Kate Scotter
BBC News

Dealing with the death of a baby is traumatic.

Bereavement midwife Ali Brett has been in post for 18 months to help that experience be as smooth as possible.

She has brought on board Petals counselling service and has set up the Daisy Room, a place which is calm and quiet where they can talk about their loss, receive details of a post-mortem examination and make plans towards their next pregnancy.

There is also the Butterfly Room and the quiet room.

Ipswich Hospital treated 40 cases of pregnancies that did not go beyond 20 weeks or babies that lived only a short time after birth in 2016..

Mrs Brett, who has been a midwife for 20 years, said it was really important to help improvement the bereavement services at Ipswich Hospital and to make them more patient-centred.

She said: "I can't bring a baby back but my aim is to make a tragic situation as smooth as possible."

Simon Dedman is live from Ipswich Hospital as we spend 24 hours in the maternity wards.

About 3,500 babies are born at Ipswich Hospital every year.

The hospital refurbished its maternity ward in 2013 after it received more than £600,000 from the government.

Its delivery rooms were revamped, reclining chairs were introduced and more relaxing environment was created.

We've been told the second baby of the day has been born at Ipswich Hospital.

We'll bring you more details as we get them.

We told you about Emma Bulmer, 26, and her planned C-section earlier.

Well, she's now arrived with husband Aiden, 25, and is third on the list to go to theatre.

How are they feeling? "Excited".

They're booked in to have a C-section because their baby was in the breech position - meaning it was bottom down. Attempts to turn failed and were "excruciating", says Emma.

The couple say they're happy for us to join them in the theatre later, so standby for more on that. We're expecting to go into theatre at about at 17:00 to 17:30.

Until then, we've left them to pass the time on the ward.

People have been tweeting using the #BBCmaternity24 hashtag about our round-the-clock coverage at Ipswich Hospital's maternity unit.

Maria Cooke is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist - that means she gets involved when pregnancies get complicated.

That may be from the moment the expectant mother comes into the hospital, or may be the result of complications that arise during labour.

"Sometimes things can be a bit hairy," she said.

"There are times when you have to deliver babies as quickly as you can."

Maria is currently confined to paperwork duties after breaking her ankle at the start of August.

"You need to be able to stand up to do a forceps delivery so that's my role at the moment," she said.

Kate Scotter
BBC News

We're here finding out more about the work midwives and support workers do, and hearing the stories of happy couples who have just welcomed their baby into the world.

But sometimes the story is not so cheerful.

There can be complications and things may not go quite as planned.

Consultant midwife Helen Smith said: "We have a process if an outcome is unexpected and will ensure that from the women's perspective she has got really good support.

"We have a bereavement midwife who supports families who are bereaved and women who have had an unexpected outcome, whether late or early in their pregnancy.

"There is also support for staff and we have a review of what's happened. Informally there's really good team support - the midwives really support each other."

At Ipswich Hospital, there are 110 midwives, with a further 45 out in the community. There are 34 support workers and six in the community.

It's National Fitness Day with plenty of fitness centres putting on free taster sessions or open days.

All you need to do to get involved is type in your local postcode into the National Fitness Day activity finder, external and see what's available near you.

Image source, UK Active

If you're still not sure, we've put together five suggestions for you.

Kate Scotter
BBC News

Steps are being taken to reduce the amount of time babies spend away from their mums in intensive care.

The "shared care" pilot started at Ipswich Hospital's Framlingham Ward in March.

Previously, babies who had been taken to the neonatal unit had to stay there for at least 24 hours. This has now been reduced to a minimum of four hours.

Clinical lead nurse Julia Cooper said: "We know they are observed and safe and it means they can go back to their mummies where they should be."

If you're heavily pregnant and calling Ipswich Hospital to find out if you should come in to Brook ward, the chances are that Dawn Silburn will be on the other end of the line.

Like several of her other colleagues, she's reluctant to use "the Q word", but says she's only taken two or three calls from women so far today.

