A ground-breaking initiative for new mums has been launched in Frome through a unique partnership between the maternity team at Frome Community Hospital, and the Friends of Frome Hospital.
The initiative has been specially developed to provide a new one-to-one fully integrated maternity package for mothers-to-be, from pregnancy confirmation through to childbirth and for up to 28-days post-natally, with women being cared for by a small team of midwives and maternity support workers, with a named midwife overseeing the individual needs of the woman throughout their journey.
Timing of the launch coincides with the reorganisation of maternity services across the local NHS area, with Frome being the first of five centres within RUH maternity units to provide this very personalised care to the mothers and their immediate family members, importantly, directly in their homes in the community. The new scheme comes under the banner of The Rowan Team.
Frome Birthing Unit has a team of 16 midwives and 8 specialist support staff under the leadership of the birth centre manager, Pam Walsh. The Rowan Team consists of 8 midwives and 2 support workers with Karen Patrick as team leader. Karen has been pivotal in planning and devising this new way of working, based on recommendations of Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Service Review published in 2016. Sunflower, buttercup and lotus teams provide the care for women in Frome who may not be having their babies in the birth centre. These women receive the same level of support and care.
Karen says, “This is a very exciting new way of providing maternity care. It is designed to ‘personalise’ the whole progression of the pregnancy term, by bonding a relationship between the midwife and mum-to-be from the outset. It will relieve unnecessary stress and create a broader understanding of the family situation and the co-operation required by the midwife.
“Although much of the care will come through scheduled home visits, there will also be regular clinics at our super birthing unit. It really is the whole deal!
“We would not have been able to get The Rowan Team project off the ground if it had not been for the timely intervention of the Friends of Frome Hospital who have agreed to support us, and agreed to supply each visiting midwife with a sophisticated ‘clinic-on wheels’ case to allow them to carry out their checks in the home, as well as home births if requested. Each case contains the latest monitoring equipment, blood pressure sets and digital dopplers to monitor the baby’s condition in the womb.”
Friends of Frome Hospital chairman, Derek Trick said,“We have been glad to have been close to Karen and her team throughout the concept period over the recent months, and it just needed that final nudge to get it off the ground. The Friends’ tag line is ‘Here to Enhance Patient Care’ and this is what our support for outreach projects in the community is all about. We will, wherever it is possible, support our community to ensure that the best medical care can be provided. What better way than making a direct input with young families with The Rowan Team. “
The Frome Community Hospital and its birthing unit are the best in the area. The modern birthing unit currently manages about 190 births each year, and the Friends of Frome Hospital have funded many supplementary items of comfort furniture, wall murals and special mood lighting systems in the birth rooms, as well as extras for the staff room.
Photo caption: The Rowan Team back row: L-R: Camila, Geraldine, (Friends’ chairman Derek Trick) Mallery, Ash, Karen. Seated: L-R Kaz, Maxine, Anna, Emma.
