Edgware Birth Centre
Address
Edgware Birth Centre
Edgware Community Hospital
Burnt Oak Broadway
Edgware
Middlesex HA8 0AD
You can self-refer to the Edgware Birth Centre using the online self-referral form for the Royal Free Hospital. The Edgware Birth Centre is part of the Royal Free group of hospitals.
"Our vision is to ensure that women and their families are provided with excellence in maternity care, and services that are co-produced with our local MVP (Maternity Voice Partnership) and other service user representatives."
Edgware Birth Centre offers you a relaxed and friendly environment for the birth of your baby.
Why give birth in the Edgware Birth Centre?
The right support and environment can make a huge difference to your and your baby’s experience of labour and birth. Opened in 1997, the Edgware Birth Centre offers a friendly ‘home from home’ environment, run by midwives and midwifery assistants.
If your pregnancy has been straightforward and there is no reason to think that you or your baby are likely to need medical support during labour or after the birth, or if you wish to have a more personalised birth plan, then the Edgware Birth Centre could be a good choice for you. It is suitable for women who expect to have an uncomplicated pregnancy and who go into labour between 37 and 42 weeks.
Our aim is for all of our mums to have a safe, positive and confident experience of pregnancy, labour and childbirth and we work hard to make this happen.
Advantages of birthing in a standalone midwifery-led setting:
• You are more likely to have a normal birth
• You are less likely to need intervention
• You are less likely to have vaginal or perineal tears
• You are more likely to be satisfied with your care
• You are less likely to need pain relieving drugs for labour
Considerations when using a birth centre:
Women who come to the birth centre are usually in good health so there is no reason to expect a problem during birth. Midwives are trained to detect if labour is not progressing as well as it should and to make sure you and your baby are safe. Our figures show that around 70% of first time mothers and more than 90% of second time mothers using a birth centre give birth without needing any medical care.
If medical help is necessary, or you decide you would like an epidural, you will be transferred to Barnet Hospital by ambulance, accompanied by your midwife. The journey is approximately 10 minutes.
Extra emergency equipment is kept in the birth centre, should unforeseen problems arise for a woman or baby. Staff receive regular training to deal with such situation.
Further information on birth centres is available on the following websites:
Our specialist services include
- Bereavement Midwife
- Fetal Medicine Unit
- Endocrine – Including diabetes
- Preterm Birth Clinic
- Perinatal Mental Health Team
- Vulnerable Women’s Teams
- Birth Options Clinic
- Specialist Screening Team
- Continuity of Carer
- A full range of antenatal care
- Antenatal workshops including infant feeding, active birth and caring for your baby
- Five en-suite birth rooms/postnatal bedrooms where you and your partner will usually be able to remain for the duration of your stay
- Three birthing pools for you to labour and give birth in to help as a: form of pain relief (70% of women who have their babies in the birth centre use water at some stage in their labour)
- Birth stools to help you with an upright birth, as well as bean bags and birth balls
