Maternity Outpatients

Here at MWL we offer many services during pregnancy, including specialist antenatal services, advice on diet and exercise, restricting alcohol intake and smoking cessation, support for women and their families with disability needs and specialist care for women with complex medical problems.

Additional Information

• Fetal Medicine Unit / Fetal Maternal Assessment Unit (FMAU)

  Most pregnancies progress without any complications. However, sometimes a mother or her unborn baby needs extra care from our Fetal Medicine team - made up of specialists including fetal consultant, midwife and healthcare assistants.

• About the Team

  Ward Manager - Claire Major

  Matron - Sharon Bell

• About

  The team of specialists who deliver antenatal care and beyond can include midwives, an obstetrician, an anaesthetist, a paediatrician, health worker and sometimes a dietician. Each has their own individual role to play. As we are a teaching hospital we also have student midwives, student doctors and student paramedics who attend

• Location

  Maternity outpatients is located on level 2, purple floor, Whiston Hospital

• Contact Details

  Tel - 0151 430 2325

• Additional Information

  Before you attend your booking appointment with your midwife please take the time to read the screening information booklets that are sent to you with your booking appointment information. These will give you the information to help you make the decision regarding any screening tests in pregnancy. Your midwife can also discuss these with you. ‘Screening tests for you and your baby’ includes information on the 6 national antenatal & newborn screening pathways as commissioned by NHS England.

• Relevant Leaflets/Documents

  Screening tests for you and your baby

  Title - Advice for Mothers staying on the Neonatal Unit

  Description - At present, it is necessary for your baby to be in hospital under the care of the neonatal team and we appreciate that you need to be close to your baby to feed and provide care, despite being fit and well and not otherwise needing to remain as an inpatient in hospital. We are happy to accommodate you with a bed, meals and washing facilities on the Neonatal Unit, but you do not need to consider yourself to be an inpatient, rather a mother who is here with her baby.

  Title - Antenatal and Newborn Screening

  Description - This information is for all pregnant women attending for their booking appointment in hospital and in the community.

  Title - Aspirin in pregnancy for the prevention of pre-eclampsia

  Description - Pre-eclampsia affects around two to three in every 100 pregnant women. The usual signs of pre-eclampsia are raised blood pressure and protein in your urine. You may experience swelling of your hands, feet and face, headaches, flashes of light in your vision, pain in the upper abdomen and/or nausea and vomiting. Pre-eclampsia usually occurs towards the end of pregnancy. The high blood pressure can be treated with medication, but pre-eclampsia itself is not cured until the baby is delivered. In rarer cases (around five in every 1,000 pregnant women) it leads to more severe disease. This may start earlier and affect the growth of the baby in the womb or the health of the mother. In these cases, the baby may need to be delivered earlier.

  Title - Being overweight During Pregnancy and After Birth

  Description - Most women who are overweight have a straightforward pregnancy and birth and deliver healthy babies. However being overweight does increase the risk of complications to both you and your baby. This information is about the extra care you will be offered during your pregnancy and how you can minimise the risks to you and your baby in this pregnancy and in a future pregnancy.

  Title - Bereavement Midwives

  Description - They are midwives who have increased experience in caring for and supporting families during and after the loss of a baby.

  Title - Birth Options After Previous Caesarean Section

  Description - More than one in five women (20%) in the UK currently give birth by caesarean section. Many women have more than one caesarean delivery.

  Title - Breech Presentation and External Cephalic Version

  Description - Most babies are born head first, but at the end of pregnancy around 3-4% are found to be breech.

  Title - Cannabis Use in Pregnancy

  Description - Cannabis is the most widely used illegal substance in the U.K.

  Title - Dermal Implants and Pregnancy

  Description - Dermal implants are body piercings which are held in place with an anchor inserted underneath the skin.

  Title - Drugs & Pregnancy

  Description - If you are using drugs, here is some information to help you.

  Title - Emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and after birth

  Description - It is normal to sometimes feel down and more anxious when you are pregnant or as a new mother, but if you find you are feeling low more than you are feeling happy or are overly anxious, you need to talk with someone.

  Title - Epilepsy in Pregnancy

  Description - Most women who have epilepsy do not have a seizure during pregnancy and have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

  Title - Giving birth at home or in the Midwife Led Unit or Delivery Suite What are your options?

  Description - This guide is intended to help you plan where to give birth and support discussions with your midwife or obstetrician (a doctor who specialises in birth).

  Title - Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in pregnancy and newborn babies

  Description - This information is for you if you (or a friend or relative) are expecting a baby, planning to become pregnant or have recently had a baby. This leaflet is provided by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

  Title - Improving the outcome for preterm babies: Information for Parents

  Description - We now know there are 7 key measures that will improve the outcome for preterm babies, that is babies born before 37 weeks. Babies that are born before 27 weeks (or 28 weeks for multiple pregnancies, e.g. twins) are considered to be extremely preterm. These measures are known as the Optimisation Care Bundle. This leaflet will explain how this bundle can help your baby.

