Fifteen Steps for Maternity at Northampton General Hospital
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On 20 March 2019, volunteers from Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire Maternity Voices Partnership came together to carry out a 15 Steps Maternity Visit to Northampton General Hospital. On the day of the visit, the volunteers visited four areas: Labour ward; Robert Watson (Postnatal ward); The Barratt Birth Centre; and the Antenatal Assessment Unit / Day Assessment Unit.
The report found that all areas were clean and tidy; birthing rooms were set up to promote active labour on the Midwife Led Unit; the Barratt Birth Centre allowed women the choice of where to give birth; staff were friendly and approachable and were enthusiastic about how the service was developing; there were positive interactions between staff and patients.
The report recommended to include ethnically diverse family pictures and posters; tidy up the posters and displays to look more uniform; information be made available in different languages; display information on the meaning of various staff uniforms; implement more home like décor in and around the Labour Ward; provide information about domestic abuse reporting to staff.
The hospital responded by outlining how they were taking steps to address the different recommendations.