Some of the members of the West Cheshire Maternity Network
The West Cheshire Maternity Network
We aim to ensure that we provide maternity care that is right for you and
your family, from before your pregnancy right up until after the birth.
Our Shared Vision
A family-friendly maternity service, that works in partnership with all
relevant providers to create:
 Safe - A safe service for you, your baby and your family
 Patient-focussed - No matter where you receive care, your views
are taken into account
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 Partnership - No matter who provides your care, everyone is
working to an agreed set of standards
 Normal - Your experience of childbirth involves as little medical
intervention as possible
Members of the West Cheshire Maternity Network include:
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New parents
Local GPs, midwives and health visitors
Obstetricians
Mental health clinicians
Local council
NHS Commissioning Managers who decide how the local health
budget should be spent
During the past two years the Network has gathered feedback from over
600 new parents in west Cheshire to ensure your personal experiences
help shape local maternity services. By combining your feedback with
national evidence and emerging policies, we have improved maternity
services in west Cheshire.
You Said:
 More choice of where to have your baby
 More information about your pregnancy, in an
easily accessible format
 More midwifery-led care
 A birthing environment, at the Countess of Chester Hospital, that
treats you as an individual with personal needs and wants and
preferences.
We Did:
 In June 2015, we awarded a new contract to an alternative
provider of a midwifery-led model of care (One to One (North
West) Limited), known as case loading. What this means in plain
terms is that you build a relationship with a single, named midwife
from the outset . Depending on your choices and circumstances,
you may see the same person up to and including giving birth.
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 One to One also offers free women hypnobirthing courses – a
technique that teaches you how to relax, feel more in control and,
work with your midwife and, manage the pain that is a natural part
of childbirth
 We support the Countess of Chester Hospital’s maternity team
who recently started their own free hypnobirthing service too.
 We are encouraging both providers to make use of social media
such as Twitter and Facebook to promote the care they provide
and trigger your feedback. We are working to enable the Countess
of Chester Hospital to set up an interactive website where you can
share information with the Hospital and they can answer your
questions, in real time. One to One (North West) Limited already
provide this via their Facebook page or on Twitter.
 You can now ‘book’ directly with a midwife for your maternity care,
and receive all your maternity care from a midwife in communitybased settings such as a children’s centre and a GP surgery, if you
have no significant medical needs. Whilst both services offer the
option of visits at your home, One to One extend their offer to
include evening visits too, after a normal working day has finished.
 This includes the option of a home birth led by a midwife,
supported by a second midwife at the point of labour, provided by
either of our two providers .Both offer the choice of a home water
birth too.
 We have promoted shared-decision making, ensuring that, if you
wish, you play an equal part in the decisions made about your
pregnancy and birth. Women with potential medical needs can be
referred by their midwife or GP to an obstetrician for an expert
medical review. Midwives and doctors/obstetricians work closely
together in west Cheshire enabling the woman to remain at the
centre of the decision-making process throughout her pregnancy
and childbirth.
 Women with uncomplicated pregnancies can choose a home birth
with any of the local providers of midwifery care.
 In the event of complications developing during, or immediately
after, labour at home, women are transferred to the nearest
hospital for their delivery. This is a decision made jointly by a
woman and her midwife. We recently invested in the Countess of
Chester Hospital so they could improve their birthing unit. The
Hospital now has two high-quality, refurbished suites that offer a
more homely environment, reflecting that childbirth is a natural
process.
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 Recognising that whether this is their first baby, or they have given
birth before, women are individuals with different previous
experiences and expectations of childbirth. We are supporting the
Countess of Chester Maternity team who have set up bespoke
clinics to meet the needs of a variety of women. (These are called
the Options, Vaginal Birth after caesarean section and Holistic
Clinics). Our Network was named Regional Innovator of the Year
2014 for the North West as a result of our emphasis on pregnancy
and childbirth being a natural process. The Countess of Chester
Hospital also won a National Royal College of Midwives Award in
2014.
The west Cheshire maternity service is available to all pregnant women,
regardless of need or risk who, live in west Cheshire and are registered
with a west Cheshire GP.
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Having your baby in west Cheshire
Our main maternity service is provided by the Countess of Chester
Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which offers both midwifery and acute
medical maternity care on one site. Alternatively, you can choose
another provider known as One to One (NW) Limited, which offers a
midwifery-led model of care. Nine out of 10 local women choose one of
these two providers. However, depending where they live, they may
choose somewhere else closer to home.
Choosing the best care for you:
Your care is likely to follow one of three pathways:
1.Midwifery– led Care:
If you are at low risk of complications, a team of midwives will provide all
of your antenatal care either at your home, your local GP surgery,
children's centre or at your hospital. They will care for you during the
birth and in the early post-natal period (after the birth).
2.Consultant– led care:
If a medical risk has been identified concerning your pregnancy, a
consultant obstetrician will be involved.
Deciding where to birth your baby is an important decision and will be
influenced by: What is important to you?
 Where you would feel safe and comfortable?
