100th baby born at new birthing unit

In the space of just a month the new Midwifery-led Birthing Unit at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has seen the delivery of its 100th baby.

Baby Jenson Malcolmson, weighing 8lbs and 7ozs, was a natural delivery at 0904 today to Lucy, aged 24. The new Midwifery-led Birthing Unit offers women a home-from-home environment in which to have a natural birth if the delivery is expected to be low-risk. It opened on Monday 8 August 2011.

The new unit is on the hospital’s Blakeney ward and has four birthing rooms named Lavender, Lotus, Jasmine and Rose. The new birthing unit has a total of three birthing pools and cost £400,000 to build.

Baby Jenson was born in the new unit’s Rose room. Mum Lucy, a care assistant, from Ashill, near Watton, said: “I really had my heart set on having our baby in the birthing unit and I was bit worried it might not happen because my blood pressure was high. Thankfully my blood pressure came down and we came into the birthing uit at 1.30 this morning. It's been fantastic and I can't praise the midwife enough.”

Dad Gavin, 31, an electrical estimator, brought Lucy in at 1.30am this morning and was also impressed by the new unit. “The birthing unit's been great, you really can't fault it. The staff have looked after us all really well and we'd recommend it to anyone.”

The philosophy of the new midwifery-led birthing unit is to give one-to-one care and support to women throughout the process of birth naturally and without intervention. Midwives on the unit are also trained to do the paediatric checks needed before babies can go home.