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After giving birth you will stay on the postnatal ward. For many mums and their new babies this is a very short stay.

On the postnatal ward, care will be given to prepare you and your baby for going home. This can include advice from the physiotherapist.

If your baby needs specialist care they may be cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit offers specialist care to babies born too small, too sick or too soon.

The unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital can look after babies born from 28 weeks onwards.

On the unit you will meet:

• doctors
• specialist nurses including neonatal and children's nurses
• midwives
• nursery nurses and health care assistants

They are all there to support you and your baby during your stay on the unit.

Your baby may be cared for in the neonatal unit if they require intensive/high dependency care.

The length of time your baby will spend on the unit could be anything from a few days to a few months. We will always keep you informed of your baby's progress and encourage you to help with all aspects of your baby's care. The unit has a parent room where you are welcome to stay nearer your baby. These rooms can also be used before your baby goes home to help you build your confidence.

If your baby is born at Worcestershire Royal Hospital between 34 and 36 weeks of pregnancy and is well, you will be admitted to the Transitional Care Unit (TCU). Here we can help your baby learn to feed. All babies are different but this can sometimes take up to two weeks.

TCU is a small unit caring for between five and eight babies and their mums. It is part of the postnatal ward. Our aim is to provide the extra care and support you need to enable you to feel happy and confident when your baby is ready to go home.

You and your baby will be cared for by midwives and nursery nurses.

If your baby is born before 34 weeks gestation and has spent some time on the neonatal intensive care unit, you may also spend some time on TCU. This is to help your baby develop until they are well enough to go home.

Although most of our babies are born early, we also care for any baby and their mum who may need extra help or support.

Did you know that breastfeeding reduces your baby’s risk of:

• Diarrhoea, vomiting and gastroenteritis
• Chest infections
• Being obese and developing type 2 diabetes and other illnesses later in life 
• Ear infections
• Sudden infant death syndrome/ cot death
• Developing eczema

You benefit too because it:

• Lowers the risk of breast cancer
• Lowers the risk of ovarian cancer
• Lowers the risk of postnatal depression

Becky Davenport, Infant Feeding Advisor

01905 760507 or 07767 440971

Caroline Payne, Infant Feeding Advisor

07879 440264

Find more information on local breastfeeding support through our services.

Feeding Support after discharge for Hospital or Home birth during COVID-19 - Patient Information leaflet 

For: Breast and bottle fed infants up to the age 16 weeks

If you are experiencing feeding difficulties and suspect your baby of having a tongue tie (sometimes known as frenulotomy or ankyloglossia), or if a tongue tie has been diagnosed by a health professional, a referral may be made to our specialist midwives in infant feeding / tongue tie practitioners, Becky and Caroline.

The referral must be made by completing the below form and attaching it to an email to: wah-tr.Tongue-Tie@nhs.net

Download Tongue Tie Referral Form

- Please note, if you're using an Apple device (such as a iPhone or iPad) please use the Pages app to complete the form, and then convert back into a word document before sending via email. This will ensure we can read the referral.

On our receipt of this completed form we will contact you by telephone within a week.

During the call we will assess the need for you to attend an appointment at the Tongue Tie assessment clinic.

Clinics are held at Worcestershire Royal Hospital only at present, due to social distancing restrictions.

For further information on tongue-tie please read the tongue tie parent information leaflet here.

NEW Criteria for review in Tongue-tie Clinic

Only babies who have been born at Worcestershire Acute NHS trust or live in the Worcestershire will be seen and the baby will need to be at least 1 week old and not more than 16 weeks of age (or calculate corrected gestational age). All assessments will be individual. 

Babies will only be seen in clinic when one of the following criteria is met:

• Breastfeeding has not improved with ongoing feeding support from the infant feeding team 
• Bottle feeding has not improved with paced bottle feeding and change of bottles and teats 
• The baby has not regained birth weight by 3 weeks of age 
• There is slow weight gain (<20g per day) 
• The mother continues to have pain when breastfeeding, despite ongoing support

#SqueezeLiftHold - Pelvic Floor Workout Programme

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) has designed a new campaign to help pregnant and postnatal women improve their pelvic floor health.

The ‘Squeeze, Lift, Hold’ campaign includes a website with facts, tips and advice to help women recognise the signs of incontinence as well as behaviours to follow to help strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.

A workout programme is available as part of the campaign and features simple, quick and effective exercises that can be fitted in around busy routines.

The three stages of the programme are designed to improve bladder and bowel control, reduce the risk of pelvic organ prolapse, improve recovery from childbirth, preserve and/or increase sexual sensation, as well as maintain spine and pelvis support along with deep abdominal (tummy) and back muscles.

More than one in three women experience unintentional (involuntary) loss of urine (urinary incontinence) in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, while about one in three leak urine in the first three months after giving birth. But the team at LMNS want women to know it doesn’t have to be this way.

By providing easy-to-follow tips and a workout programme of simple exercises taking less than six minutes each day, women can improve their pelvic floor in just a few months, all from the comfort of their own home.

To find out more visit: www.squeezelifthold.co.uk