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Delivery in ABC

Posted By Third time mum

"Delivery in ABC"

About: Royal Jubilee Maternity services / Active Birth Centre (ABC) Royal Jubilee Maternity services / Maternity care

(as a service user),

My experience of care in the ABC was positive throughout and both sister Christine and midwife Sarah who assisted with my delivery were listening to my wishes and needs and acting on these. They and the midwives on duty the next night and day went beyond my expectations in trying to make things as comfortable as possible for me and my husband while we waited for a further assessment of our new baby and they even managed to get me assessed by physio before I was discharged which was something I was keen for after a difficult recovery last time.

My only criticism of my experience in the RJMH for labour and delivery is that it isn't possible to access the ABC immediately on arrival in labour. I feel that if a lady was assessed antenatally as suitable for the ABC it would be great if she could go directly to the unit on arrival to be assessed there instead of having to wait first in reception and then in the assessment unit where the experience is much less pleasant. I didn't get to the ABC until I was pretty much pushing out the baby despite having arrived at hospital over 2 hours earlier.

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Responses

Response from Susanne Thomas O'Boyle, Lead Midwife Continuity of Midwifery Carer, Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust less than an hour ago
Susanne Thomas O'Boyle
Lead Midwife Continuity of Midwifery Carer, Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 11/07/2025 at 17:51
Published on Care Opinion at 17:51

picture of Susanne Thomas O'Boyle

Dear Third time mum,

Firstly congratulations of the birth of your baby and secondly thank you for taking the time to feedback about your experience of birthing within the Active Birth Centre (ABC).

I will share you feedback with Sister Christina Mitchell, your midwife Sarah and the whole ABC team. It is lovely to hear that you felt supported and listened too during your birthing experience and that the team endeavoured to ensure that you and your husband had a really positive experience.

I will share your feedback about your experience with the sister within the Maternity Assessment unit and we will use your feedback to review the waiting times and assessment pathways within this department. It is vitally important that women are risk assessed and informed about place of birth and the options available to them during the antenatal period. This will ensure that they not only have their birth preferences documented around their preferred place of birth, but also that they remain suitable to have midwifery led care and are supported to birth within the alongside midwifery led unit.

It is important that women feel supported and encouraged to have these discussion regarding suitability and place of birth with their midwife or obstetrician during their antenatal journey and that women have the opportunity at their planned antenatal appointments to have a documented discuss about their birth preferences and options of place of birth between 28 and 32weeks gestation.

This will ensure that care remains individualised to you and your baby and also ensures that if an individualised birth place discussion is needed that these are facilitated before labour establishes. I want to thank you again for feeding back about your experience of maternity services particularly around you positive birth experience with the Active Birth Centre.

I want to wish you and your family all the best and I hope should you choose to use maternity services again that you choose to have your birth within the ABC.

Kind Regards,

Susanne Thomas O'Boyle

Lead Midwife

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