North West London

Download the North West London mum & baby app

The app was developed by midwives, doctors and local parents in North West London to provide women and their families with a single source of trusted NHS information for all their maternity needs.

From the start of pregnancy to early parenthood, this app will support women and their families with:

• Information on the choices available in North West London, and tailor-made information for each woman’s maternity unit of choice
• Access to essential information every step of the way from being pregnant, to giving birth and looking after a new baby
• Personalised plans for their care during pregnancy, birth and beyond
• An appointment tracker to help you get the most from your antenatal care

 

The app can be downloaded for FREE from:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mum-baby/undefined/gb/app/mum-baby/id887373841

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imagineear.mumandbaby.android&hl=en_GB

Antenatal care and services

Each maternity unit offers antenatal care for women both in and out of their designated ‘catchment area’. Women can either self-refer, or seek referral via their GP.

You can find out more, and self-refer to your chosen maternity unit here:

• Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
• Hillingdon Hospital
• Northwick Park Hospital
• St Mary’s Hospital
• Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital
• West Middlesex Hospital

Women who live out of area will often be seen at their chosen hospital in the antenatal clinic, whereas women living in the surrounding area are normally seen in community hubs and children’s centres for their antenatal care. Specialist services are provided mainly in the hospitals, however some perinatal mental health services are offered in the community.

Postnatal care is provided to women in the catchment area at their home and in community hubs and children’s centres. Some postnatal services will be provided in the hospitals. Women who live outside of the catchment area will be seen by their local community midwifery services.

What to consider?
Many women opt to book for care with their nearest maternity unit and there are some benefits to making this choice:

• You are more likely to receive care from a small team of midwives, in a location close to home
• You are more likely to get to know one midwife, and her team which can improve your maternity experience
• You will have less distance to travel when you are in labour.
• If you would like to have a homebirth this must be booked through your local maternity unit, this may not be your nearest unit.
• Care at home after your baby is born is always provided by your local Midwife team (this is likely to be a team that you have already met).

Other considerations when making your choice:

• Facilities available
• Public transport and ease of parking
• Ease of travel to and from your place of work
• Recommendations from your friends, family and others
• Where you have had a previous baby.

For information on pregnancy, read our online booklet called ‘Your Pregnancy’ – which can be downloaded here. – https://www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk/sites/nhsnwlondon/files/documents/nw_antenatal_care_booklet_7june_2.pdf

Labour and birth services

Each maternity unit provides a combination of services, supporting birth in all settings. Each hospital has an obstetric labour ward, an alongside midwifery led birth centre and the provision of homebirth services. All units have birthing pools and some units offer complimentary therapies.

For more information on labour and birth, read our online booklet called ‘Labour and Birth’ – which can be downloaded here: https://www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk/sites/nhsnwlondon/files/documents/nw_london_labour_birth_booklet_0.pdf

Postnatal care and services

Postnatal care is provided to women who reside in the North West London catchment by their local maternity unit (regardless of where they chose to give birth to their baby). Postnatal care is provided by a midwife and a range of support services, both at home and in community clinics.

For more information on what to expect after birth, read our online booklet called ‘After your baby’s birth’ – which can be downloaded here: https://www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk/sites/nhsnwlondon/files/documents/nw_postnatal_booklet_final.pdf

Specialist services in our area

St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington: Local Neonatal Unit, FGM clinic, smoking cessation service, private patient care, perinatal mental health service, specialist diabetic service, high risk antenatal services, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, tongue-tie service, socially complex caseload team and homebirth service.

Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, White City: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, FGM clinic, private patient care, smoking cessation service, perinatal mental health service, fetal medicine unit, maternal medicine unit, tongue-tie service, high risk antenatal service, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, specialist diabetic service, socially complex caseload team and homebirth service.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, specialist diabetic service, complimentary therapies clinic, smoking cessation service, private patient care, fetal medicine unit, maternal medicine unit perinatal mental health service, high risk antenatal service, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, homebirth service, aromatherapy and doula services in labour.

West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth: Local Neonatal Unit, maternal medicine service, specialist diabetic service, smoking cessation service, complimentary therapies clinic, perinatal mental health service, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, tongue-tie service, high risk antenatal service, perineal clinic, homebirth service and aromatherapy in labour.

Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow: Local Neonatal Unit, maternal medicine service, fetal medicine service, specialist diabetic service, smoking cessation service, perinatal mental health service, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, high risk antenatal service and homebirth service.

Hillingdon Hospital, Hillingdon: Local Neonatal Unit, maternal medicine service, fetal medicine service, specialist diabetic service, smoking cessation service, perinatal mental health service, Consultant midwife birth choices clinic, complex social team, high risk antenatal service and homebirth service.

Breastfeeding support

Each hospital has its own specialised infant feeding team, offering antenatal classes, inpatient support following birth and postnatal support at home and in our local children’s centres. There are tongue-tie reversal services at two of our hospitals.

Mental health support

Every London borough has an IAPT service which offers free, confidential talking therapy for people who have symptoms of anxiety or depression. Click here for more information.

Perinatal mental health services are offered across the catchment area, and consist of a team of specialist mental health nurses and psychiatrists who work in collaboration with the maternity services to care for women with complex mental health needs.

Continuity of carer

North West London is an ‘Early Adopter’ site. This means that we have been awarded funding by NHS England to fast track improvements to the services we provide to women and their families.

One of our focuses is meeting the national recommendation of a named midwife for every woman. We are testing new ways of working by which a named midwife (as part of a small team) can provide care to specific groups of women from the beginning of pregnancy, during birth and right through until they are discharged from maternity care.

We are also taking steps to improve continuity of carer in the antenatal and postnatal periods for all women in the area, reducing the number of different professionals seen, whilst ensuring care is of the highest quality.

We are implementing and evaluating this work throughout 2018 and beyond, as part of our five-year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) which is committed to improving women’s health and experience of care in North West London.

Personalised care and choice

Women who book for their maternity care in North West London will receive personalised care plans for:

• Health and wellbeing in pregnancy
• Personalised birth preferences
• After your baby is born
• Birth reflections

These plans can be downloaded here: https://www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk/sites/nhsnwlondon/files/documents/nw_london_personal_care_plan_booklet_0.pdf

We are developing new ways to support women in making the best possible choices for themselves and their families.

Consistency of information

We are working hard with our multi-disciplinary team of experts and with women using our services to ensure all of the information we give is consistent, safe, up-to-date and easy to access.

Better postnatal care

We have a dedicated team of midwives and doctors from across the sector who are pushing forward new and exciting changes to postnatal care.

Do you want to get involved?

Each hospital has a Maternity Voices Partnership group; a team of women and their families, commissioners, providers, doctors and midwives who work together to ensure women’s voices are heard and at the heart of improving services. Find your local group at the following link: http://nationalmaternityvoices.org.uk/toolkit-for-mvps/find-an-mvp/

How to provide feedback

Visit us at healthier NW London: https://www.healthiernorthwestlondon.nhs.uk/

Women and their families are encouraged to provide feedback via our engagement website; and this information is fed back directly to our hospitals to ensure continued improvement of services; https://maternitynwlondon.commonplace.is/

North West London has a local maternity system board which meets once a month to work together in driving maternity improvements across the sector.

Each Trust has its own PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) – and this service can help you if you want to make a comment or complaint. They can also connect women and their families with the appropriate services to answer their concerns and questions.