‘Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.’ – Marilyn Monroe
It’s been an privilege to support this mother as she balanced the risk and benefits of her options and chose a birthplace that felt right for her.
She totally rocked her birth with the support of our @RSCH_Maternity colleagues and now we have the pleasure of supporting this growing family at home
We are delighted to be able to finally share our 2019 stats with you.
The Surrey Hills Homebirth team work within a continuity caseloading model which means that we continue to care for our clients throughout their childbearing journey, even if plans or place of birth change along the way*
In 2019 we were responsible for the care of 203 pregnant women and their families.
Of these families 32% birthed their first baby, 42% birthed their second, while 26% birthed their third or subsequent baby
92% of our entire caseload experienced a vaginal birth and 82% knew the midwife who was caring for them in labour.
133 (66%) of our caseload used water in labour (hydrotherapy) with 50% (n=101) remaining in the water as they birthed their baby (waterbirth).
We welcomed 99 girls and 104 boys in to the world.
From our original caseload (n=203) 73% (n=148) of families planned to give birth at home with the Surrey Hills team at the onset of established labour. The remaining 55 families (27%) opted for an alternative place of birth. This change in planned place of birth occurred for a number of different reasons including consent to Induction of Labour, the development of situations/conditions which recommended a hospital based birth and moving out of area.
Of the 148 families who planned to give birth at home at the onset of labour 82% achieved their planned birth at home (n=121). 18% (n=27) experienced an in labour transfer to an alternative place of birth, while 3% (n=5) were transferred in the immediate postnatal period.
95% of the clients that birthed at home had a physiological (natural) birth of the placenta with optimal cord clamping.
*please note that there have been some changes to our service in 2020 due to Covid 19 pandemic. Please talk to a team member or read the Covid 19 page for more details
I am with the Surrey Hills Homebirth Team and recently had my third baby at the Royal Surrey due to homebirths being suspended. Although disappointed not to be able to birth at home due to covid19, I was thrilled when Amy announced on her Facebook live that the Midwife Led Birthing Room has been reopened and I made sure to mention to the midwife on the phone when I was making my way in.
I had the absolute pleasure of both Kirsty’s by my side during the both. The second of which, one of the homebirth midwives, had seen me at a number of appointments antenatally and was my guardian angel in my final week of pregnancy. She turned a bad week into the week I got to birth and meet our beautiful new daughter.
We felt so safe, calm and looked after at the Royal Surrey Maternity Unit. I can’t thank them all enough. I also get to see Kirsty again at our 5 day check which I’m thrilled about and can’t wait to properly thank her in person.
The care I received throughout my pregnancy with my named midwife Anna was also incredible, I loved being cared for by such a wonderful, supportive midwife.”
We are delighted to be able to share this birth announcement from another of the weekends little arrivals.
The silver lining in the team’s suspension has been being able to continue to support so many of our caseload while they birth at @RSCH_Maternity #continuity #BirthIsAmazingWhereverItHappens
The team had the very great pleasure of supporting this lovely family as they welcomed their second child in to the world.
While the location of their birth changed the essence of their plan remained: a calm, quiet pool birth in the near dark, supported by a midwife they had gotten to know in pregnancy
This lovely mummy is a good friend to one of our team members providing her with support and encouragement when she decided to train as a midwife.
Seven years later it was the midwives privilege to return the favour and support and encourage her friend through pregnancy and birth!
Due to the popularity of our previously published stats the Jodie has put together the stats for the third quarter (July- September 2019) of this year.
In the third quarter of 2019 the team were responsible for case-loading the care of 42 woman. We work within a continuity caseloading model which means that we continue to care for our clients throughout their childbearing journey, even if plans or place of birth change along the way.
74% of our entire caseload were cared for in labour by a midwife they had met before and all women who birthed at home were cared for by a member of the Surrey Hills team.
From this caseload of 42 women, 66.7 % (n=28) still intending to birth at home at the start of their labours, while 14 women (33.3%) changed their intended place of birth before labour started for various reasons including; consenting to an Induction of Labour (n=8) and planned/elective Caesarean birth (n=3).
23 members of our caseload (82%) birthed their babies at home as planned, while 17.8 % (n=5) transferred in labour to the Royal Surrey for further care/support in labour. Two members (7.14%) of our caseload transferred to the Royal Surrey in the immediate postnatal period.
All of the mums who started their labour’s at home had a vaginal birth!
61% (n=26) of our total caseload used water to support them in their labours (hydrotherapy), while 47.6% (n=20) birthed their baby in the water (waterbirth).
We were privileged to welcomed 19 girls and 23 boys in to the world and to support their parents in the first crucial weeks of parenthood.
If you would like to learn more about the team and birthing your baby at home, and you live within our catchment, come along to one of the team’s informal forums or contact the team to arrange a 1-2-1 chat in the privacy of your own home at rsch.homebirth.referrals@nhs.net
On Tuesday we also had the privilege of supporting these first time parents as they laboured at home before welcoming their daughter in to the world with the support of our @RSCH_Maternity colleagues #RoyalSurreyBirthingUnit #TeamWork
Jodie has done another wonderful job translating our stats in to a user friendly infographic.
November was a busy month with 28 of our caseload’s babies making their arrivals.
6 of our clients changed their place of birth prior to the start of their labour.
22 clients intended home as their baby’s place of birth at the start of labour and 82% (n=18) achieved their planned homebirth. Therefore our transfer rate in labour was 18 %(n=4).
72 % (n=13) of the homebirth’s took place in water with a further 5 clients using water during their labours only (use of water in labour 82%).
Mode of birth is presented for all clients cared for by the Surrey Hills team including those who’s place of birth changes prior to labour.
82 % (n=23) of the babies birthed in November were unassisted vaginal births.
3.5% (n=1) was born with Ventouse assistance.
3.5% (n=1) was born with the assistance of Forceps.
3.5 % (n=1) was born via an Elective Caesarean Birth.
7% (n=2) of the births took place via Emergency Caesarean. 1 baby (3.5%) was born via prior to the start of labour and the other (3.5%) during active labour.
surreyhillshomebirth.org 