The MVP is a group of parents, parents to be and maternity staff all working together to make the maternity care at RFL the best it can be.

If you would like to be more involved in the maternity care provided by the Royal Free, you can join the Royal Free Maternity Voices. Please email: royalfreematernityvoices@gmail.com

If you have one of the following risk factors, aspirin may be recommended during your pregnancy:

If you have two of the following risk factors, aspirin may be recommended during your pregnancy:

You will be prescribed 150mg of aspirin to take once daily (although a small number of women may be prescribed a larger dose). You should take this as soon as you receive the prescription (as this is associated with better outcomes) until the birth of your baby.

Most risk factors will be identified by your midwife at your first booking appointment. The midwife will send a letter to your doctor to request the prescription which you can collect from your doctor’s surgery.

Some risk factors may be identified later in your pregnancy, for example following an ultrasound scan. If this is the case your midwife or doctor will inform you at that time and will notify your doctor in the same manner.

 Are there any contraindications to taking aspirin?

There are some rare medical conditions were aspirin would not be recommended. You doctor will advise you if this applies to you.

Should you require further advice on the issues contained in this leaflet, please do not hesitate to contact your midwife or doctor.

The certificate:

MAT B1s are issued by your midwife, but will not be provided prior to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Generally they are provided at the 25 or the 28 week antenatal appointment.

If you have any queries regarding your Mat B1 certificate, please contact your named midwife or another member of the team. These will not be provided by the inpatient services.

If you are unable to contact the midwife or for any other concerns about yourself or your baby please call Barnet Hospital Maternity Triage on 0208 216 4408.

Facilities

At the Edgware Birth Centre we have:

 

The most common indication that labour has begun is the start of contractions. These can range in intensity from mild irritation to strong pain and may be felt down in your back or like waves moving across your abdomen. It is important to time how often these come and for how long they last. 

 

When contractions are regular (coming every 3-5 minutes), and lasting 45-60 seconds, we would advise you to call triage or the on call labour phone if you are delivering at Edgware or home. 

 

If your waters break, this may also be a sign that you are going into labour. But it can often happen before your labour starts, when you are not having contractions. Sometimes this can be confused with a loss of urine. If your waters break you may need to be seen and assessed by a midwife. Always call your if you feel your waters may have broken. Your waters should be clear or straw like colour however sometimes the waters can be a different colour. If you notice the waters are brown, green or red please contact triage ASAP.

There will be time for any of your questions to be answered so please do ask if you are not sure about something.

The service is comprised of:

Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) – who are skilled at helping people find practical ways to manage their difficulties. Methods used include guided self-help, stress management skills, computerised cognitive behavioural therapy and psycho-education groups.

CBT therapists – who are trained to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy with you alone or in a group.

Counsellors who are trained to provide you with an opportunity to talk about day to day difficulties as well as difficulties from the past.

Online Therapy – delivered by accredited therapists and counsellors, using instant chat on a secure platform, available 24/7.

You can either self refer to the service, or speak to your named midwife who will be happy to help you with the referral process.

You usually qualify for the grant if both of the following apply:

You must claim the grant within 11 weeks of the baby’s due date or within 6 months after the baby’s birth.

You do not have to pay the grant back and it will not affect your other benefits or tax credits.

You can also get coupons to swap for:

The NHS Friends and Family Test is based on one straightforward question that we are asking people who are accessing a wide range of NHS services. It means you can give your feedback about the care you have received. The NHS wants to make sure that you have the best possible experience of care and the NHS Friends and Family Test is a way of gathering your feedback, so we can understand what has worked well and, where necessary, make improvements.

 

By clicking the links below, you will be able to tell us about your experience of our on antenatal, labour and postnatal care both within the hospital and with your community midwifery team. 

 

Antenatal Care Survey 

Postnatal Care Survey 

 

You can also provide us with your feedback by vising our website. www.royalfree.nhs.uk/maternity 

 

Your feedback will help us to learn more about our services.

 

We want you to tell us what we are doing well - so we can do more of it, but it's also important that you tell us what you didn't like and where we can do better. We'll use your feedback to make changes that will help us to offer a continually improving standard of maternity care.

 

If you would like any help, advice or have any concerns about your care, you can also contact our Patient Advise and Liaison service (PALS) either via email: rf.pals@nhs.net or telephone on 020 7472 6446. In addition to our PALS team, if you have concerns about your care you can also ask to speak to a Senior Midwifery Manager.

 

If you would like to be more involved in the maternity care provided by the Royal Free, you can join the Royal Free Maternity Voices. Please email: royalfreematernityvoices@gmail.com