Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust is situated on Anlaby Road very near the centre of Hull. The postcode is HU3 2JZ. The A63 main road into the city is very close by and the main bus and train station are a 10 minute walk away. There is also a park and ride service from Priory Park Hessle, HU4 7BB that stops right outside the hospital. There is a large hospital car park on Argyle Street but there are also several other privately funded car parks situated close to the hospital.

The Women’s and Children’s Hospital is a purpose built building on the main hospital site. As well as maternity services in the building, it also accommodates:

• Children’s Services – paediatric outpatients, the paediatric inpatient ward and paediatric theatres
• Gynaecology services – Gynaecology outpatients and a minor procedure area, an Early Pregnancy Assessment and Emergency Gynaecology Unit, the Gynaecology inpatient and day case ward and the Gynaecology theatre suite
• The ultrasound department for maternity and gynaecology

On the ground floor there is the Orchard Café opening during the week only approximately 8am to 4pm, hot and cold light refreshments are served. Outside these times vending machines are available.

Birth Choices

For the majority of women, pregnancy and birth is a natural life event and giving birth is generally very safe for both you and your baby, wherever you choose to have your baby. Your choice will be a personal one based upon many factors.

At Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, our ethos is one which puts women at the centre of their own care; supporting you in making decisions about how you want to give birth whilst ensuring safe and high quality care is maintained. We are delighted we can provide you with three choices of birth environment.

It is important that you and your partner have all the information you need to make choices about where you would like to give birth. It is your choice and, even after you have decided where you want to have your baby, you can still change your mind.

Your midwife can discuss the options that are available in Hull and East Yorkshire if you have any further questions after reading this information. You are also free to choose maternity services in any other area if you are willing to travel. Hull University Teaching hospitals is part of the Humber, Coast and Vale Local Maternity system which includes Hull, York District Hospital, Scarborough Hospital, Scunthorpe General Hospital and Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.

Please be aware we are a teaching hospital, so students may be present for your care. If you do not wish to have students participating in your care, please tell the midwife looking after you.

What is ‘midwife-led care’?

If you have no complications in your medical history or during any previous pregnancies or births, you will be allocated to ‘Midwife Led Care’ (MLC). This means that care during your pregnancy, birth and after you have had your baby will be provided by our team of midwives in the community and in the hospital.

Women allocated to Midwife Led Care are suitable to have their baby at home or in the bespoke Fatima Allam birth centre. Studies suggest that for women with low-risk pregnancies, midwife-led care is as safe as care shared with obstetric consultants.

If any complications arise, the midwives caring for you will arrange for you to be seen by our obstetric teams (doctors specialising in pregnancy and birth). If the problem is ongoing, you will remain under the care of a consultant for the rest of your pregnancy and birth, working as a team with your midwives and other professionals. If the problem is resolved the consultant will refer you back to midwife-led care.

If you are under the care of the obstetric team, we recommend that you birth your baby on the obstetric led labour ward, however you can discuss this with a consultant to agree a plan of care with them.

The Fatima Allam Birth Centre (FABC)

The Fatima Allam Birth Centre is our alongside Midwife Led Unit (MLU) here at The Women & Children’s Hospital Hull Royal Infirmary. You can choose to have your baby with us if your pregnancy is uncomplicated and you have had no serious problems in other pregnancies you may have had.

We pride ourselves on each of our 3 birthing rooms, all with birthing pools, being a relaxing and calm place for you to be to welcome your baby into the world.Please contact the Direct Access Midwifery Service on 01482 605304 if you would like to birth your baby on the Fatima Allam Birth Centre.

What do the birthing rooms have in them?

• If you don’t wish to use a birthing pool we encourage you to be active during labour and we provide birthing platforms; birthing stools; bean bags; mats and birthing balls to help with this.
• We also have colour changing mood lighting, sofas and music playing facilities to help you feel more comfortable during your birth.
• We have equipment needed for doing things like checking your baby’s heart rate in labour as well as monitoring your blood pressure and temperature.
• We also have equipment ready if there any problemsAs well as each room having a birthing pool; our rooms all have private en-suite wet rooms.
• You and your birth partners are also welcome to use our waiting area with a free of charge hot drinks machine.

Who will look after me on the Fatima Allam Birth Centre?

• You will be cared for by Midwives who are the experts in normal birth and picking up any concerns for mothers and babies at all times.
• Midwives also work with our Midwifery Assistants, who can also give you and your baby support in labour and afterwards too.
• Other staff, like catering services and the newborn hearing screeners also see you whilst you are in our care.
• As we are located between Labour Ward and our Neonatal Unit, so if you or your baby need any extra help, for example from Doctors, we can get this for you very quickly.
• Sometimes if you need any extra help the midwives may need to move you to the labour ward next door, for example if you are becoming unwell in labour or we have concerns about your baby.
• If you need to be moved onto labour ward we try to keep the same midwife from the MLU caring for you.

What is offered to help me cope in labour?

• As well as our active birth items, like the birthing pools and birthing stools, you can also use gas & air or injections of pethidine or meptid.
• You can still use gas and air if you are in the birthing pool.
• We support hypnobirthing.
• We offer aromatherapy (nice smelling oils) for massage and breathing in.
• You can have up to two birth partners who we welcome to be part of your experience!

What happens when I have had my baby?

