Our Pregnancy and Maternity provisions are delivered by the Community Midwifery service based at George Eliot Hospital (GEH) although on some occasions, your ante & post natal appointments will take place at St. Michael’s Children’s Centre. Appointments can be managed through Badger Notes – this is an online portal used by the Midwifery service to allow you to access your pregnancy records; you use it to refer yourself to the Midwifery service (see below) – your Midwife will Badger Notes to you in more detail (please do not call St. Michael’s to manage your appointments, they are unable to do so and will direct you to use Badger Notes).
Pregnancy and Maternity Services
Pregnancy
If you think you are pregnant, take a home pregnancy test to confirm this.
If this confirms you are, you need to make an appointment with the Midwife – you don’t need to see a GP. Please refer yourself to the Midwifery service, delivered by George Eliot Hospital using this link. You should make an appointment for when you will be between eight and 10 weeks pregnant. Please do not contact the surgery to refer yourself or make an appointment.
Your first appointment will cover antenatal care, address your concerns and issue your pregnancy notes (a pregnancy care plan with information and advice).
Your antenatal care is Midwife led – our GPs provide a supporting role.
An incident in the local area has highlighted the significance of reduced fetal movements. The following video is a useful resource in highlighting this important issue and we would encourage all expectant families to watch it:
After the birth
Following the birth of your baby (post-natal / maternity period) you will be seen at home by the Midwife on: the day after discharge, days five & 10 – they will weigh your baby and liaise with the hospital.
From the 14th day after the birth, you will also be seen at home by a Health Visitor. They are community workers who receive notification of births and advise on childcare and family problems. They maintain contact through further home visits and monitor all children up to the age of five. A direct contact number for the Health Visiting team is 02476 314277.
All babies and children will receive appointments to attend for routine immunisations.
Mother and baby clinic
You should also book a Mother & Baby check for a post-natal examination at the surgery, eight weeks after the birth date – it is your responsibility to book this appointment, whilst the Midwife will advise you to do this, they will NOT do this for you.
A dedicated Mother & Baby clinic is held by Dr. Zurub on Tuesday afternoons.
Ad-hoc Mother & Baby checks are also carried out by Dr. Pritchard & Dr. Marston during routine surgery on any day.
If your baby is poorly, please don’t bring them to the clinic – this will help prevent the spread of infection to other babies.