When will childbirth services return to normal?

[Absa]

Impossible question to answer, but I'm really hoping they start to consider a bit more flexibility around the length of time dads can be there for various different scenarios / birth partner restrictions.

Is there any areas of the country where things have changed at all in the last couple of days???

Things are definitely starting to change. In my area in the last two weeks:
Dads are now allowed the whole way through labour and then to stay on the ward and over night until mum and baby leave (but aren't allowed to come and go)
Water births are allowed again
Home births are allowed again
Midwife unit has reopened.
Neonatal are now allowed two named visitors
So it's pretty much back to a level of normality bar a few restrictions.

I'm due in September and hoping it will be back to normal by then, unless there's a second wave of infections.

Whereabouts are you @Wanderer1? If you don't mind me asking! I'm South east and due any day now, the rules are so strict here!

I'm in the North West, Cheshire. I felt like my trust was really slow to resume some normal services (esp water births and home births) as others had a few weeks prior, but some trusts just are not budging. Very frustrating

Oh and I think the Dads on the postnatal wards including overnight is possible as the antinatal ward is only private rooms, not wards.

Very frustrating that there seems to be different processes for different areas - another example of postcode lottery :(

@Wanderer1 do you mind me asking when you found this out?
I'm due to give birth at Leighton so it comes under one of the Cheshire trusts and I was in over the weekend for bleeding and the midwife I spoke to was saying as it stands nothing has changed! (I could've had a misinformed midwife, I wasn't pushing for info, just chit chat to pass the time!)

She was actually laughing saying it's great there's no men around as some take the piss and sleep in the beds and so on and they were hoping they could change their policies long term.

@babyshine2020 it was announced on the hospital website (Wirral women's and children's hospital) run by the midwives. The hospital doesn't have an open post natal ward, just private rooms so I think they've been a bit quicker to let dads back in than other places.
I have heard of women standing outside hospitals just flatly refusing to go inside to be checked unless their OH can go in with them and then discharging themselves as soon as the dads are sent home, but I am on some quite militant birth rights groups on Facebooks!

When I say private rooms I mean individual rooms, not rooms you have to pay for. It's an NHS hospital

@Wanderer1 in some nhs hospitals if u want an individual room u have to pay for it. That was the case in mine

I would say it is going to be a while yet. I saw my hospital who isn't in a badly effected area only stopped visitors entirely on the postnatal ward last week....

@Wanderer1 ah fair enough! I've got 10 weeks to go yet so I'm not panicking yet.

They're screen for COVID when you go onto the wards at Leighton and their wards are only 4 ladies.

Thank you :)

It's so frustrating that different trusts are doing different things. 13 days to my C section and my local trust never stopped homebirths and is now screening for Covid yet the trust where I'm having my baby stopped then restarted homebirths,but arent testing for Covid,despite them being much more women centered in general! I'm on a FB group for pregnant women during this pandemic and have asked the same question for the past 2 weeks OP and the differences are astounding. Lots of hospitals in the North (Stockport and Warrington being the ones that come to mind) are letting birth partners on the postnatal ward.The best I've heard is Southampton who announced last week that they're testing both mums and partners,if partners test negative,they're allowed on the postnatal ward. I got in touch with my local maternity vouchers partnership earlier in the week to ask them to put this to the trust I'm giving birth in as an option.

@Babyshine2020 I’m due in 2 weeks and also giving birth at Leighton (having been transferred from macc after they closed) i saw my midwife 2 weeks ago and she said the same thing to me, partners only when in established labour and not on the wards after birth. I have another appointment tomorrow so will ask again then. Are you part of the Leighton Facebook group? lots of info from people who have already given birth at Leighton