"It's hard to predict how many calls we'll get," she said.

"You never know what each day is going to bring."

Dawn is the ward clerk and passes calls to midwives to make decisions about whether women should come in.

We've just been given an update on the latest situation in terms of expectant mothers:

• One woman has been in touch with the Brook ward to say she might be in the early stages of labour and is due to arrive in the next hour
• Another lady is already here and is in the early stages of labour. We're told there's a chance she may be sent home again so she's currently walking around the car park to pass the time.

Kate Scotter
BBC News

We met new mum Maria Rusu at the neonatal unit.

Her daughter Amaya was born three weeks premature on 18 September.

Medics feared she had meningitis but mum and dad, Michael Bailey, were given the good news yesterday that the results were negative and it is a less-serious infection.

Amaya has to stay in hospital for another week while she is on antibiotics, but Ms Rusu said she was "so happy" her little girl is OK.

"I was very scared and I've been stressed for the last week, it's hard because my family is not with me," said Ms Rusu, who comes from Romania but now lives in Ipswich.

"The nurses have helped me a lot and I'm so glad she is alright now."

Kate Scotter
BBC News

We've just been down to the Framlingham ward, the neonatal unit here at Ipswich Hospital.

One in 10 babies which are born at the hospital, and ones from further afield, are taken there for intensive care.

It may be because they have an infection, were born prematurely or are sick in the very early stages of their lives.

Julia Cooper, clinical lead nurse, said: "It's not just supporting the babies medically but also supporting the families and putting them at the centre of their baby's care.

"It's an extremely frightening situation. Most parents are probably grieving, they're expecting to come into hospital, have their baby, go home and be with their family, and if that's been taken away from them, they're grieving for that."

She said they make sure the parents feel reassured and comforted, and make them feel empowered.

"We empower them in the care for their baby, and get them to do as much as they can as soon as they can," she said.

A woman whose baby boy is in the breech position is preparing to have a caesarean birth later today.

Image source, Family photo

Emma Bulmer, 26, from Hadleigh, and her serviceman husband Aiden, 25, have booked in for an elective C-section at Ipswich Hospital.

The couple, who married in April, had planned a natural birth but doctors discovered their baby boy was facing feet first.

Attempts to turn him were unsuccessful, said Mrs Bulmer.

She said she was feeling "excited" about meeting their little boy, who they have already named Logan, and "isn't too nervous".

"I didn't really want a C-section, it's not something I wanted, but I've got to do what's best for him," said Mrs Bulmer.

We jump on Debbie Packard's trolley to get a tour of the Brook ward as she delivers some breakfast.

While we await news of the expectant mother who went into labour on the Deben ward a few hours ago, we've just been told a woman has gone into labour on the Brook ward.

She's being helped by a midwife and student.

As mentioned earlier, the Brook ward is for births where no complications or medical assistance are expected.

Childbirth is a natural process but unfortunately it can sometimes be complicated.

Luckily, there are plenty of professionals and specialist equipment that can make the process safer.

Nishigandh Deole, a consultant obstetrician at Ipswich Hospital, explained how forceps and ventouse suction cups work.

Laurence Cawley
BBC News

Babies born today at Ipswich Hospital will get their very own 'baby box'.

The boxes, which have been used in Finland since the 1930s, started to be given out at Ipswich Hospital a few months ago.

Image source, Ipswich Hospital

Parents get a cardboard box, complete with a mattress and other useful items such as nappies.

Helen Smith, consultant midwife at Ipswich, said: "Not only does it offer mothers essential education about safety, looking after themselves and keeping their babies healthy, but also provides a lovely box where their baby can sleep for the first few months which they can keep as a memento."

A cot death charity raised doubts over the benefits of the boxes, which infants can sleep in.

Issuing new advice to parents, The Lullaby Trust said there was no evidence baby boxes reduced the rate of sudden infant death syndrome.

Caesarean sections are used when a natural birth is considered too risky for the mother and baby.