"Great experience"

What I liked

I have had both of my children at the birth centre at Salford Royal and I couldn't have asked for better experiences. The rooms were comfortable and had everything you needed and the midwives were great. The fact that there are no specific visiting times was fantastic as it meant that partners could be there all night if you wanted and other visitors could come and go as they pleased. I would recommend the birth centre to anyone who wants a relaxed, non-medical birth experience.

What could be improved

The only improvement I can think of is if there had been a specialist breastfeeding supporter working at the birth centre to help mums with those all important first feeds. The midwives were as helpful as they could be but obviously if it is busy then they need to be with the ladies in labour. I was fortunate in that I had phone numbers of people to contact and information on groups to attend, however more specific breastfeeding support in the early days in hospital and at home would increase breastfeeding success and duration dramatically.