Commissioners

Neighbourhood Midwives

The innovative social enterprise meeting your maternity commissioning needs.

Neighbourhood Midwives provides care alongside existing services to relieve pressure on a system stretched by an increasing birth rate, staff challenges and financial constraint. Our midwives provide a safe community-based service within a caseload model.

Our model of care results in:

  • Fewer antenatal hospital admissions 2
  • Less caesarean sections and more normal births 1, 2
  • High levels of women’s satisfaction 5
  • Fewer babies below 2.5kg at 37 weeks 4
  • Reduced length of neonatal hospital stay 2
  • Increased breastfeeding initiation 2

A comprehensive care pathway is offered.  Access to appropriate scans and blood tests will be included and midwives will be on call 24/7 for the women they book. Working in partnership with our NHS colleagues, women who develop complications will be referred for additional care in accordance with our robust guidelines.

If you want to offer women in your area:

  • continuity of care from a named midwife
  • one-to-one care in labour
  • a safe home birth service
  • intensive postnatal support of up to ten visits over six weeks

Contact Neighbourhood Midwives now by email or on 020 8875 1582.

Click here for more information about our service

References

1 Brocklehurst P et al (2011) ‘Perinatal and maternal outcomes by planned place of birth for healthy women with low risk pregnancies: the Birthplace in England national prospective cohort study’ BMJ 2011;343:d7400

2 Hatem M, Sandall J, Devane D, Soltani H & Gates S (2008) Midwife-led versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD004667. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004667.pub2.

3 Hodnett ED, Gates S, Hofmeyr GJ, Sakala C & Weston J (2011) Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD003766. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003766.pub3

4 Henty D (2004). 'Caseload midwifery and its contribution to increasing normal birth'. MIDIRS, 14, 1, supplement 25-27.

5 McCourt C,Page L, Hewison J & Vail A (1998). 'Evaluation of one-to-one midwifery: Women's responses to care', Birth, 25, 2, 73-80.

"The ethos and values of the social enterprise model are a catalyst for improving choice, equality and access to services and enable services to be delivered in an innovative and efficient manner"

Department of Health

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