Maternity in Salisbury & Wiltshire
Volunteers in Salisbury & Wiltshire
Elle - Salisbury & Wiltshire Lead
Hey, I’m Elle, I live on Salisbury Plain, between Salisbury and Pewsey. I’m Mum of three daughters. I’m a real advocate for helping people enjoy their pregnancy and have a positive birth and post-partum experience. I’m passionate about supporting both local and military families and young parents and hope to be able to improve the experience of everyone who uses our local maternity services. If you have accessed any of the Salisbury Maternity Services throughout your pregnancy, birth or post-partum period please do share your feedback with me.
Email: elle.western@nhs.net
Sarah
Sarah is a Salisbury mum. She is a former NICU parent, a ‘high risk’ mum due to underlying conditions, and has a passion for infant feeding. She is a strong advocate for birthing rights in any situation, having experienced both a preemie birth and a homebirth VBAC herself, and would love to hear about your experiences locally.
sarahcowperthwaite@hotmail.co.uk
Elisa
Elisa is soon to be a mum of two boys, she lives just the other side of Salisbury close to the New Forest. She loves everything about pregnancy birth and post-partum. She advocates for people having an informed experience, to feel empowered to make decisions that are best for them and their babies. She would love to hear your experiences whatever they may be.
Salisbury Foundation Hospital (SFT)
Salisbury Hospital Maternity Unit has a small, professional and friendly team currently supporting approximately 2,500 mothers and birthing people per year. Their team includes caring midwives, a dedicated Infant Feeding Team and experienced specialist doctors (obstetricians). They have a Labour Ward, a fully equipped theatre for caesarean births and a postnatal ward.
Salisbury Foundation Trust (SFT) is also known as Salisbury District Hospital (SDH)
Beatrice Birthing Centre
The Beatrice Birth Centre, which received its first mothers on Monday 31st October 2022, offers a safe, friendly environment suitable for women who have had a healthy pregnancy and are expecting to have a straightforward birth. Women can choose to give birth in the centre even if for first babies.
Throughout your pregnancy your community midwife will discuss with you where you would like to birth your baby. If your pregnancy has been straightforward you may choose to birth in the Beatrice Birth Centre, however we regret that rooms cannot be booked in advance.
The centre is run by experienced midwives and can be described as a ‘home away from home’ environment and is a middle ground alternative to the traditional labour ward or home.
Home Birth
You can choose to have your baby at home. This will be a relaxed environment for labour and birth and supports a spontaneous vaginal birth. Research suggests that there is a higher likelihood of a vaginal birth with less intervention if you give birth at home or in a Midwife-led unit. All Community Midwives support home birth and will be happy to discuss this option with you.
Home Birth group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Salisburyhomebirth/
First Baby: https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/NHSE-your-choice-where-to-have-baby-first-baby-sept2018.pdf
Second Baby: https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/NHSE-your-choice-where-to-have-baby-baby-before-sept2018.pdf
NICU
A neonatal unit provides care for premature and sick term newborn babies. Approximately 10% of all babies will need admission to a neonatal unit, commonly because of prematurity, infection, breathing difficulties or feeding problems.
https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/wards-departments/wards/neonatal-intensive-care-unit-nicu/
Health Visiting
Health Visitors are qualified nurses or midwives with a specialist qualification in public health for children, young people and families. They work alongside families offering support and information around parenthood and early parenting, from pregnancy right through to when your child starts school. The service offers support for all parents of all children (0-5), whatever their circumstances. We’d love to hear more about your experience with health visiting in your area. Please fill in out postnatal survey. Please fill in our postnatal survey.
https://wiltshirechildrensservices.co.uk/our-services/health-visiting/
