Gloucester ward is a 27 bedded ward, where you will be cared for if you need to stay following the birth of your baby. There are a mixture of ward bays with 6 beds and some siderooms. We have a mixture of staff present on the ward including midwives, nurses, nursery nurses, maternity support workers, doctors, ward clerks, cleaners, housekeepers, and neonatal doctors and nurses, who are here to support you and your baby during your stay.
Gloucester ward manager: Manuela Ryder
During your stay you will be cared for in one of four bays or, if clinically needed, an individual side room. While an inpatient you will receive a daily postnatal examinations. Your baby will receive a daily newborn assessment and a feeding assessment. You are likely to be seen by a newborn hearing screener and a midwife or doctor trained to perform the newborn examination (NIPE).
We aim for all babies to have hearing screening and NIPE before discharge home, but this screening can occasionally be arranged to take place in the community. Depending on your and your baby’s needs, you may also be seen during your stay by a women’s health physiotherapist, obstetrician, neonatal doctor, anaesthetist, nursery nurse or other health care professionals.
Handover between day and night teams take place from 07.15-07.45am in the morning and 7.15-7.45pm in the evening.
Individual side rooms are prioritised for those with specific clinical needs but can be used as an amenity room at a cost.
Amenity room hire fees:
- 1 night: £150
- 2 nights: £300
- 3 nights: £450
Side room hire fees:
- Half night: £48
- 1 night: £95
- 2 nights: £190
- 3 nights: £285
If you are interested in hiring a private room, please speak to your midwife upon presentation to the ward.
Each bed space has a bed, cabinet, table, chair and a cot. Please place belongings in the cabinet, under the cot, or on/under the chair. Bags and belongings must not block access to the bed, as staff may need to give care to you in an emergency.
Please arrange to have items taken home that you are no longer using, as lots of large bags can become hazardous. We advise that car seats are not brought into the hospital until the day you are being discharged, due to space constraints. Each bed area has a buzzer to help you get assistance from the ward staff. You are also welcome to come to the midwives station, where questions can be answered.
Portable electrical items, such a mobile phones, require visual inspection by a member of the ward staff before being plugged in, and should not be left charging at night or unattended. All items including phones are brought into hospital at your own risk and the Trust is not able to take responsibility for any lost or damaged items.
Please bring in your own toiletries and sanitary towels, cotton wool and nappies for your baby. If you have decided to bottle feed infant formula, please supply cartons of sterile formula for this purpose as we do not have facilities to make up powered milk on the ward. We supply sterile, single-use bottle and teats so you do not need to bring these.
To reduce the risk of slips, trips or falls appropriate footwear must be worn when moving around the ward. If your baby is being moved from one area of the ward to another please use the cot, and do not carry your baby around the ward. Please ensure that your baby is in the cot and not in the bed when you are sleeping.c
Birthing partners are entitled to 24-hour visiting. You will be provided with a reclining chair, please refrain from using the patient beds due to infection control requirements and helping keep you and your baby safe. We require every birthing partner to be fully clothed (including footwear) whilst on the ward.
The ward space should not be used by your birthing partner to sleep. Your birthing partner’s rest is vital therefore we advise you ask your partner to go home to rest and refresh. There are no washing facilities for birthing partners. A sink and toilet are available and located in Dacre ward (Located in proximity to Gloucester). The sink however is not to be used a washing facility but exclusively for hand hygiene.
Two visitors in addition to the nominated birthing partner can visit between 3-9pm.
Between 3-9pm we have a “Rest and Reset” period, where we dim lights, limit use of electronic devices and encourage hushed voices from staff and service users. Obstetric reviews and discharges will still happen but interventions will be kept to a minimum.
The ward can offer you three meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served from the trolley by the housekeeper.
Food is for mothers only. If birthing partners choose to order food delivery these will need to be consumed outside of the ward area. This is to protect from any potential allergen contamination.
- Breakfast (toast, cereals, fruit) from 6-10am
- Lunch (hot food) from 12noon-12.45pm
- Dinner (hot food) from 5-5.45pm
You will need to be present during mealtimes, as the National Standard for Food and Drinks requires that hot food can only be served when you are there. For safety reasons, we cannot leave your hot meal unattended if you are absent.
Tea, coffee and hot chocolate are available at any time on request to the house keeping staff or our volunteers. There is one cold water machine, with squash or fruit juice located at on the ward.
