Home Births

FOI REFERENCE: 24472   FOI DATE: 25^th October 2024     

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (2000). Please provide the following information to help us understand the scale of restrictions to the rights of women and birthing people to choose their place of birth across the UK, as we campaign for improvements in maternity care for all women and birthing people.

Does your Trust operate a home birth service for women and birthing people (regardless of whether such services are offered through a dedicated team or integrated into wider maternity services)? Yes, we offer a homebirth service

If so, are home birth services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week across the whole geographic area overseen by the Trust? Yes, 24 hours, 7 days a week across the whole county of Worcestershire.

Has your Trust been able to provide home birth services to women and birthing people 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any suspensions or restrictions to that ability in the last 12 months? Please note in using the terms suspensions or restrictions we include (but are not limited to) restrictions to the days/times when home births can be attended by midwives or not being able to offer a home birth service at all for a period of time. We do not include unforeseen staff shortages on a particular shift here. We have not needed to suspend or restrict our homebirth service in the last 12 months.

Please include the terms and reason(s) for any suspensions or restrictions in the last 12 months.Not Applicable.

Has your Trust been unable to send midwives to attend a home birth due to unforeseen circumstances (such as staff shortages or sickness) on a particular shift in the last 12 months? Please include how many times this has occurred in the last 12 months. We have had 1 occasion due to sickness in which we have had to ask the homebirth to attend our birth centre.

How many home births have been attended by midwives in your Trust in the last 12 months, including those resulting in intrapartum and/or postnatal transfer into hospital and those resulting in a baby being born at home with no transfer-in? Worcestershire Community & Continuity Midwives attended 75 in total.