Giving birth

A virtual tour of Maternity services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital

Welcome to Leeds Teaching Hospitals, I’m Philippa I’m one of the midwives, and I’m going to lead you on a virtual tour of the unit. This tour has been designed to give you an overview of the services and facilities we provide at LGI and St James’s Hospital in Leeds. The Maternity Assessment Centre (MAC) is on the fifth floor of the Gledhow Wing, which can be accessed by the lift or stairs. Maternity Assessment Unit at LGI is on the C floor of the Clarendon wing. To enter the maternity assessment, press the intercom, and a member of staff will open the door as soon as possible to help protect our mums and babies from the risk of infection.

Please use the hand gel when you enter the unit and move from area to area. MAC is where you will first meet a midwife. They will establish how your labour is progressing, and she will discuss with you the most appropriate place for you to be, help you identify your needs, and plan your care. If you need to stay in the hospital during your pregnancy, you will stay on the antenatal ward. This ward has bays with between four and six beds and single-side rooms for women who have specific clinical needs. If your labour is being induced, then you’ll come to the antenatal award for your induction of labour. Once you’re in established labour, you’ll be taken to the delivery suite.

At St. James’s, the Delivery Suite is a combined consultant-led and midwifery-led unit where midwives work closely with you and your family to help you throughout the birth of your baby. At LGI, the Delivery Suite has a consultant-led unit for women needing monitoring in labour and a midwife-led unit called the Lotus Midwifery Unit, or LMU. This is designed for women choosing to give birth naturally in a welcoming and relaxed environment. If you choose the LMU for the birth of your baby, you’ll be cared for exclusively by midwives.

Midwives actively support women who wish to use hypnobirthing and complementary therapies. At St. James’s, we have eight delivery rooms, two water birth rooms, and one active birth room. At LGI, we have 11 delivery rooms, including one water birth room. The Lotus Midwifery Unit has one delivery room and two water birth rooms. The birthing rooms at St. James’s and the water birth rooms at LGI have ensuite facilities. All rooms are designed to make women feel comfortable and to help them remain active during their labour.

Women will often use a variety of positions and birthing equipment, such as birthing balls, mats, and beanbags, to enhance their birthing experience. The rooms are designed to be comfortable in labour, but also to have all the medical equipment we may need for more complicated births. In Leeds, we actively encourage and support women who wish to labour and birth their baby in water. The birthing pool has a calming and relaxing effect and is very popular for women.

Sometimes the safest option for you and your baby is to have a caesarean section. If you have a planned or unplanned caesarean section, these take place in one of our theatres based on Delivery Suite. We have two theatres at LGI and two at St. James’s. Following a caesarean section, you’ll go to the recovery area with your baby until you’re ready to go to the postnatal ward.

After your baby has been born, you and your baby will move to the postnatal ward, where you will stay until you go home. Most women and babies will be ready to go home soon after birth, usually the day after. Postnatal Ward has bays with between four and six beds in each bay area and single-side rooms. The single-side rooms are reserved for women with specific clinical needs or if the woman’s baby is on a neonatal unit. The postnatal ward has a team of midwives and maternity support assistants who will be able to offer all the help, advice, and support you will need in caring for yourself and your baby during your stay with us.

At Leeds Teaching Hospitals, we actively encourage and support breastfeeding, and all midwives and maternity support assistants are trained to help you with feeding. Our infant feeding team is available for advice and support. If you decide to formula feed your baby, you’ll need to bring in formula starter packs with you. Unfortunately, we’re unable to provide formula milk and have no facilities for cleaning, sterilising, or making up bottles of formula milk. Our neonatal unit offers the highest level of care and supports all newborn babies with specialist needs. If your baby needs extra monitoring from our service, the team will provide you with information and support throughout your baby’s stay with us. We hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour. For more information, please visit our website or talk to your community midwife.