Recent news
Midwives have now started booking women who wish to give birth at Cossham Birth Centre
4 April 2012
BCB is currently fully involved in the recruitment and interviewing of midwives who will provisionally take up their posts at Cossham Birth Centre on 1 September 2012. We are ensuring that the ‘Philosophy of Cossham Birth Centre’ (www.nbt.nhs.uk/Cosshambirth) remains at the forefront of all Cossham Birth Centre Steering Group activities and recruitment of midwives.
The clinical director of maternity in North Bristol Trust has been asked by the 'All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity' to nominate a service in the category 'The involvement of service users in the delivery and development of maternity services'. The work of Cossham Birth Centre Steering Group will be put forward in early April given that BCB successfully campaigned for the Bristol Maternity and Newborn Services Review in 2005. This review resulted in the commencement of plans for Bristol’s first midwife-led, community-based birth centre at Cossham.
Thanks go to all BCB supporters who over the years have played their part in women being able to plan to give birth at Cossham Birth Centre this year. BCB will continue to make sure that Cossham Birth Centre becomes a flagship for Bristol’s maternity services with a view to supporting any moves for further midwife-led birth centres in Bristol.
Cossham Birth Centre to open in late spring 2012
1 February 2011
In view of the potential sweeping changes in the structure and organization of the National Health Service and the lack of clarity as to where maternity services will fit in, BCB is for the time being concentrating all its energy into getting Cossham Birth Centre off the ground. BCB is working with North Bristol Trust to make sure that Cossham Birth Centre becomes a flagship of the maternity services in Bristol. We want to ensure that it has enthusiastic and visionary midwifery leadership so that women can fully benefit from a midwife-led environment when they give birth.
There is a lot of enthusiasm amongst maternity professionals at St Michael’s hospital for a midwife-led unit on the hospital site and senior managers have now put in another bid for this.
Given the changes in the NHS we will not be updating this website until late 2011 but please be assured that BCB continues to work hard and will keep you informed of any major developments.
Become a Birth Centre Bristol Supporter in the promotion of midwife-led birth
26 September 2010
BCB has recently been working at a high level with St Michael’s Hospital and NHS Bristol PCT to encourage a midwife-led birth unit on the St Michael’s Hospital site and we know that senior midwives and obstetricians are enthusiastic. A senior professional at St Michael’s said recently ‘We all would like a midwife-led unit which is geographically separate from the obstetric unit’. Such a unit has been on the cards for years. It was also said that active support from BCB Supporters would be good. Please contact us to become a supporter and get information as to how you can help.
After our discussions with NHS Bristol PCT it is clear that with the change of government the funding and commissioning of maternity services will change dramatically over the next two to three years. BCB has decided to put on hold our campaign for a birth centre at South Bristol Hospital and we will return to it when we have a clearer picture of how maternity services will be commissioned in the future.
Cossham Birth Centre has full participation from BCB Steering Group and one of our supporters is now actively engaged in seeking funding for the Arts Project for the birth centre.