The Friarage Hospital serves a population of 122,000 people covering an area of 1,000 square miles across Hambleton, Richmondshire and parts of Harrogate. Maternity services at the Friarage underwent changes in 2014 and we now have a fantastic maternity centre which we are trying to encourage as many people as possible to use. This page has been created to improve local peoples knowledge on the Fr
iarage Maternity Centre and the services that we offer. We encourage you to use this page to share feedback on your experience and leave your reviews in order to help future women make an informed choice about where they would like to have their baby. We would also like people to share information about local events/services for pregnant women, new mums and babies such as breastfeeding groups, pregnancy yoga, aqua natal classes etc. The Friarage Maternity Centre consists of the Midwifery Led Unit, Community Midwifery Hub and Maternity Day Unit. The Midwifery Led Unit offers a relaxed, home from home environment, suitable for low risk women and their families. We are a team of highly skilled and experienced midwives who are passionate about providing one to one, individualised care. Continuous support in labour is associated with less use of pharmacological analgesia, fewer operative births and fewer reports of dissatisfaction with birth. At our unit a one to one midwifery model is adopted in labour and includes assisting women in their choice of many pharmacological methods of pain relief such as oral analgesia, entonox and meptid injections. We also support with non-pharmacological methods of pain relief such as the birthing pool, aromatherapy, massage, sterile water injections, breathing and relaxation techniques, positions and movement etc. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence confirms that midwifery led care during labour is SAFEST for women with straightforward pregnancies. Evidence suggests women who planned birth in a midwifery led unit have significantly fewer interventions including substantially fewer caesarean sections and more 'normal births' than women who planned birth in an obstetric unit. Birth partners are welcome to stay in our en-suite rooms during and after the birth until you choose to go home, usually within 24 hours. Open and flexible visiting applies. The Friarage Maternity Day unit offers care from early pregnancy onwards dealing with a broad range of pregnancy related conditions and problems. It offers a multidisciplinary team and has close communication between the GP's, community midwives. The Friarage Community Hub offers a wide range of services for ante natal and postnatal care. These include antenatal classes and appointments, postnatal checks, baby weighing's, bloodspot tests, hearing screening, open access to breastfeeding support and much more.
