Unfortunately, we still have staffing challenges within our maternity services.  As we manage these workforce pressures, all births are taking place in Sunderland.  This is so that we have enough midwives on duty 24/7 to provide safe care for everyone. Our Midwifery Led Birthing Centre (MLBC) in South Tyneside is a vital part of our maternity services and this is a temporary measure. 

Midwifery-Led Birthing Centre

The Midwifery-Led Birthing Centre at South Tyneside District Hospital provides a relaxing ‘home from home’ birthing experience for women with low risk pregnancies who have not experienced any complications.

The centre is open 24/7 and is run by our team of highly experienced midwives who will offer a comfortable, relaxed and friendly environment for families who are keen to have a natural birth with minimum intervention.

We pride ourselves on providing a calm, welcoming and relaxing atmosphere with lots of one-to-one personalised care to help you bond with your baby in those precious first few hours. Partners are also welcome to stay in our en-suite birthing rooms during and after the birth, until you choose to go home, usually within 12 to 24 hours.

Our midwives are expertly trained to detect, very early on, if your labour is not progressing normally. If our midwives do have concerns about you or your baby’s wellbeing or progress during labour, we have very close links and direct 24/7 communication with doctors in our consultant-led maternity unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital. If necessary we will arrange for you to be transferred to our consultant-led maternity unit in an ambulance and your midwife will come along with you.

Contact us: 0191 4041033

Antenatal Services

  • Antenatal day care, monitoring and screening at all stages of pregnancy
  • Out of area midwife led clinics for patients booked for delivery at South Tyneside, but with a GP outside the South Tyneside boundary
  • Midwife led special clinic for pregnant teenagers
  • Obstetric ultrasound sessions 
  • Midwife led early pregnancy assessment clinics
  • Maternal serum screening (blood tests / amniocentesis )
  • Counselling in relation to pregnancy screening
  • Nurse/Midwife led gynaecology and obstetric pre-operative assessment clinics
  • 'Drop in' service for all pregnant women

Community Midwifery Services

  • Antenatal and postnatal visits to the home and clinics 
  • Home birth service
  • Parentcraft education services
  • Midwifery service for ethnic minority women, asylum seekers and refugees, which provides continuity of maternity care, support e.g. social / interpreting etc. and education
  • Teenage pregnancy maternity services (Young Women's Pregnancy Service) - satellite clinics in community
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