Health board reopens Birth Centre after three year pause

The midwife-led Birth Centre at Neath Port Talbot Hospital has re-opened today (16 September) after a three-year pause in service due to a lack of suitably qualified staff.

Swansea Bay University Health Boad is also re-introducing its Home Birth Service from 21 October.

Staffing pressures had led to both services being temporarily being suspended because of safety concerns.

The move follows a £750,000 investment by the health board and the recruitment of 35 hospital-based and community staff.

Swansea Bay UHB Chair, Jan Williams, said: “We are delighted to see these important maternity services will once more be offered to families.

“Being able to choose where to give birth is so important, and we share the disappointment of families who have not had that breadth of choice available to them over the past three years.

“The decision to suspend these services in 2021 was not taken lightly, but it was clear that they could not be reinstated until we were assured they could be run safely.”

Challenging

Swansea Bay’s interim Chief Executive, Dr Richard Evans, said: “This has been a long and challenging journey, and we are very pleased that we are now in a position to re-open these important services.

“As well as the investment and recruitment drive needed to make these services safe and sustainable, we’ve had a comprehensive and robust programme of work in place which has focused on creating the conditions for the safe reinstatement of these services.”

Welcoming the re-opening of the Neath Port Talbot Hospital Birth Centre, and the reintroduction of the Swansea Bay Home Birth Service Royal College of Midwives Director for Wales, Julie Richards said: “We are really pleased that these vital maternity services have been reinstated, so that women and families across the Swansea Bay area will once again have a much greater choice in how and where they give birth.

“We would encourage women to talk to their midwives about all of the options available to them to ensure that they have the appropriate support so that they can make the decisions that are best for them and their families.

“It has always been our priority to ensure that the safety of women and their babies is paramount, so having the right staff in the right place at the right time with the appropriate skills and training is fundamental to the delivery of safe care.

“We’ve welcomed the Health Board’s additional investments in improving resources, training and staff capacity and look forward to continue working in partnership to ensure that women and their babies get the best and the safest care.”

Singleton Hospital

Since September 2021, women have given birth in Singleton Hospital, either on the Obstetric Labour Ward, which is designed for higher-risk or more complex births, or its Bay Birthing Unit which is used for lower risk births.

This year 57 women have had low risk midwifery-led care on the Obstetric Labour Ward at Singleton. They gave birth in the obstetric unit because the Bay Birthing Unit was at capacity.

In addition, 223 women gave birth in the Bay Birthing Unit, some of whom could have been home births or births in the Neath Port Talbot Birth Centre, had the choice been available.

The health board has also confirmed that as part of re-opening of these services, home labour assessments will also be reintroduced, along with antenatal education classes, provided by community midwives.