Delivery room will promote natural births for Isle mums

Women pushing for a natural birth have had their wish granted with the official opening of a new delivery room.
Staff at Scunthorpe Hospital celebrate the opening of the Butterfly room. Pictured (from left) are Karen Jackson, chief executive of the Trust, Hayley Brown, midwife, Kim Sheppard, ward manager on the central delivery suite, Kelly Whiteley, patient, Margaret Burdett, midwife, Linda Sanderson, midwife, Mary Townsend, midwife and Wendy Waldron, central delivery suite coordinator.Staff at Scunthorpe Hospital celebrate the opening of the Butterfly room. Pictured (from left) are Karen Jackson, chief executive of the Trust, Hayley Brown, midwife, Kim Sheppard, ward manager on the central delivery suite, Kelly Whiteley, patient, Margaret Burdett, midwife, Linda Sanderson, midwife, Mary Townsend, midwife and Wendy Waldron, central delivery suite coordinator.
Staff at Scunthorpe Hospital celebrate the opening of the Butterfly room. Pictured (from left) are Karen Jackson, chief executive of the Trust, Hayley Brown, midwife, Kim Sheppard, ward manager on the central delivery suite, Kelly Whiteley, patient, Margaret Burdett, midwife, Linda Sanderson, midwife, Mary Townsend, midwife and Wendy Waldron, central delivery suite coordinator.

The Butterfly room, based within the central delivery suite at Scunthorpe General Hospital, promotes natural labour and can be used by women deemed to be at low risk of complications.

Midwifery staff aim to improve the patient environment and give women - including those from the Isle - more options when it comes to delivering their baby.

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Kim Sheppard, ward manager on the central delivery suite, said: “As well as allowing patients to take control over their labour where possible, the room will also allow our midwives to expand their skills. There are no monitors in this room. It is equipped with a birthing couch, a birthing ball and a variotrac (which allows women to squat with support in labour), everything that can be used to promote a natural birth. In here we want women to be mobile as research has proven that moving about during labour can help get the baby into an optimum position for delivery and also reduces pain.

“We will only allow those women who are deemed to be medically fit and at a low risk during labour to use this room.”

A grant from the Department of Health, which was awarded to the maternity services across Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, has helped to furnish the Butterfly room.

Kelly Whiteley, who visited while pregnant with her third child, said: “I’m not deemed to be a low risk patient but if I was it would be nice to have the choice of using the new room. It looks great and has a relaxed atmosphere inside with no monitors around or medical equipment.”

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