Telford's new maternity unit welcomes first arrival

The new midwife-led unit (MLU), made possible after £4 million of funding was secured from the Department of Health, has opened at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and replaces the old Wrekin MLU which was 30-years-old.

Amanda Lovett, 27, from Shrewsbury, became the first woman to give birth there on Tuesday evening.

She and husband Karl, 32, welcomed a baby girl, who hasn’t yet been named, weighing 6lb 4oz.

Amanda said: “It’s amazing to say our little girl was the first person to be born at the new MLU, it’s quite an achievement for her.

“I am grateful for the care given to me by all the midwives, they oozed positivity, were really attentive and went above and beyond to look after me.

“The new MLU is really spacious and has a really homely environment.

"There are so many facilities and options to give birth in different ways.

"My room had Bluetooth and coloured lighting so I played Ed Sheeran and danced around to get the baby to hurry up. I also used the water bath, which was amazing.

“Thank you to all the midwives who looked after us so well.”

The new MLU, run by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, is for women with low risk pregnancies who have not experienced any complications.

It has three spacious en-suite birthing rooms, each with a pull-down double bed to enable partners to rest, two of which also have a birthing pool.

There are also outpatient facilities with five consultation rooms and space for specialist midwives to work from, including for screening and infant feeding.

It is located next to the obstetric unit, enabling closer access to the consultant-led unit should it be required.

The new MLU was designed with the leadership team from the women and children’s care group at SaTH, along with the Maternity Voices Partnership which assisted with design features.

Births at home have also been re-introduced after being temporarily suspended at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

Nicola Wenlock, director of midwifery at SaTH, said: “We are delighted to have had our first birth in our new Wrekin MLU and would like to say congratulations to Amanda Lovett, and her husband Karl.

“The unit has state-of-the-art facilities, looks fantastic and our midwifery staff are delighted to be working in a purpose built environment.

“While expectant mums may be feeling anxious about their care during the Covid-19 outbreak, we remain committed to providing the very best care for them, and it’s great to be able to do that from our brand new MLU.”

Louise Barnett, chief executive of SaTH, said: “How fantastic it is to welcome the first baby to our new MLU, congratulations to Amanda and Karl.

“Staff in our maternity services are working hard to provide the safest possible experience for expectant and new mums, and they are continuing to build on the improvements and examples of kind and compassionate care that were recognised by the Care Quality Commission in their most recent inspection."