• We like you to still feel relaxed and calm once your baby is born so we give you time to relax and bond with your baby in your cleaned birthing room.
• We encourage you to go home from us (depending on what time of day or night your baby is born) rather than going to the postnatal ward.
• You can go home after 6 hours if you wish and the midwives are happy with how you and your baby are doing,
• Your birth partners are welcome to stay with you, but we are not able to accommodate other visitors.
• We are able to perform all necessary checks for you and your baby in the hospital before you go home.
• We tell the Community Midwives that you have had your baby and are going home.

For some women, care during labour and birth is more appropriately given in a consultant led setting

Labour Ward (Obstetric Unit)

The Labour Ward at Hull and East Yorkshire Women and Children’s Hospital has approximately 5000 births a year. The Labour Ward is staffed by a team of midwives and medical staff supported by other members of the multidisciplinary team including anaesthetists, paediatricians, midwifery assistants, theatre staff and ancillary staff.

Our midwives will work with you try to keep your labour and birth as normal as possible. There is a birthing pool on the Labour Ward which may be used by women under consultant care with the agreement of the obstetric staff. The midwife caring for you will listen to your baby’s heartbeat regularly through your labour, as well as monitoring your wellbeing. Alternatively, it may be suggested that your baby’s heart rate should be continuously monitored through labour using electronic monitoring. It is still possible to try different positions and remain active through your labour even if your baby has continuous monitoring, and your midwife will help you with this.

For women requiring additional pain relief, inhalation (gas and air), injectable opioid pain relief (Pethidine) and epidural anaesthesia is available.

Two nominated birth partners (adults) can be present throughout labour. For women who have an operative birth i.e. caesarean section, one person may be present for theatre and the recovery time which is usually 4 – 6 hours. Any special requests will need to be pre-planned and discussed with the Labour Ward manager.

Women giving birth on the Labour Ward are normally transferred to the postnatal ward (Rowan Ward) on the first floor of the Women and Children’s Hospital around two hours after giving birth. Some women may need to remain on the Labour Ward for longer postnatally if they need more specialist care.

What about safety?

A national birthplace study has looked in depth at outcomes in different places of birth. The findings suggest that for women having their second or subsequent baby, it is at least as safe to have your baby at home or in an alongside midwifery unit as it is in an obstetric unit. In addition, women planning to have their babies at home or in a midwifery led unit are significantly more likely to have a normal birth and less likely to need interventions such as a caesarean section.

For women having their first baby, the Birthplace study identified a slightly increased risk of serious complications for the baby in women planning to have their baby at home (9 in 1000) compared to women planning to have their baby in a midwifery led unit or obstetric unit (5 in 1000). Women planning to have their first baby at home or in a midwifery led unit are more likely to have a normal birth and less likely to have interventions than women planning to have their baby in an obstetric unit.

Transfer from home or the Fatima Allam Birth Centre to Labour Ward

Sometimes there might be reasons why your midwife might suggest you transfer from home or the FABC to the Labour Ward. Reasons for this might include:

• Concerns about your baby’s heart rate
• Concerns about your health or wellbeing
• If you are asking for further pain relief e.g. an epidural
• If your baby has passed meconium during labour
• If there are concerns about progress in labour
• If your placenta has not delivered
• If you have a complicated tear which needs repair by a doctor.

Transfer from a home birth would take place via ambulance, this is done as a priority and we work closely with ambulance services to ensure safety of you and your baby at all times. Transfer from the Fatima Allen Birth Centre to the Labour Ward would be via wheelchair or trolley, as they are both on the same floor of the unit.

Any Questions?

Please read this and share the information it contains with your partner and family so that they can be of help and support. There may be information they need to know, especially if they are supporting you as the birth partner(s).

Your community midwife will be happy to discuss your choice of place of birth with you at your antenatal appointments. You can get more information about labour and birth by attending birth preparation classes – ask your midwife for details if you have not been given information on how to access these.

Having a baby can be an exciting and daunting life event at the best of times, we are able to offer you access to a series of drop-in events.

On the last Wednesday of every month we host a baby carousel event.

Representatives from/advice on the following is available:

• Fatima Allam Birth Centre (Midwife Led Unit)
• SureStart Children’s Centres
• UsMums fitness sessions
• Baby bath and nappy change demonstrations
• Car seat safety
• Home birth group
• Hypnobirthing
• Healthy lifestyles
• ‘Let’s talk’ talking therapies
• Health Visitors
• Breast buddies – breastfeeding support
• Infant feeding

Should you require further advice on the issues contained on this website, please do not hesitate to contact the Community Midwifery service on (01482) 382742.

You can also access a lot of information on Hull maternity services on their dedicated website . 

	Hull Women’s and Children’s Hospital	Fatima Allam Birth Centre
1:1 Midwife Support	✔	✔
Alongside Midwifery –led unit	✔	The FABC is an alongside MW led unit
Anaesthetic clinic	✔	✔
Antenatal Education	✔	✔
Bereavement Service	✔	✔
Birth after C Section	✔	✔
Birth Pools	✔	✔
Breastfeeding support	✔	✔
Car parking	✔	✔
Epidural Service	✔	✖
Fetal Medicine clinic	✔	✖
High BMI Clinic	✔	✖
Homebirth Service	✔	✖
Labour Ward	✔	✔
Neonatal Intensive Care	✔	✔
Partner staying overnight	✔	✔
Perinatal Mental Health support	✔	✔
Screening	✔	✔
Access to Smoking Cessation services	✔	✔
Substance and alcohol misuse midwife	✔	✔
Telephone helpline	✔	✔
Transfer time to obstetric care	N/A	Alongside obs unit
Virtual Unit Tours	✔	✔
Vulnerable womens service	✔	✔