Kingswood Hospital Provides City's First Home-From-Home Birth Centre

Cossham Hospital is to be the site of the city's first birth centre.  The midwife-led unit means that mums-to-be in Bristol and South Gloucestershire who are expecting a low-risk labour will be able to choose the homely environment for the birth rather than a traditional hospital setting.

The centre will be based on the top floor of Cossham Hospital, providing bright, light and airy surroundings.

There will be four birthing rooms available, each with a birthing pool, additional birthing aids to support the natural process of childbirth, double bed, sofas and en-suite facilities. They will also be available to offer an alternative choice of venue for antenatal and postnatal care.

Rachel Fielding, North Bristol NHS Trust's deputy director of midwifery, said: "With the opening of the Cossham Birth Centre, NBT will be able to offer local women the additional choice of a free-standing birth centre for their place of birth.

"Cossham Birth Centre will be very different to our facilities currently on offer at Southmead Hospital and will provide a real home-from-home environment where partners will also be accommodated throughout the whole stay."

Pip A Ness, from Birth Centre Bristol (BCB), said: "At last Bristol women will be able to give birth in a midwife-led birth centre in their local community.

"BCB has been campaigning for birth centres throughout Bristol for seven years and this is the first of what we hope will be many."

The Birth Centre is part of the overall Cossham Hospital development. Work is due to start on the redevelopment of the 100-year-old building in February 2010, with the facilities opening in late 2011.