Midwifery Led Units

[AmandaMyatt]

I live in Walsall and am adamant I want a water birth (obviously if I can't due to medical reasons then I completely understand), however, I do not wish to give birth at the Manor Hospital as there is only one birthing pool which means there is a high chance someone else may be using it so I have looked into Midwifery Led Units instead.
The closest unit is in Walsall, however, the same is closed! I then decided to look into alternatives and found the Halcyon Birthing Centre which is under the Sandwell NHS Trust, me and my partner went to view it and it was amazing!, this was around three weeks ago. As I am registered under Walsall at the minute by default I called the Halcyon (I think you end up speaking to the City Hospital) to book myself in for a review so I could be put onto their system. When I told them that I wanted to give birth at the Halcyon the lady on the phone paused and then said 'I'm sorry but I don't think the Halcyon will still be open when you are due to give birth' (Due date is the 4th October) I asked why and the lady said that they were reviewing the facility and it would possibly close from the 14th September!
I am pretty annoyed that these amazing facilities are being closed down. I love the idea of giving birth away from a hospital setting and a birthing centre was perfect as I don't have space at home for a birthing pool. Does anyone have any idea why these facilities are being closed? It seems like a huge waste of money and is also a massive disappointment for the option to be taken away from expecting Mums I don't see why it would be due to staffing issues as when you do go into labour the midwives come from the City Hospital especially and will open up the facility. Any enlightenment on the situation would be appreciated.

And thank you in advance

Our MLU is attached to the hospital. There is a very high rate of women having to be transferred back to labour and delivery - especially for first time births. I wonder if that is a possible reason? If the MLU isn't attached to a hospital they would need to use an ambulance each time.

No idea re this unit, but where I am, current midwife has to refer you and request transfer of care to the other trust, so maybe speak to her and see what she says?

A quick Google shows nothing re it closing so maybe the woman you spoke to was misonfirmed

Sadly ime it is often budget i.e. not enough midwives to staff it and the main units safely, so main unit is prioritised as anyone can give birth there whereas at the stand-alone units there are usually protocols to guide who can birth.

Occasionally it can be lack of demand in that it is not cost effective to run as the area doesn’t have enough women who can/want to birth there...however whether that is due to lack of promotion or over-managing labours is another argument!

Much comes back to the NHS being deeply underfunded and the general lack of importance given to women’s needs and the importance of birth in these circumstances.

Staff get pulled from the MLUs to staff the obstetric units. Basically there is not enough midwives. It's expensive to run an MLU, esp if not enough women are wanting to use it or able to.

I honestly don't think a lot of women are aware these places even exist we weren't aware of the Halcyon until our NCT antenatal tutor told us about it and told us we could birth essentially anywhere we wanted to

Amanda I am from the same area and I went through what you're going through last year. The Walsall mlu closed on me at the very last minute just days before my due date. I opted to go to the mlu attached to City Hospital called serenity and it was awesome. Halycon is a stand alone unit so only opens at certain times and depends on staff availability. If you really want a water birth (I did and it was amazing) go and see serenity, I wholeheartedly recommend it. If you have any Qs, I'll be happy to help x good luck

Thanks Heatherbaby. We went to see the Serenity last night it was either Serenity or Samuel Johnson Hospital. Whilst it took about an extra 15 minutes to get there compared to the Halcyon the staff were really lovely and the birthing experience seems to be exactly what I want perhaps not as posh as the Halcyon but I'm not being picky I just want to birth in a setting that doesn't feel like a hospital and the Serenity ticks all the boxes. I just think it's a shame that the facilities like the Halcyon and Walsall Led Unit aren't being utilised, I think a lot of women are scared of child birth and want to be in hospitals whereas i am the complete opposite. If I had the space to have a birthing pool at home I would be having it there even with my goofy boxer dog staring at me thinking wth is going on Mum lol so we are all registered with Serenity now I'm just praying baby stays put until the 37 weeks

Ah thats perfect Amanda! I registered with Serenity when I was already overdue! They are fabulous I cant fault my birth there at all. I was completely the same as you with DD1 last year and I stuck to my guns and got the birth I wanted. I was dreading the extra distance to travel in labour but I did it twice (got sent home the first time as was only 1cm!) And i don't remember it being a problem. The drive was a decent distraction and I just practiced my breathing.

I took hyonobirthing classes for the weeks prior at the Walsall MLU and the staff and facilities were so lovely, I had my heart set on it. It is so frustrating how the MLUs are being treated up and down the country. Blame government funding cuts

The good thing about serenity however, is that if anything happens (i had a tear ) you are really close to the docs in the main hospital to help out. I wanted to avoid intervention and I did, but i didn't even think about what state id be in afterwards! Xx

I think it's because a lot of women having to be taken to L&D unit, take me for example labour and delivery went fine but then had severe PPH probably would of bled out if had to be transferred to a hospital as needed 2 docs and 4 midwifes straight away

OP have you tried new cross? They have an MLU inside the hospital. I had the choice of the manor or new cross, I went for new cross as I didn’t like that the MLU at Walsall wasn’t at the hospital (this was last year when it was still open). New cross MLU was great. I heard Walsall we’re struggling to hire midwives, the only ones they could get were newly qualified and they had a couple of deaths at their MLU hence why it closed.
Two of my friends were due to give birth at Samuel Johnson, first went great and she delivered there. The second she had to go to Burton instead for an EMCS. One thing to be aware of if you opt for Samuel Johnson - if you need to be transferred you’ll be sent to Burton 15 miles away.

Mummyh2016 I was advised by a midwife at our Hypnobirthing that New Cross are no longer taking people outside their catchment area whether this is true or not I'm not sure but I took it as being true since it came from the midwife

That may be true - one of my friends gave birth a couple of months ago and despite Walsall and New cross being her closest hospitals she was told she couldn’t go to either, and instead had to go to burton 25 miles away.