Maternity team aims for more home births and fewer Caesarean sections

Care for new mothers and babies will be enhanced thanks to a new £71,713 training programme for midwives and doctors at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.

Increasing the number of home births and reducing the rate of caesarean sections are among the hopes for the new programme, which will start later this year.
The hospital is among 136 NHS Trusts to receive a share of the £8million Health Education England (HEE) Maternity Safety Training Fund. The money will be used to provide courses to support multi-disciplinary team working, leadership and managing obstetric emergencies in the community.

Head of women’s and children’s services, Lesley Deacon, says the additional training courses are going to enhance maternity care.
“We are delighted to have been awarded this investment in maternity services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,” she said.
“Our midwives and doctors are already highly trained but this programme is going to further enhance the vast knowledge within the department and support the multi-disciplinary team working.”

Training programmes are due to be completed by March 2018 and HEE will commission an independent evaluation to assess how NHS trusts have improved quality and safety within maternity services and the wider impact for mothers and babies, families, and the maternity workforce.

The hospital offers greater choice for women on low risk pregnancies with its midwife-led Waterlily Birth Centre and the midwife-led Pathway, which includes the relaunched home birth service. The team of 43 community midwives supporting the Pathway covers West Norfolk, Fenland, South Lincolnshire and Suffolk.