The Friends have recently pledged £10,000 towards Brighter Futures’ “Better Births Appeal”.
Brighter Futures is aiming to fund equipment in the region of £80,000 to benefit families using maternity services at Great Western Hospital. The aim is to introduce innovative new maternity equipment (a multi-functional birthing bed, 4 mobile foetal heart telemetry monitors and variable height cots) with a view to giving all women an active birth, requiring less medical intervention and offering personalised and family-friendly care to all.
As Brighter Futures explained to the Friends:
” Since 2011, our midwife-led four-bed unit called the White Horse Birthing Centre has given mothers having a low risk, uncomplicated pregnancy the option of giving birth in a more personalised homely environment with less clinical intervention. The unit’s facilities and approach are in great demand with over 700 babies born in the Centre each year. Most mothers, however, do not have the option of using the White Horse Birth Centre as they need closer monitoring. This can be due to their pre-existing medical conditions; complications arising during pregnancy; difficult past deliveries; or because they need a caesarean section. These mums are cared for in Great Western Hospital’s Delivery Suite which has 12 en-suite delivery rooms and two maternity theatres.
Great Western Hospital wants all families on the Delivery Suite to benefit from similar facilities as those available in the White Horse Birth Centre. This will enable ALL women to have choice over their birth experience, be supported in achieving an active delivery and to enjoy an environment where they can bond with their infants.”
Jane Leighton, Major Gifts Manager at Brighter Futures, wrote to the Friends, saying “Thank you again for this incredible grant for which we are truly grateful.”
For more details about the Brighter Futures appeal, click here.
December 2019
