Maternity

We would strongly encourage women/people and their supporters to undertake a lateral flow test no more than 72 hours prior to each visit to our maternity departments or midwifery clinics (we recognise this may not be possible prior to urgent/ emergency appointments).  The test kits can be obtained via this link:

Instructions for performing the test can be found here:

and are available in various languages.

Women/people and their supporters are expected to continue to:

• Wear a face mask
• Use the available hand sanitiser
• Maintain social distancing where possible.

Thank you for your support in keeping you and our staff safe.

From Monday 17 May 2021, we are pleased to be able to allow women/people to bring one support person with you to your midwife and consultant obstetrician appointments. Please read the following information carefully.

We are still challenged with providing enough space to for social distancing in some of our venues, especially in waiting areas, therefore to keep everyone safe:

• Please only bring a support person with you if you really need to. If possible, please attend routine appointments on your own
• Please don’t bring children with you to any appointments, including scans
• Please attend at your appointment time, don’t arrive early
• You and/or your support person may be asked to wait outside the venue until called in some circumstances
• We do not own or control access to all venues, some GP surgeries and Children’s Centres are still not allowing support people at appointments. If you would like to bring a support person with you and your appointment is to be held in a GP surgery or Children’s Centre, please contact your GP surgery or midwife for local advice
• Please ensure you wear a mask, use hand sanitiser and practice social distancing while at your appointment.

Thank you for your support with this.

From Monday 22 February pregnant women/people will be able to be accompanied at all obstetric scans. Safety of our patients and staff is paramount during the pandemic.

• You can bring one support person only with you, ideally someone who lives with you or is in your ‘support bubble’
• Your support person and you will be expected to wear a face mask, sanitise their hands and maintain social distancing as much as possible
• Please do not bring children with you

This change is due to the reduction in Covid-19 cases in our communities and within our hospitals. The decision may need to be reviewed in future if case numbers increase.

Thank you for your support during this challenging time.

Friday 19 March 2021

We are very pleased to announce that we are are running a full home birth and Eastbourne Midwifery Unit (EMU) service. Please see below for some important updates:

• One birth partner can attend throughout labour and the birth
• Visiting for the birth partner only is now 4 hour pre-booked slots on the antenatal, postnatal wards and Eastbourne Midwifery Unit (EMU).
• One partner can attend all pregnancy scans

We are also pleased to say that the South East Coast Ambulance Service has improved and they are again able to offer support with emergency transfer to hospital, if needed.

Antenatal and postnatal appointments still continue to run from EMU during the day.

Thank you for your support during this very difficult time.

Because there has been some inaccurate information circulating, we want to reassure you that you will not be asked to wear a face mask during your labour.

The times when you will be asked to wear a facemask are:

• when you come to the hospital for any antenatal or postnatal appointments
• when you are transferring from one ward area to another
• if you are admitted to stay with us, once you have been reviewed and your temperature is normal you can remove your facemask.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched a national campaign aimed at raising awareness of the CQC amongst women who are pregnant, planning to have a baby, are looking to become pregnant, or have recently used maternity services in England. They want more women to be aware that if they’re pregnant and choosing where to have a baby, they should be able to choose the right birth plan, and that CQC resources – inspection reports and rating, are there to help make that decision.

Consumer research the CQC recently commissioned has highlighted low awareness among new mothers of their inspection reports and the information they can provide on the quality of care provided by maternity services across the country.

The CQC objectives are to encourage more women to:

• Use the free, independent CQC inspection reports to compare maternity services near them
• If they’ve recently had a baby to share their experiences with CQC, whether good or bad

More information about the CQC campaign can be found on their web page: