Last month St George’s held its first evening reception to celebrate our ‘Keep birth normal’ (KBN) projects supported by Health Education South London (HESL).

The reception organised by consultant midwives Chantelle Winstanley and Lucia Rocca was attended by all of the midwives who were involved in KBN projects, obstetricians, general management, senior leaders and affiliated external organisations.

KBN1

Rupa Chilvers from the Royal College of Midwives Better Births Initiative and Edwin Chandarahan, St George’s consultant obstetrician gave a presentation that focused on normal birthing. It offered a great an opportunity to reflect on our efforts to share good practice and promote positive change within the maternity unit.

Since receiving funding from HESL, St George’s has been able to implement ‘active birth workshops’ that teach women and their partners about the benefits of normal birth. We also welcome women into the birth centre during their pregnancy for weekly tours; we discuss active birth, benefits of midwifery-led care, use of water as pain relief etc.

The birth centre team have all been through the KBN programme training. We are now working to further embed the concept of KBN beyond the birth centre, into the labour ward and also supporting women who choose to have their babies at home.

KBN cert

Consultant midwife Chantelle said “St George’s maternity unit is a centre of excellence for women who may have complications during pregnancy.

“By working together as a team, the KBN project aims to start the process of change by supporting St George’s Hospital to become a centre of excellence for women who have uncomplicated pregnancies.

“Midwifery-led care for appropriate women has been shown to be as safe as birthing in an obstetric unit. We know that women who receive compassionate 1-2-1 care by a skilled midwife report positive feelings post-birth.

“By investing our time in midwifery-led care and projects such as KBN we can reduce the cost of unnecessary medical interventions and support the short, medium and longer term health of mother and baby.”