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Meet the expert: Hayley Seale, Lead Midwife for Mi...

Meet the expert: Hayley Seale, Lead Midwife for Midwifery Led Care at The Portland Hospital

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Absolutely Mama meets Midwife Hayley Seale to find out what it's like for women giving birth at The Portland Hospital...

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What can patients expect before giving birth? 

Pregnant women giving birth at The Portland Hospital can choose one of two pathways. Midwife-led care is the pathway for low risk pregnant women who meet the criteria. They will have their care led by a small and dedicated team of our experienced midwives. We put an emphasis on continuity so we offer small teams of two midwives who will follow your antenatal care and get to know you personally.   

 We offer birth planning sessions as routine to ensure you know what to expect from labour and birth and allow you to discuss your birth preferences. Additionally, you will meet one of our affiliated consultants who work alongside the midwife team. This gives you an opportunity to ask any questions and be familiar with the Consultant-On-Call for you.

 The second pathway is consultant-led care. Women have the choice of one of our many experienced consultants. Your dedicated consultant will be available to you throughout your pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal period. 

What are the facilities like in The Portland Hospital’s private birthing rooms? 

Each pregnancy is different and we provide different services to facilitate personalised experiences. Each birthing room is a private room with its own en-suite bathroom. The rooms are spacious and allow for movement and mobility during labour; with equipment such as birthing balls, birthing stools and mats. There is access to aromatherapy diffusers and speakers as well as dimmable lights and LED tea lights so we can make the environment as calming and personalised as desired. We have two birthing rooms which can facilitate a pool birth if preferred.

We have a Consultant Anaesthetist on the labour ward 24 hours a day to provide epidurals or alternative pain relief as requested. We have an emergency theatre dedicated to the labour ward, with a dedicated theatre team on call 24/7 should they be needed. And we also have a high dependency (HDU) room on our labour ward for any women who may experience complications with their birth and need closer monitoring.

What is the postnatal care like?

During your stay on our postnatal ward, you will be cared for by our team of dedicated and experienced midwives, paediatricians, lactation consultants, physiotherapists, health care support workers and nursery nurses. The Portland is home to more than 50 top consultant obstetricians, many of whom are considered to be amongst the world’s leading birthing experts.

The team is coordinated to ensure you are supported in your recovery from birth and transition into parenthood. We also offer a nursery service for women who would like to have some rest overnight before going home. 

The postnatal ward offers private rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Each room is equipped with electric beds for the mums and pull out beds for their birthing partner, armchairs to relax on, mini-fridge, safe, radio and telephone for contact with all hospital services, including room service.

This is a sponsored post created in collaboration with The Portland Hospital

Read more expert interviews and advice here.


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