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Add your support in getting South Bristol Birth Centre off the ground and in the promotion of home birth in Bristol
3 March 2010

BCB is now working hard at getting South Bristol Birth Centre included in the plans for South Bristol Hospital. We need a birth centre in South Bristol so that women in the area can labour and give birth with midwives near their own homes. Please send your support for South Bristol Birth Centre to us at info@birthcentrebristol.org.uk as soon as possible. Please ask NHS Bristol why nothing is happening now, in Phase 1 for South Bristol Hospital, to get plans for this birth centre off the ground.

Plans roll on smoothly for Cossham Birth Centre with committed contribution from BCB.

The Midwifery Services Liaison Committee will hold a home birth workshop on Monday 15 March 2010 from 11am-1pm at the YMCA Marsden Road, Clevedon BS21 7NW. Please contact Noshin.Emamiannaeini@bristolpct.nhs.uk if you wish to attend and comment on how we can encourage and support women and midwives in the promotion of home birth.

Cossham Birth Centre will be ready in 2011 while South Bristol Birth Centre is well under discussion
20 September 2009

Three representatives from BCB continue to work with NHS colleagues on the Cossham Birth Centre Steering Group and its sub-groups. Cossham Birth Centre will be one of a number of new services to be included in the new Cossham Hospital and building commences early in 2010. With the design of the birth centre now finalised, marketing of this new midwife-led facility across Bristol has begun ahead of the official 2011 opening.

Meanwhile BCB is working with Bristol Primary Care Trust to ensure that South Bristol Birth Centre is included in Phase 2 of South Bristol Hospital at Hengrove, Phase 1 of which is now 'ready to go ahead'. Discussions for Phase 2 will begin in January 2010. During BCB's preliminary talks on Phase 2, Bristol PCT say that '...a birth centre could be in the rolling programme'. They are also currently looking at how Cossham Birth Centre has developed and will continue to look at its achievements and successes.

Two members of BCB Steering Group have been appointed onto the newly resurrected Maternity Services Liaison Committee (MSLC). This is an independent forum of service users and health professionals, which will review, plan and improve services for pregnant women and their families. This committee will meet four times a year, with lunch and a creche provided. Those interested in being involved should send an email to Noshin.Emamiannaeini@bristolpct.nhs.uk at Bristol PCT. BCB will have a robust presence on this body and will make sure that one of the recommendations made by Bristol's Maternity Review is implemented - an increase in the number of midwife-led birth settings in Bristol in the form of midwife-led, community-based birth centres.

People in Bristol want more midwife-led care for all pregnant women and support the plans for community-based, midwife-led birth centres
20 December 2008

Two documents have now been published by Bristol's Maternity Services Review with the results of the public and staff consultations on improving and developing maternity and newborn services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (see www.avon.nhs.uk/bhsp). The promotion of the midwife as the first point of contact, midwife-led care, and one to one midwife care in labour were endorsed by public and staff as being vital for our new maternity services. Knowing your midwife through pregnancy, birth and after the baby's birth was also seen as important.

The final recommendations of the Maternity Services Review will be published shortly. These will include a commitment to more births taking place in midwife-led settings - at home, in midwife-led units in hospitals and in birth centres. Cossham Birth Centre (CBC), which is due to open in January 2011, is just the beginning.

Two representatives from Birth Centre Bristol Steering Group are central to the development of CBC as members of CBC Steering Group and other operational sub-groups. A BCB supporter has also been invited to join the Steering Group as a lay representative. BCB's input into the planning of CBC is important on every level including philosophy of care, practical design and promotion of the birth centre.

In the new year BCB will take steps to ensure that one of the recommendations of Bristol's Maternity Review is implemented - "to build on the success...of Cossham Birth Centre and develop further birth centres as demand grows so that more women will have the opportunity to give birth with a midwife they know, near their own home".

Bristol's Maternity Review Public Consultation document includes the development of birth centres and the promotion of the midwife as the first point of contact for pregnant women
22 June 2008

The public consultation will take place in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire from 30 June to 17 October 2008. Due to the work of Birth Centre Bristol the following elements are included in this document:

'The birth centre in Weston will continue and we will open a new birth centre at Cossham. We will build on the successes of Weston and Cossham Birth Centres and develop further birth centres as demand grows so that more women will have the opportunity to give birth with a midwife they know, near their own home'

'We will promote the midwife as the first point of contact for pregnant women, rather than automatically seeing their GP when booking their first appointment. Ways of contacting the local midwifery team will be better advertised.'

The recommendations from the document will be presented at public meetings which are open to everyone. If you support these commitments please try to come to one of the meetings as very few members of the public tend to come so that a small number of people can make a big difference.

