Recruitment Open day 10am - 2pm on 18th October  for Qualified Midwives & Maternity Assistants

Maternity Matters is a national Health Policy to be implemented across all areas of England & Wales by the end of 2009.   The policy emphasises choice, access and continuity of maternity care in a safe service. There are four national choice guarantees for pregnant women:

·          Choice of how to access maternity care including self-referral to a midwife, or referral from a GP.

·          Choice of type of antenatal care – dependent on their circumstances women can choose midwifery care or team care (a range of maternity health professionals including midwives and obstetricians)

·          Choice of place of birth – Birth supported by a midwife at home; Birth supported by a midwife in a local facility such as a birth centre, or any other midwifery unit in England; Birth supported by a maternity team in a hospital; women may choose any hospital in England.

·          Choice of postnatal care – after going home, women and partners can choose how and where to access postnatal care. This may be provided at home or in a community setting such as a Children’s Centre.

Mary Bell, Consultant Midwife at Ashford and St. Peter’s says: “Meeting these choice guarantees may require reorganisation of some parts of maternity services in order to improve the quality of services provided.   With funding from the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority we have appointed senior midwife Julia Lidderdale to lead the implementation of Maternity Matters across our area.    We were the first Trust in the South East Coast region to appoint a local facilitator and Julia has already started a number of projects including finding new venues for pregnancy and postnatal care.   Both Julia and I are looking forward to working with a number of stakeholders and user groups to develop new initiatives to improve choice and access to maternity care.”

The Trust will be seeking the views from service users and user groups on the following:

·          A streamlined pregnancy referral system, including a telephone hotline for women to refer themselves for maternity care once they have had a positive pregnancy test;

·          Providing some elements of postnatal care on an appointment basis at local Children’s Centres and supermarkets; and

·          Providing parenting and breastfeeding support groups at Children’s Centres.

If you would like to be involved please email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or call Julia on 01932-723961.

The Maternity Unit is holding a Recruitment Open day on Thursday 18th October from 10 am -2pm for Qualified Midwives and Maternity Assistants.  Come along on the day and hear more about our Unit from Midwives who work in the service.  We can provide flexible working – part-time, full-time, night-time.