  Title - Induction of Labour

  Description - This leaflet is designed to give you information on what induction of labour (IOL) is, how and why it is performed, what some of the benefits and disadvantages are, and to answer some of your questions.

  Title - Induction of Labour with Cervical Ripening Balloon

  Description - Information for women with previous caesarean section having an induction of labour using Cervical Ripening Balloon (CRB)

  Title - Infant Feeding Drop In Clinic

  Description - This service has been set up to help any mum who wishes to breast feed their baby, or is already breast feeding.

  Title - Information for Mothers who are expecting a large for gestational age (LGA) baby

  Description - You have been given this leaflet because you might be having a baby that has an estimated weight more than the average at this stage of pregnancy. This is referred to as “large for gestational age (LGA)”. We understand that this might be concerning, and we hope that this leaflet will provide more information regarding this matter.

  Title - Information on Breastfeeding and Hand Expressing Colostrum (First milk)

  Description - You have probably already thought about how you will feed your new baby. You will have the opportunity to discuss this with your midwife throughout your pregnancy.

  Title - Labour and Birth in Water

  Description - Water use during labour and birth ranges from a woman in early labour using her bath at home for pain relief, to women giving birth in a specially designed birthing pool in a maternity unit or in their own home.

  Title - Latent Phase of Labour

  Description - This information leaflet has been written to help you recognise some of the signs and symptoms you may experience at the start of your labour and offer some advice and tips to help you through the latent phase.

  Title - Low PAPP-A

  Description - Pregnancy associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) is a hormone that is produced by the placenta in pregnancy. It is one of two hormones that are measured during the combined screening test for Down’s, Edwards and Patau’s Syndrome.

  Title - Manual Removal of the Placenta (afterbirth) and Management of Ragged Membranes

  Description - Following the birth of your baby, the placenta (afterbirth) normally delivers with ease. Sometimes the placenta gets stuck on the wall of the womb (retained placenta), and does not deliver and in these circumstances you would usually require a manual removal of the placenta under anaesthetic (either a general or regional anaesthetic).

  Title - Monitoring your baby’s heartbeat during labour

  Description - One of the ways of finding out if your baby is having difficulties is to listen to the heartbeat regularly throughout labour. This is known as fetal heart monitoring.

  Title - My baby is on IV antibiotics

  Description - This information leaflet will give you a brief outline of why babies need antibiotics.

  Title - Obstetric Cholestasis

  Description - This information is for you if you have been diagnosed with Obstetric Cholestasis or if you have persistent itching in pregnancy.

  Title - Omega 3 for Preterm Birth Prevention

  Description - Research published in November 2018, found that Omega 3 supplements can help you have a full-term pregnancy. The supplements also help babies grow to a healthy weight in the womb. You have been identified as someone who has a higher risk of preterm birth, and so a supplement to prevent preterm birth could be especially helpful in your pregnancy.

  Title - Outpatient induction of labour using 'Propess'

  Description - Outpatient induction will only be offered to you if you have gone past your due date and have had a ‘low-risk’ pregnancy.

  Title - Parents’ Guide to Skin to Skin Contact: What you need to know

  Description - We believe that all mothers and babies should have the opportunity, wherever possible, to enjoy skin to skin contact straight after birth. Skin to skin contact is a fantastic way to bond with your baby. It is especially important if you intend to breastfeed, but regardless of your feeding intentions it will help your newborn adjust to his/her new surroundings, calm their breathing and keep them close and safe.

  Title - Planning a Caesarean Birth

  Description - This guide has been produced to provide information that you may find helpful if your baby is to be delivered by caesarean section.

  Title - Possible Breast Changes During and After Pregnancy

  Description - This leaflet is designed to help you understand the possible changes that can occur to your breasts during pregnancy and after giving birth.

  Title - Postnatal Discharge Infant Feeding Support

  Description - Congratulations on the birth of your baby. By now you will have probably decided how you wish to feed your baby. However, if you are undecided or would like any information or support to help you make a decision, please contact the Infant Feeding Team or ask your health care professional to refer you to us on your behalf.

  Title - Pre-Labour Rupture of the Membranes (waters breaking before labour starts)

  Description - Sixty percent of women will go into labour (without any help or intervention) within 24 hours of their membranes rupturing (waters breaking). The rate of labour (without any help or intervention) after this is 5% per day.

  Title - Premature Rupture of Membranes in Pregnancy

  Description - Premature Rupture of Membranes in Pregnancy (When your waters break early)

  Title - Preterm Birth Prevention Clinic

  Description - This is a specialist clinic which monitors and treats women and pregnant people who are at higher risk of spontaneous preterm birth under 34 weeks of pregnancy or late miscarriage.