The main doors into the ward are always locked. Staff access the ward by using ID badges. Patients and visitors are asked to ring the doorbell and await a response, which is as prompt as possible but may involve a short wait. Visitors are asked to identify themselves and the patient they are visiting. Visitors who are also trust staff members must visit during normal visiting times and ring the doorbell, not use their ID badge.
For health and safety reasons, if you need to move around the department, we kindly ask that you place your baby in the assigned cot and avoid walking while holding your baby.
No babies are to go off the ward until they are discharged, unless arranged for medical reasons. This is to ensure that staff know always know their whereabouts, especially in the event of fire. It also reduces the risk of infection to other babies on the ward.
Do not sleep with your baby in the bed while on the ward. Staff are always happy to help lift your baby or put your baby back in to their own cot, to reduce the risk of sudden infant death, or the risk of them falling out of bed.
Your baby should always have two ID bands on, and you should have at least one.
For your safety and the safety of patients in your bay, we ask that curtains remain open unless you require privacy for feeding, having a procedure or undressing. This allows staff to have a clear view of all the patients on the ward.
Information about you and your baby is kept confidential. If you wish to speak with the midwife privately, please make a member of staff aware. We are not able to give out information to your relatives over the phone.
The ward also cares for women and birthing people whose babies are on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). If this is your situation, we will endeavour to accommodate you in a bay without babies, but this is not always possible.
If you would like to be with your baby and need support to get to the neonatal unit, please ask the team caring for you, we are happy to help.
It is important to take pain relief and other prescribed medication regularly. To make this easier, it is often possible for you to self-administer much of your medication. Please ask the midwife caring for you for more information about how you can take your medication.
We encourage the expressing of breast milk while your baby is on NICU and we can provide you with equipment to assist with this. Milk can be stored in the ward fridge or taken directly to NICU. The ward fridge is locked so please ask a member of staff to put milk into the fridge for you. When you leave the ward please don’t forget to take any remaining milk with you. Milk left behind will be destroyed after 24 hours.
We would like you to help you focus on being a parent rather than a patient, and we know a mixed postnatal ward is not the best place for well mothers of babies on NICU. When you are clinically well, we will discuss discharge home with you. Limited onsite accommodation may be available, with priority given to those who live furthest from the hospital.
On the ward, there are regular drug rounds usually at 6am, 12noon, 6pm and 10pm. Please remember:
- Your medication is prescribed to keep you as comfortable as possible.
- Please follow your midwife’s advice regarding mobilising to enhance your recovery time.
- If you require additional pain relief, please ask a member of staff.
- Pain after caesarean birth is common and can take weeks to settle.
- Painkiller medications can help deal with this.
Other common symptoms after caesarean birth include:
- Feeling nauseous or vomiting
- Difficulty passing stool (constipation)
- Feeling faint and/or light headed
- Itching is a common symptom after certain anaesthetics.
Going home:
If you have a straightforward birth, you can go home once you are confident with feeding. For those who go to the postnatal ward, it is usual to stay at least one night before you are discharged to go home with your baby.
The discharge process takes time to complete, we aim to complete this as quickly as we can to get you home as soon as you are able, and it is safe to do so.
If you are taking regular medication following the birth of your baby, we will arrange for a supply of medication to take home. This must be prescribed by a doctor, then ordered, prepared and collected from the hospital pharmacy before you can go home.
Newborn physical examination:
Before going home, your baby will usually require a NIPE (Newborn & Infant Physical Examination). This can be performed by a midwife or Neonatal Doctor.
Every baby is offered a thorough physical examination soon after birth to check their eyes, heart, hips and, in boys, the testicles (testes). This is to identify babies who may have conditions that need further testing or treatment.
Newborn hearing screening test:
The newborn hearing screening test is done soon after your baby is born. If you give birth in hospital, you may be offered the test before you and your baby are discharged. Otherwise, it will be done in a clinic within the first few weeks of going home and an appointment will be sent through the post.
Car seat safety:
If going home by car, we strongly advise you to use a well-fitting car seat for your baby and to have read the manufacturers installation instructions before fitting the car seat. If you do not have a portable car seat which your baby can be transported to your vehicle from the ward, a midwife may need to accompany you to your vehicle to transfer your baby from one of our cots.
Discharge information:
Before going home your midwife needs to provide you with lots of useful information about what happens once you take your baby home. You will also be given your baby’s Red Book. The discharge pack is available electronically for you to view.
