Birth centre will help limit medical intervention

The site is designed to offer a calm and less clinical environment, the hospital says

A new centre has opened which it is claimed will help reduce the need for medical interventions like caesareans for some women when giving birth.

The Winchester Birth Centre at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital has been designed to provide midwife-led care for low-risk pregnant women.

The hospital said it was "delighted" with the site which offered a calm and less clinical environment, with a birthing pool, ambient lighting, lots of space for moving around, and various birthing aids.

It will have its own entrance but is not far from the hospital's dedicated maternity unit which means urgent obstetric or neonatal care can be accessed quickly if needed.

Wendy Randall, director of midwifery for Hampshire hospitals NHS foundation trust, said they were "delighted to be increasing their choices for place of birth".

She added: "This is a wonderful addition to our midwifery service for low-risk women. By choosing to birth in centres like these, women are more likely to have a straightforward vaginal birth, avoid medical interventions like forceps, and caesarean births, and have a lower risk of heavy bleeding after the birth.

"Importantly research has shown that it is as safe for babies to be born in a birth centre as it is to be born in the obstetric unit. We are delighted to support pregnant women to birth their babies in this new, calm environment, under the care of our dedicated birth centre midwives."

The centre is available to all women who are under the care of Hampshire hospitals trust and complements existing services at the midwife led birth centre at Andover Memorial Hospital and the option of homebirth.