3. Shared care
A combination of both of the above. Some women will require medical
input only at certain points during their pregnancy and can still receive
the majority of care by their midwife.
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It is important that you take some time to think about the choices offered
to you. You might also want to discuss them with, your partner, family
and friends.
Your choices
You have choice in a number of areas. For example:
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Where to have your baby - e.g. at home or in hospital
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Where you go for your antenatal classes - e.g. you will have more
choice if you wish to travel.
These are just two of many choices you can make but do not worry.
There is plenty of help available to support you and your family in
making these decisions and choosing what feels right for you and your
baby.
Feel free to gather as much information from as many sources as you
wish. Your midwife will discuss the options that are available in your
area. You are free to choose from a number of local maternity services,
depending on your personal circumstances.
As well as your midwife, you can get information from:
 The NHS Choices website, which has lots of information and
toolkits here
 Your GP surgery
 Any of our Children's centres. For a list near you, see here
 The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) for your nearest branch see
http://www.nct.org.uk/branches
Our local providers of maternity care:
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
http://www.coch.nhs.uk/all-services/midwifery-services
One to One (NW) Limited http://www.onetoonemidwives.org/
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
http://www.coch.nhs.uk/all-services/midwifery-services
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Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
http://www.mcht.nhs.uk/information-forpatients/departmentsandservices/maternity/
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
http://www.whh.nhs.uk/ServiceCatInfo.asp?id=44
A Collaborative approach:
According to the National Five Year Forward Plan Report (2014), “only
25% of women want to give birth in an Obstetric Unit, but 85% actually
do.”
Also, One to One (NW) Limited, our alternative provider of maternity
care provides an option on their website (under the title ‘stories’) for you
to understand the model of care they offer through real-life stories. You
may view these at http://www.onetoonemidwives.org/stories
Your Ideas and Opinions Matter!
We are looking more closely at how maternity services are organised
across west Cheshire. We can only do this if we know how you felt about
having a baby in this area.
During the next four months, up until March 2016, we will be out and
about asking new parents about their experiences of having a baby in
west Cheshire. We will also be dropping in on local baby cafes, inviting
new mums to coffee mornings at the Children’s Centres and sending out
feedback surveys.
Please let us know if you would like to share your experience with us,
and make a real difference to shaping local maternity services.
You can:
 Contact Debbie Smith, Patient Experience Officer or Sue Collis,
Clinical Commissioning Manager via the following e-mail address:
wchc.website@nhs.net
 Contact us on Twitter@westcheshireccg
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 Post a comment on Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/nhswesterncheshire
In addition, if you are a member of a group and would like us to come
out and talk about what we do, please contact us.
National Maternity Review
The NHS Maternity Review is currently underway to make
recommendations for the improvement of services for women and their
families.
They are very keen to hear from women, fathers, partners, their families
and advocates. All your comments and answers will be treated
anonymously and the information provided will directly contribute to the
review. Please use this link below to share your views, until 15th
November 2015.
mailto:england.maternityreview@nhs.net
Who’s who in maternity care?
The Midwife
Midwives are specially trained and independent health professionals in
their own right in the care of mothers and babies, before conception,
during pregnancy, birth and just after. All midwives are required to be
registered on a national database, held by the Nursing and Midwifery
Council. They are trained to deliver babies and to recognise possible
developing health problems. They will refer to a doctor for advice if
necessary.
Midwifery assistants and maternity support workers
The midwifery support worker works with a midwife in providing care and
support to you during pregnancy and labour. Their main role is
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supporting the midwife to provide the best care for you and your baby;
this also includes updating your notes as well as breastfeeding support
at home and general nursing type duties in the hospital.
General Practitioners (GPs)
Your GP has full responsibility for your general medical care outside
hospital before, during and after pregnancy. Most GPs will share your
maternity care with midwives or hospital doctors. Nowadays it is quite
unusual to find a GP who attends births, however, some do. All GPs and
doctors are required to be registered on a national database, held by the
General Medical Council.
Obstetrician
An obstetrician is a doctor with specialist training in the care of women in
pregnancy and labour. Obstetricians are also gynaecologists, who
specialise in the care of women’s health problems through life as well as
during pregnancy.
Paediatrician
A paediatrician is a doctor with special training in the care of babies and
children. Not all babies born in hospital are seen by a paediatrician after
birth. A baby may be assessed, examined and discharged by a midwife
and not referred to the paediatric team. In some hospitals, advanced
neonatal nurse practitioners work with the paediatric team.
Paediatricians also oversee the care of babies on special care baby
units.
Neonatologist
A neonatologist is a paediatrician with further specialist training in the
care of newborn babies. In addition to providing support for babies on
postnatal wards, neonatologists oversee the care of babies on intensive
care units.
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Health Visitors
A health visitor is a nurse with additional specialist qualifications,
enabled to care for people in the community and who considers the
health of the whole family. They will also assess your baby’s feeding,
health and development as well as your own. The health visitor will see
you at home when your baby is around 10 to 14 days old to offer any
support with any worries or problems.
Ends
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