Every birth the best birth: women centred care in Nottingham

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust aspired to increase and maintain its focus on normality in childbirth in its two large maternity units. It achieved this by employing two Leads for Women Centred Care Midwives. This article describes some of the measures taken to promote normal childbirth and empower women and midwives to re-focus on the normal aspects of giving birth. Such measures include; setting up a normal birth focus group for staff, developing study days and a normal birth skills package for staff, work to de-medicalise the birthing environment, one to one care in labour audits, active birth workshops for women and their birthing partners and virtual tours of the maternity unit. The authors hope this may give midwives and staff in other obstetric units ideas and ways in which they can focus on normalising childbirth for all women they care for.