New facilities for mums at Glan Clwyd Hospital

A revamped Midwifery Led Unit (MLU) at Glan Clwyd Hospital is offering improved birthing facilities for mums-to-be.

Ambient mood lighting, a Bluetooth surround sound system and a fixed birthing pool are all part of the hospital’s refurbished MLU.

The MLU offers families the choice of receiving one-to-one care led by a midwife.

The unit is run by midwives, and offers a more homely environment for women with a low-risk pregnancy to give birth in.

The pool installation, which was funded thanks to a donation from the Glan Clwyd League of Friends, and refurbishment work was completed by Denbigh-based Pen y Bryn Joinery.

Lorraine Gardner, Matron for Maternity Services at Glan Clwyd Hospital, said: “The whole development has been focussed on creating a home-from-home experience for women receiving midwifery-led care at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

“We want to be able to give all the mums using our services the best possible experience. Being able to play their own music while here and set ambient mood lighting which they can set will really help achieve a relaxing, calm environment.

“We have a fabulous team of midwives, midwife support workers and health care support workers who work in our MLU, and the enhanced facilities will help them continue to deliver safe, effective care to our women.

“We are particularly excited to have the fixed birthing pool, which is a big improvement on the portable one we had previously in our MLU. We would like to thank The League of Friends for their substantial donation to help us achieve the purchase of this pool.

“Water provides a calming, peaceful, protected space for women in labour, while also helping women get into positions which are comfortable for both labour and birth.”

Studies show that water births can also reduce pain, speed up labour and reduce the need for drugs and other interventions thereby ensuring a positive birth experience.

There are three MLUs in North Wales, located at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Wrexham Maelor Hospital and Ysbyty Gwynedd.

Teresa Owen, Executive Director of Public Health, said: “I was delighted to see this work completed, which will greatly improve the experience women have of using the MLU at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

“The midwives here can be really proud of the effort they’ve put in to make this new birthing pool a reality.”