  Title - Preterm Labour – what do I need to know?

  Description - Preterm labour is when labour that happens before the 37th week of pregnancy. About 8 out of 100 babies will be born prematurely.

  Title - Protecting your baby from low blood glucose

  Description - You have been given this leaflet because your baby is at increased risk of having low blood glucose (also called low blood sugar or hypoglycaemia).

  Title - Reduced Fetal Movements - Tommy's feeling your baby move

  Description - Reduced Fetal Movements (Baby's activity in the womb - Tommy's Leaflet)

  Title - Remifentanil Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) for pain relief in labour

  Description - Remifentanil is a strong morphine-like pain relieving medication, that we can offer to patients in labour on the Delivery Suite. It has a very rapid onset and short duration of action making it well suited to the treatment of intermittent contraction pains experienced during labour. wnload

  Title - Requesting a baby loss certificate

  Description - A baby loss certificate is a certificate that formally recognises the impact of losing a child early on in pregnancy. It is for parents who experience a loss within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. The certificate is not a legal document, and it is not a death certificate, but it is a way of acknowledging that your baby existed.

  Title - The effects of giving formula milk to a breastfed baby - A guide for parents

  Description - Breast milk contains all the food and water a healthy baby needs until they are six months old. In the first few days, your breasts produce colostrum, the valuable first milk. Healthy, full term babies do not need “top up” feeds of formula milk, as your colostrum is perfect for your baby’s needs, even in small amounts.

  Title - Third- and Fourth-Degree Tears

  Description - For some women, a tear that happens at delivery may be deeper than average and extend into the muscle that surrounds and controls the anus (this muscle is known as the anal sphincter). Tears like this are known as “third- or fourth-degree tears” (also known as an obstetric anal sphincter injury/OASI). They happen in up to 6 out of 100 births (6%) for first time mothers and less than 2 in 100 births (2%) of births for women who have had a vaginal birth before.

  Title - Transvaginal Cervical Cerclage (Stitch)

  Description - This information is for you to make an informed decision about your care. This leaflet aims to help you better understand your health and the options available for you and your care. We are here to support you to make a decision that is right for you. If you have any further questions, then please ask any member of the preterm birth clinic team and we will support you and answer your questions.

  Title - Understanding what happened – hospital review following the loss of your baby

  Description - We are sincerely sorry for the loss of your baby and we understand that this is a difficult time to be reading new information.

  Title - Using a Birthing Ball during Pregnancy and for Labour

  Description - A birthing ball can help ease labour pain, reduce the pain of contractions, decrease anxiety and shorten the first stage of labour.

  Title - Vaginal Progesterone Pessaries(Cyclogest) for preterm birth prevention in singleton pregnancies

  Description - Progesterone is a natural hormone made by the body throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle. During pregnancy, it helps to support the growing uterus and prevent uterine contractions. In certain women who have a higher risk of preterm birth (before 37 weeks of pregnancy), treatment with vaginal progesterone pessaries may help to minimise the chance of this happening.

  Title - What to bring into hospital when having a baby

  Description - We are currently updating our maternity records and there are some changes to the list of things that you should bring into hospital with you.

  Title - You and your premature baby

  Description - This leaflet is written for parents who are at risk of having a very premature baby (delivering between 22 and 25 weeks of pregnancy). We will help you to make some important choices about your care before and during labour if this was to happen. This leaflet contains important information to help you decide what would be best for you, your baby and your family. We are happy to go through this leaflet with you to explain things further and give you a chance to ask questions. The obstetricians (doctor who look after pregnant women) and neonatologist (doctor who look after sick newborn babies) will discuss with you what it may mean for your baby if he or she delivers early. Babies born very prematurely may not survive or may have long term problems. These problems are set out in more detail below. The chances of survival depend on many factors including how many weeks into the pregnancy you are, birth weight, any abnormalities picked up on scan, how strong they are when they are born and whether there is any infection present. You will be offered a visit to the neonatal unit, which is where your baby is likely to receive specialist care, if delivered early.

  Title - Your right to refuse a transfusion of blood or blood products in your pregnancy

  Description - We want to be sure that we treat every woman in a way which recognises her individual choices to refuse blood or blood products and in other situations respects her religious beliefs.

• Specialist antenatal clinics

  Women with straightforward, low-risk, pregnancies may find all the care they need within their local community but if you face a more complicated route you may need some extra support. We offer a range of specialist antenatal services and clinics. Our team is multidisciplinary and combines leading consultants, specialist midwives and nurses and other clinicians, such as ultra sonographers. From your first visit to any follow-up appointments right up until the time you leave our care, your welfare is extremely important to us.