2020 Annual Stats

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

Here’s an overview of our Annual Stats from 2020 – an unusual year for everyone to say the least, but babies kept coming, and it continued to be magical to provide continuity to our caseload throughout 2020.

During 2020, Surrey Hills Homebirth team cared for a total caseload of 174 families – 84 baby girls and 90 baby boys! Of these families, 97 started labour at home. We are proud to support a mixed caseload of mums including both those requiring consultant input during pregnancy as well as those who are midwifery led care to make informed birthplace decisions. As well as prelabour clinical reasons for changes in planned birthplace, Covid had its own impact on our families birthing in 2020.

Of our Mums who started labour at home..
-98% had vaginal births
-61% birthed or laboured in a pool
-81% had physiological third stages
-88% knew the team members who cared for them in labour
-19 required transfer in labour, and 8 postnatally

Of our total caseload, including those families who birthed in hospital and we provided continuity for antenatally and postnatally,
a fantastic 97% were feeding their babies as intended on discharge to the health visitors.

During the height of lockdown 1 the team was temporarily suspended from providing Homebirths due to the impact of Covid on the ambulance service. This suspension lasted 7 weeks, from the 24th March till the 11th May. During this time the team covered labour ward shifts to support as many of our families as possible. 25 babies from our caseload were born during this suspension. Of these, the majority were cared for by the team and 96% had vaginal births.

In addition to the Covid suspension having an impact on the plans of those mums birthing during this time, it was naturally an unsettling time for Mums due in the following month, who had started to prepare for their midwifery led hospital birth. We continued to support our caseload throughout this transitional time.

2020 was a whirlwind and it was an absolute privilege as a team to support so many wonderful families welcome their bundles of joy during this unforgettable year!
2021 has been wonderful so far and we look forward to sharing our first quarterly stats with you soon!

If you would like to explore your option of Homebirth or arrange an individualised face to face appointment with a team member, get in touch:

RSCH.Homebirth.Referrals@nhs.net

9Feb2021

October – December 2020 Stats

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

26May2020

Team Stats 2019

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

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

25Nov2019

2019: The Third Quarter

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

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

30Oct2019

2019: The Second Quarter

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

Due to the popularity of our previously published stats the Jodie has put together the stats for the second quarter (April 2019-June 2019) of this year.

In the second quarter of 2019 the team were responsible for case-loading the care of 49 woman, 94% of whom went on to have a vaginal birth.

92% of our caseload were cared for in labour by a midwife they had met before.

From this caseload of 49 women, 81.6% (n=40) still intending to birth at home at the start of their labours, while 9 women (18.4%) , for various reasons, changed their intended place of birth.

35 members of our caseload (87.5%) birthed their babies at home as planned while 12.5% changed their planned during the intrapartum period (active labour to two hours after birth) and transferred to the Royal Surrey for further care/support.

90% of the women who laboured/birthed at home used water to support them in their labours (hydrotherapy) and 85.7% of the births that took place at home occurred within the water (waterbirth).

We were privileged to welcomed 19 girls and 30 boys in to the world and to support their parents in the first crucial weeks of parenthood.

17Dec2018

November Stats: Transfers

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

Following on from our November stats we would like to show you in more detail why not all of our caseload’s babies were born at home.

The more research you do in to #homebirth the more you will discover that transfer rates and the reasons for transfer, aren’t quiet what you might imagine.

In November 28 of our caseload birthed their babies.

Six changed their planned place of birth from home to the Royal Surrey County Hospital prior to the onset of labour. Five consented to an induction of labour (18%) and one to an elective caesarean birth(3.5 %).

22 of our clients were planning to birth at home at the onset of their labours. Of these mums 18 went on to birth at home as planned, while four (18%) transferred in to hospital during the course of their labours.

Two transferred for additional analgesia (9%), one (4.5%)for meconium (baby’s first bowel movement) stained liquor (waters) and one (4.5%) for prolonged 2nd (pushing) stage of labour.

Because we are a #continuity case loading team we continue to care for our clients even if plans change along the way.

We hope that you find this information when exploring your birth place options and making decisions about your birth plan.

If you are planning to birth your baby with the Royal Surrey and would like to explore your birth place options we would be delight to talk things then with you.

You can either come to one of our informal “meet the homebirth team” mornings ( see details of upcoming Forums here), email the team at tanya.ashton@nhs.net to arrange a no obligation home visit or request a referral from your current community midwife.

10Dec2018

November Stats: Continuity Of Carer

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

Continuity of carer means consistency in the midwife that cares for a woman and her baby throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally.

It has been shown to correlate with numerous positive outcomes including;

24% less likely to experts preterm birth

15% less likely to need regional analgesia (Epidural)

16% less likely to have an episiotomy

Woman’s chances of having a spontaneous vaginal birth were also found to increase

(Cochrane Review 2016)

The Surrey Hills Homebirth team is a caseloading Midwifery Team. All women in our caseload have a named midwife and as they get closer to their birth have the chance to meet the other four members of the team.

Not only is continuity of carer overwhelming what women say they want, it also provides so much job satisfaction for midwives, we love getting to know families this way!

#Continuity #ContinuityMatters #BetterBirths #Caseloading #Midwifery #Homebirth

5Dec2018

What if…?

Posted in Hospital birth by surreyhillshomebirth

What if things don’t go to plan?

What if we need to transfer to hospital?

Overwhelming the feedback we get following a transfer to hospital is positive with many parents planning to #homebirth with the team again if they have another pregnancy.

This feedback (shared with permission) was shared on our Instagram ( SurreyHillsHomeBirth) in response to the Infographic of our November stats #transfer

14Nov2018

October 2018 Stats continued

Posted in Meet the team by surreyhillshomebirth

Following on from the fantastic infographic Jodie created at the start of the month we wanted to spend some time exploring a few of our stats.

Today we are looking at our transfer rates.

In October we had a caseload of 17 pregnant clients.

4 of our clients changed their planned place of birth prior to labour. The reasons for change of planned place of birth were maternal choice (n=1), premature (prior to 37 weeks) labour (n=2) and Induction of Labour (n=1).

13 women planned to birth at home at the onset of their labour. Of these clients 11 birthed their baby at home as planned.

Two clients were transferred to the Royal Surrey County Hospital in labour. The reason for transfer were prolonged first (dilating) stage of labour (n=1) and prolonged second (pushing) stage of labour (n=1).

All of the clients who transferred to the Royal Surrey for their baby’s birth (n=6) had normal (unassisted) vaginal births.

9 of the 11 families who birthed at home remained at home. 2 families transferred in after their baby’s birth. one for Retained Placenta and one for postnatal observation of the baby.

1Nov2018

Homebirth Team Stats:October 2018

Posted in Inspiration & Information by surreyhillshomebirth

The lovely Jodie has compiled our audit results and created this beautiful info graphic!

We are constantly auditing our outcomes but this is the first time we’ve shared them like this.

What do you think about the results?

Do you find it helpful to have access to this kind of information?

Do you find the infographic formate more accessible?

What kind of information would you like to know about the team?

We are hoping to share some more detailed October info with you in the coming weeks.