Cotswold Birth Centre
Address
Russell Way, Off London Road
Chipping Norton OX7 5AU
“The vision for maternity services in Oxfordshire is for the right woman to get into the right part of the maternity services and to be cared for by the right professional. The aim is for every woman to experience personalised care from an early medical risk assessment through to birth and beyond. It encompasses real choice and continuity of care throughout the pregnancy, birth and postnatal period.
“It is our aim that all staff provide respectful, safe, compassionate and excellent care to all women and their babies in our care.”
Cotswold Birth Centre
Managed by a team of highly skilled and experienced community midwives and dedicated maternity support workers, the Cotswold Birth Centre is a small, local and accessible place providing a home from home setting which is welcoming and supportive for you and your family. The unit is supported by midwives from Banbury, Bicester and Witney and purpose built to accommodate natural labour and birth, for those who have had an uncomplicated pregnancy.We have two birthing rooms with pools and en-suite facilities. There are two postnatal rooms with en-suite facilities plus an easy chair so birth partners can put their feet up and relax with you and the baby after the birth. We also have a kitchen which birth partners are welcome to use and a lounge area to relax in.
What we offer
Antenatal
Depending on which surgery you are with, some women receive all their antenatal care at the Centre. If you contact the Birth Centre, the midwives can inform you who to contact to make appointments. You are welcome to book extra appointments if you have any queries or concerns during your pregnancy. You can be assessed and offered reassurance and referred for further care at the John Radcliffe Hospital if needed. We run glucose tolerance test clinics on Monday and Friday mornings.
If you live outside Oxfordshire but you still wish to have your baby at the unit please discuss this with your local community midwife and make contact with us as early as possible in your pregnancy to arrange an appointment.
Online video tours of the unit are available here:
We also provide homebirth and meet the midwives online sessions.
We can hire TENs machine to you from 37 weeks gestation should you want to have them for use at home in early labour.
Labour
The midwives will encourage normal childbirth by recognising, respecting and safeguarding normal birth progressions. You can use the pool for labour and birth and you will be offered support on positions for labour. We have a range of equipment and tools for you to use in order to either create the birth environment that will best facilitate your labour and delivery or provide some pain relief. These include, music, aromatherapy, hypnobirthing techniques, massage, TENS machine, Entonox and Meptid injection.
Most births are straightforward however the midwives and maternity support workers are trained to deal with emergencies and monitor you and your baby regularly through labour. Complications are swiftly recognised and if it is felt you or the baby should be seen by a doctor, then you will be accompanied in an ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital Women’s Centre in Oxford.
Postnatal
The centre provides immediate care to you and your baby, facilitating skin to skin contact, delayed umbilical cord clamping, natural delivery of the placenta and initiating breastfeeding, if you so wish.
You can expect to go home between 2 to 8 hours after the birth, midwives will continue to support you generally with an initial visit at home the following day and further appointments at the centre for postnatal support.
Once you are home, we can provide breastfeeding support, either giving advice over the phone, or inviting you to spend time in one of the postnatal rooms, where you can rest between breast feeds and receive excellent support and advice from knowledgeable midwives and maternity support workers.
Our specialist services include
Health Visitors
Your community midwife will notify your local health visiting team, who will make contact with you antenatally around 31-34 weeks pregnant and again postnatally when your baby is around 10 days old.
