Maternity
Maternity Reception: 01202 442319
The maternity service based at St Mary's maternity unit, Poole Hospital, provides a comprehensive service offering women as much choice as possible in their maternity care. The majority of care is shared between midwifery and medical staff and undertaken in community settings accessible to women and their families.
St Mary's Maternity Unit is the centre for all high risk care in East Dorset and is fully equipped to meet the needs of women and babies with complications as well as women with normal pregnancies and births. Annual deliveries are on average 3,800.
The Maternity Service provides midwifery and obstetric care based in the community and at St Mary's maternity unit. Women may access care by direct referral to a community midwife or via their general practitioner.
Antenatal care is provided mainly in GP surgeries, health centres or in women's homes by community midwives. All women are offered antenatal screening with early scans to confirm or establish due date and a later scan at 18-20 weeks gestation.
If a woman has any complications during pregnancy she will be referred to a consultant obstetrician who will advise and share her care with the community midwife. Consultant clinics take place within the maternity unit, antenatal clinic which incorporates ultrasound facilities.
Antenatal education programmes are held at various venues across the district and in the maternity unit. Women may book themselves on to these courses by ringing the maternity unit receptionist on 01202 442319 Monday to Friday. These are run in the afternoons with some evening sessions where partners are very welcome.
The unit has a 10-bedded antenatal ward for women with complications who need to be admitted. Most women are able to remain at home with visits to the antenatal day assessment unit for monitoring.
Women with an uncomplicated pregnancy are cared for by a named midwife and may choose to give birth at home, in the Haven birthing suite at Poole or in the central delivery suite at Poole maternity unit.
Following delivery, and if there are no complications, the normal length of stay in the maternity unit is 24 hours. Women with babies in the neonatal unit or on transitional care ward may stay longer as will women who have undergone Caesarean section.
If there are complications requiring medical support during labour, women will be advised to give birth on the central delivery suite.