Kingston Hospital’s ‘home birth team’ has been named Team of the Year at the 2020 London Festival Maternity and Midwifery Conference.
Gina Brockwell, Director of Midwifery at Kingston Hospital said, “I am absolutely delighted that Kingston’s home birth team has received national recognition for the excellent work they do. This dedicated team of midwives achieves excellent outcomes through relationship-based, holistic care that prioritises safety and a positive experience.”
Some of the achievements from the past year for the home birth team include:
- 98% of women who started their labour at home with the team had a vaginal birth
- 91% of women who started their labour at home had a homebirth
- 100% of babies born at home breastfed in the first hours of life.
Frances Rivers, homebirth team lead midwife said: “We are very proud to have received this national award! As a team of midwives we are extremely enthusiastic about our continued learning so that the women we see receive the best possible care. For example, we have been trained in hypnobirthing, aromatherapy and active birth techniques. Developing these new skills is helping more women to avoid unnecessary medical interventions during birth.
“The team has also received this recognition for our focus on safety; every homebirth midwife has their own homebirth backpack, helping them to get out quickly, and with all the necessary equipment. We have implemented a new study day for team members and community midwives called ‘Safe at Home’ through which we revise our skills appropriate for dealing with emergency situations. The study day is held in a house, with homebirth scenarios role-played in real time.”
A mother who gave birth at home recently, supported by this award-winning team said: “The care was brilliant, so safe and so relaxed. It was like having a friend there for the birth, someone I trusted and felt totally secure with. Just fantastic, the best possible service.”