All meetings will be chaired by the chief executive of each PCT. Further information and copies of the consultation document are available from:
Bristol Health Services Plan, Freepost BS1 078, King Square House, King Square, Bristol BS2 8EE
Tel: 0800 015 5127
Email: bhsp@bristolpct.nhs.uk
Website: www.avon.nhs.uk/bhsp

Bristol's Maternity Review can now go forward to develop a model of care for public consultation
12 February 2008

December 2007 and January 2008 have seen a pause in the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Maternity Services Review following a number of concerns from BCB and the National Childbirth Trust regarding the openness of the process and the emerging options for the future of our maternity services. With the aid of mediation the Review can now go forward to develop a model of care which will be based on current national standards and the results of public and staff engagement which took place in Bristol last year. Public consultation is planned for June to September 2008.

Meanwhile Cossham Birth Centre has the approval of Bristol City Council's Joint Overview and Scrutiny committee and its business case will go to North Bristol Trust, South Gloucestershire and Bristol PCT Boards at the end of March.

While a birth centre is being considered at Cossham BCB is working hard within Bristol's Maternity Services Review
18 December 2007

BCB is involved in plans for the proposed birth centre at Cossham and has already visited the birth centres at Bournemouth and Chippenham with other members of the Cossham Birth Centre Group as well as attending the group's meetings. A senior midwifery manager in Bristol said earlier in the summer that 'Cossham wouldn't have come about without the Maternity Services Review and the BCB lobby'. Meanwhile the options are being developed for public consultation and BCB and other lay representatives are dealing with some issues about what is and what is not being included in the options. We are currently discussing our concerns with the Chair of the Review.

The options for a new model of maternity care in Bristol are still being considered by the Maternity Review
21 August 2007

The Maternity Review Stakeholder Event on 17 July, to which all who took part in the public engagement were invited, was held to discuss the options for maternity services in Bristol. BCB supporters were vocal in their support for a new model of maternity care in Bristol which will include the continuing development of a network of community birth centres. Birth centres are included to a greater or lesser extent in every option, and the short list of options is now being looked at in detail in preparation for public consultation in the new year. BCB continues to be represented as a key player at every level in the Maternity Review.

The Maternity Review reaches the next phase
29 May 2007

The Maternity Review is now at the stage when a list of options for a new model of maternity care in Bristol is being drawn up. These options will be judged by how well they would achieve the promotion of normal birth, continuity of midwifery care and recruitment and retention of midwives. BCB representatives are working hard to ensure that the right questions are asked in the light of the conclusions of the Review's public and staff engagement and of current government policy for maternity services.

The need for continuity of midwifery care, birth choices for women, and community-based, midwife-led care comes through very strongly in the Maternity Review's public engagement report
4 April 2007

The conclusion of Maternity Review's public engagement report states:

'Many parents expressed satisfaction with the maternity services they received. However, others had clear concerns about their treatment and support, and the shortage of midwives. There was general agreement that women should be offered choices about where they give birth and how their baby is delivered. They expressed a strong desire for continuity of care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period. They wanted more antenatal and postnatal services to be offered in community settings. There was strong support for the creation of more birth centres. Women wanted the option of having a home birth. Some women wanted more support in breastfeeding, while those who had chosen not to breastfeed wanted less pressure on them to do so. Women with particular support needs (eg young mothers, drug users and prisoners) generally felt well supported and cared for while women with normal pregnancies expressed less satisfaction with their experiences.'

This report will be used to help develop options for Bristol's future maternity services which will then be put to the public at the public consultation phase in the autumn.

The full report will be available from the Bristol Health Services Plan website in due course.

"Making it better: For mother and baby" - the new government report published this month
21 February 2007

This report is in line with our vision for Bristol's future maternity services and recommends the Maternity Network Model giving women the choice and support to have their babies in midwife-led, community-based birth centres or at home, keeping the obstetrician-led maternity units for those women who need specialist obstetric care. The report says that the guiding principle for future maternity services is that 'all women will need a midwife but some need a doctor'. The timing of this report is a fantastic boost for our campaign and for the promotion of normal birth.

Maternity Services Review - the public engagement phase continues until 1 March 2007
3 February 2007

We are now in the middle of the public engagement phase of the Maternity Services Review which concludes on 1 March 2007. Members of the public present at the first two public meetings were very vocal in bringing up issues concerning the lack of continuity of midwifery care, women's desire for greater control over their own pregnancies and births and the lack of birth centres throughout Bristol (the provision of which would give women the choice to give birth outside the two large obstetric units). See below for further details.

