the arrival of 766 babies in the centre’s first year.

As part of the hospital’s multi-million pound Maternity and Children’s Unit, the midwife-led birth centre is a small unit caring for women with low risk pregnancies, providing home from home comfort in a relaxed, friendly environment and includes the whole family.

The birth centre comprises four delivery rooms, two with birthing pools and two postnatal rooms. Modern purpose planned furnishings and ensuite facilities offer privacy and comfort for women and their families.

Denise Woods, community midwifery matron at North Manchester General Hospital, said: “Our staff are extremely proud to work in this modern environment which has increased women’s choice regarding their place of birth. Almost fifty per cent of our women have chosen to birth their babies in water.”

Rose-Marie Newport, midwife added: “We are always looking for new ways to support our women and encourage an active family approach to birth in preparation for going home.

"We have received excellent feedback from the questionnaire which we offer to each of our families.

"We will be extending the tours of the birth centre to include active birth workshops and look forward to welcoming more women and their birth partners, who are either already booked or interested in birthing their baby at the Bluebell Birth Centre.

"It’s a good opportunity to meet our dedicated team of midwives, community midwives and maternity support workers and to see the facilities we offer here.”

Shelley Bar-Ilan, mother of Adina, aged five and half months said: “I had a water birth and it was a very positive experience enabling me to feel very relaxed and this helped the process along. The whole atmosphere in the room was relaxed and it is something I would recommend to other ladies. The support from the staff really made me feel at ease and gave me confidence. I think that being mobile in the water speeded up the natural birth experience.”

Shazia Ashraf, mother of Zakariya, aged 3 weeks, said: “I had never thought of having a water birth. I did not want to leave the room as the atmosphere was so calming. It felt more like a spa than a hospital and made a world of difference. The staff were absolutely wonderful and made this such a pleasant experience.”

North Manchester General Hospital is run by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.