Smalltalk Spring 2015 | Page 20

Worcester and Droitwich Branch What’s next? There are no plans at the moment to develop beyond the four rooms but, with at least 500 and up to 1000 births predicted over the next year alone, there will almost certainly be a need for more rooms and staff if the centre follows the success of those in other counties. In sum I was generally impressed by the facility itself and by the staff‘s attitude to creating a safe, welcoming space for babies to have a gentler start to life and for mothers to have a good birthing experience. The rooms are superb; my one hesitation is the ‗family‘ room and I think staff will need to monitor this carefully to ensure it doesn‘t become either an extra staff room, or overrun with noisy family members and thereby spoil the peaceful atmosphere. Based on what I have seen, though, I‘m sure they will have no problem finding this balance and I wish the midwives, staff – and, of course, all the mums! – every success and enjoyment of the new centre they have worked hard to create. Over to you The Meadows Birth Centre was in part funded by public donations. If you are interested in donating , please visit www.justgiving.com/ Meadowsbirthcentre or to help with fundraising, contact the team on 01905 760551 or by email: [email protected]. I‘d love to hear your birthing stories, especially if you give birth in this or another birthing centre! You can choose to remain anonymous or supply a photo of you and your new treasure. Please email me at: [email protected] Lizzie Hutton Worcester and Droitwich Branch Spring 2015 20