Children get inside view of award winning birth centre

7th Mar 2013

THE AWARD WINNING midwife-led Halcyon birth centre at Smethwick played host to some excited schoolchildren from Calthorpe Specialist Sports College, as they visited the centre on an educational visit.

Leading the tour of the purpose-built facility, Consultant Midwife Kathryn Gutteridge explained: “It is a real pleasure to show the children around our birth centre, as they are obviously very interested and curious about how midwives help mums bring their babies into the world. It is a momentous event and we are very pleased to tell the children about the role we play.”

Two classes from the school were taken around the unit at different times to ensure all the children had a chance to look round and marvel at the twinkly lights, the huge birthing pools and the homely cradles and baby baths provided in each room.

Teacher Patrick Jones commented: “The children really enjoyed their day out, and will be doing some follow up work in class as they express their impressions of Halcyon. We hope to share some of this work with the staff at the birth centre as a thank you for hosting us.”

Last month, the midwife-led maternity service at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust was presented with a national award by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) for promoting natural birth.

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