Northampton Saints: Covid pandemic use of ground as maternity clinic marked

Midwives Claire Dale and Anne Richely were part of the community team that set up in the stadium's hospitality boxes

The use of Premiership rugby club Northampton Saints' stadium as a midwife clinic in the Covid pandemic has been commemorated with a plaque.

From June 2020 to March 2021, Franklin's Gardens was home to 15 community midwives and support workers.

Due to infection fears they could not use GP clinics.

"We don't want it to be forgotten about and disappear, it's part of the club's history now," said stadium manager Andy Tresias.

Hospitality boxes were used as clinical rooms and storage space.

Claire Dale, a community midwife sister, said: "We radically changed the way we provided our care.

"I think the women, when they first heard they were coming here, thought it was a bit odd and they were probably quite frightened.

"But the key thing for them was they didn't want to be going to the hospital where potentially they were going to come across people that were sick. So coming here was a better prospect for them."

Paul Hill (centre) helped move the midwife team into the hospitality boxes where his wife later went while pregnant

She said it was something many women then enjoyed.

Saints players, including prop Paul Hill, whose wife used the service, helped set up the clinics.

Mr Hill said: "You'd want everything to be done in a proper setting but I was here setting up and you could see the quality of how everything was being run, so I had no doubts she was in good hands."

It was important the club remembered the midwives, said stadium manager Andy Tresias

Mr Tresias said it was important that the club commemorate the midwives and the club's contribution to the community during the pandemic.

"We feel we made a contribution during that time to the community of Northampton and to the midwife service in particular and it's absolutely right we should commemorate that.

"We don't want it to be forgotten about and disappear, it's part of the club's history now."

He said after receiving a call from the midwife team, who had lost space in GP clinics and hospital, they knew they could put their empty stadium to good use - at a time when competitive sport was suspended.