Changes to Maternity visiting arrangements from Monday 12 April 2021
Published: 9 April 2021
We are pleased to be able offer our pregnant women the opportunity to be supported at a range of appointments by their nominated supporter/partner in line with the latest advice and guidance.
This will be done with the help of lateral flow testing which help identify positive COVID-19 cases.
Appointments
With a COVID-19 negative result and no symptoms of COVID-19, your nominated supporter/partner will be able to accompany you to:
- Maternity Ultrasound Scans, including growth scans and rescans
- Midwifery / Consultant Appointments in Antenatal Clinic at Torbay Hospital
- Antenatal appointments within community settings – please note this may be subject to waiting space within certain settings and supporters/partners may be asked to wait in their car/outside.
- John MacPherson ward
- Mothers admitted during the antenatal period, including induction of labour between 9am and 5pm
- Postnatal mothers and babies between 9am and 5pm
- One supporter/partner for the duration of labour on delivery suite
- Postnatal appointments
We still require mothers attending the maternity assessment unit for Glucose Tolerance Tests and other investigations to attend alone at this present time.
Lateral Flow Testing
From 12 April 2021, we are asking all pregnant women and their nominated supporter/partner to undertake twice weekly lateral flow tests at home. When you attend for any appointment, you will be asked a number of screening questions about symptoms of COVID-19 and also asked to show evidence of your latest negative LFT result (text or email).
Lateral Flow Tests can be obtained freely. Please follow link below to show where your nearest location to collect the test pack: https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk
Lateral flow tests are quick and simple to complete. The test strip is very similar to a pregnancy test and provides a result within 30 minutes. Each test pack comes with a set of instructions. Once you have the result, you will need to register it immediately with the Government results service. You will need to have the serial number which is written on the test strip to register the result. This can be accessed online: www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result
This will then generate an email and text message which provides a copy of your result that you can show when attending for appointments. Please contact your midwifery team if you do not have access to technology to enable you to register your results.
Rachael Glasson, Associate Director of Midwifery and Professional Practice, welcomed these updated changes: “I am delighted that we are now able to offer our pregnant women the opportunity to attend these appointments with a partner/nominated supporter thanks to the latest updated guidance. All of our staff are fully aware of how challenging the restrictions on visiting have been for our families, and we hope that these changes provide comfort and reassurance.
“I would like to thank all of our families for their patience while the restrictions have been in place, and for their cooperation with the new lateral flow testing process. Ensuring the guidelines are followed will help us all keep mothers, supporters, babies and staff as safe as possible.”