More expectant mothers in parts of South Holland will be now able to enjoy the ‘satisfying and precious’ experience of a home birth thanks to an extended midwife-led service.
Community team leader Sue Hasnip has more than three decades of experience in delivering babies and is part of the team providing the Midwife-Led Pathway introduced by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn.
This new pathway is open to women in South Lincolnshire, including Long Sutton and Holbeach, to have a less clinical approach to birth.
Sue is well-known in Long Sutton as the town’s community midwife and is the wife of Baptist Minster Nic Hasnip.
She said: “I feel the Midwife Led Pathway is an ideal opportunity for a community midwife to be involved in all aspects of the patient’s care.
“It is not unusual for my patients from Long Sutton to go into hospital having not seen another midwife but me during their pregnancy.”
Starting off as a student nurse in Scunthorpe, Sue was soon drawn to midwifery after watching her first birth.
She said: “I can’t remember if the baby was a boy or a girl but I can remember every detail of what the midwife did. It was like watching a master craftsman at work.”
Sue then underwent her midwifery training in Doncaster and later moved to South Lincolnshire, taking on the Long Sutton midwife portfolio 14 years-ago.
The hospital has invested in its maternity services in recent years with the creation of the £600,000 Waterlily Birth Centre, which aims to provide a ‘home from home’ feel with two birthing pools in ambient rooms, and the reintroduction of the Home Birth Service as part of the Midwife Led Pathway.
This pathway aims to provide women having low risk pregnancies greater options of where they would like to deliver their babies.
They are able to choose from a home birth or going to the Midwife-Led Waterlily Birth Centre or the Consultant unit.
Sue said: “The benefits of this pathway for women are huge. You build up a relationship of trust and they are more likely to share if they are having any issues and as a midwife you are more likely to pick up on any physical change as you have seen them before.
“For women with low risk pregnancies, home births can be a very safe, satisfying and precious experience. As a midwife, it is a magical experience to watch as an older sibling comes home to meet the baby which was born just an hour or two earlier.
“If that is not possible then the Waterlily Birth Centre is a really special facility for women and their partners. We have had a lot of positive feedback from families about this unit.”
For more information on The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Maternity Services contact 01553 214903.