Maternity Services Review - the public engagement phase
1 December 2006

The public engagement phase of the Maternity Services Review has now started and will continue for three months from 1 December 2006 to 1 March 2007. The purpose is to open a dialogue with the public, who are being asked to say what is important to them. What people say now will influence the development of ideas for the future of maternity services in Bristol. These ideas will be put to the public for final comments in the formal consultation phase later next year.

Birth Centre Bristol has been fully involved in preparing the leaflet for public engagement. We are sending out copies to all our supporters and advisors, but if you have not received one, you can find it here on the BHSP website.

As you can see from the leaflet, there are currently no birth centres in Bristol. The only midwife-led care is provided in units alongside the main hospital obstetric wards. Our vision is for community-based birth centres close to where people live, easy to get to and staffed by community midwives, who women can really get to know before they have their babies.

If continuity of care, accessibility and knowing your midwife are important to you, please respond to the public engagement leaflet and make sure that your voice is heard. Public engagement is a really important part of the process of developing maternity services as health service providers are required to take public opinion into account in the decisions they make.

Birth Centre Bristol will continue to advocate community-based midwife-led birth centres for Bristol. If you support our aims, please take part in the public engagement process and let local health service providers know what you think.

A vision for maternity services in Bristol
21 October 2006

'To ensure that every parent and baby has the best possible experience of birth and the early days of life'

At last this kind of vision, for which BCB has been arguing for so long, is being discussed by the Bristol Health Services Plan Maternity Review.

BCB is now formally represented on all the following groups for the Maternity Review:

BHSP Maternity Review is working on plans for Bristol's future maternity services and decisions made over the next few months will affect the next two to three generations of women who will be using the service.

The lead Chief Executive, Deborah Evans, is committed to ensuring that users are fully involved in the Maternity Review.

BCB all set to go on Bristol Health Services Plan's Steering Group for maternity services
June 2006

Thanks to the influence of our Supporters, our visit to the then Health Minister Liam Byrne in May, our presence on the BHSP Public Interest Forum, support from the press and local MPs, one or two champions for our cause in the Primary Care Trusts and BCB's constant and persistent voice at all relevant meetings, discussions and debates over the last five years, we are now well and truly represented on the Steering Group for the BHSP Maternity Review.

The BHSP Steering Group will, over the next few months, oversee the process of reviewing maternity services in Bristol and appraise options for change. Birth centres are very much on the agenda. Jilly Rosser and Sue Paterson will represent BCB on this group and Jilly attended the first meeting on Friday 16 June.

Jilly Rosser was interviewed in the Bristol Evening Post on 10 June 2006.

Health minister backs birth centre campaign
May 2006

Liam Byrne, Under-Secretary of State for Health, has publicly backed our campaign. After a meeting with Sue Paterson and Sue Learner of Birth Centre Bristol in his Whitehall office on 2 May 2006, accompanied by Bristol MPs Doug Naysmith and Kerry McCarthy, the Minister said:

'I want to praise Birth Centre Bristol's campaign for its drive and commitment and I am really grateful to Kerry McCarthy and Doug Naysmith for getting us together.

BCB clearly share our passion to give Bristol mums the chance and the choice to have their babies at home - or as close to home as possible. As the dad of three children under five, I know how important that is.

I am today asking our national maternity team to visit Bristol and report back to me. And thanks to Kerry and Doug I'll be taking a close interest in the coming review.'

The Evening Post covered the story on 6 May 2006.

Letter campaign
March 2006

A portfolio selection of letters from mothers and midwives, asking for birth centres to be established in the Bristol area, has now been delivered to Dr Gwyneth Lewis in the Department of Health. One of her roles is to tour the country’s maternity units seeking out the frank views of women about their experiences in the maternity services. Any other supporters - mothers, fathers, midwives - are welcome, and indeed urged, to write to the BCB Steering Group midwife to help form the basis of a second portfolio to illustrate the need for midwife-led care (please send letters to info@birthcentrebristol.org.uk). With cutbacks and savings having to be made in health funding it is even more pressing that Bristol Health Services Plan adopt the community-based, midwife-led birth centre principle in order to save funds, not only at birth but by avoiding post-natal trauma.

We have full support from all Bristol members of parliament who have signed the Early Day Motion of 12 January 2006 regarding birth centres and who are taking on discussions, with us, to the relevant ministers.

Early day motion
January 2006

On 12 January 2006 an Early Day Motion was tabled in the House of Commons urging the government to require primary care trusts and NHS trusts to promote midwife-led units and community birth centres. The full text of the motion, together with a list of the MPs that have already signed it, is available from the Parliamentary Information Management Services.

Please write to your MP by email (you can find their email address here) or by post at The House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA and urge them to sign this EDM if they have not already done so.

Earlier news stories

For older stories, see News archive 2005.