Trust Board Febuary 2010 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBTB (2/10) 035 (a)
• Reputation of the hospital amongst friends, family and the wider community. A small
number of people commented that prior to making a choice about where to give birth
they had read online reviews about a number of maternity services locally.
• Safety, knowing that support was on hand, the delivery suite had easy access to doctors
and medical facilities – so that women felt confident that should any unexpected
complications arise they know that they will be dealt with.
• High quality care with supportive and attentive staff, this was typified by comments that
discussed:
o The need for expert and skilled staff, well trained and well resourced.
o Staff who listen to women and their partners, who have time to explain things to
people in a way they can understand, who are respectful of people and who are
able to show cultural sensitivity and have a positive attitude to people who
speak English as an additional language.
o Being given good and timely information about progress and being told what is
happening and why.
o A welcoming atmosphere.
o Everyone being treated as an individual.
• Comfortable surroundings, that are homely and not too clinical, but that are also open
and spacious. People would like to be able to make their own drinks and to have their
own shower and toilet facilities. Some women would prefer to have these facilities in
their own room, whilst others would prefer to be on a small ward and to have people
around them.
• Support for breastfeeding, women would like more information about breastfeeding
while they are pregnant and more support from midwives to help them breastfeed.
Some women commented that “Breastfeeding is not always encouraged and you have
to ask about it. The staff are too quick to give bottles if you are having a few problems
rather than persevering.” Women from Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in
particular highlighted this as an issue. They felt that midwives did not have the time to
encourage women to breastfeed. An older woman talked about the support she was
given to breastfeed and the time that the midwife had spent with her helping her to
wrap her breast so that she could do it very discreetly and relieve some of her physical
discomfort by supporting the breast with the wrapping. She felt that midwives didn’t
have this sort of time any longer and that this lack of time contributed to women not
breastfeeding.
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