Why might I need to transfer out of the birth centre?

As you will have read already on this site, you will be aware that we are a midwife led unit, like many across the country. Midwives are the experts of ‘normal’. However, if a problem is identified at all either during pregnancy or labour, we work in close partnership with doctors to help us provide you with safe care. If we have any concerns at all, we would discuss our concerns with both you and doctors who work on the delivery suite next door.

Our figures over the 5 years that we have been open suggest to us that the 3 most common reasons why women transfer out of the Birth Centre are:

• Slow progress
• Meconium stained liquor
• Abnormal fetal heart rate

In 2008/09 (April 08- March 09) our figures showed us:

Slow progress in labour 32%	This is most commonly during the second stage or pushing part of the labour, particularly if it is your first baby. Sometimes this can be in the first part of labour.
Meconium Liquor 21%	This can be linked to possible distress in the baby (either during pregnancy or labour itself), so we transfer you. On transfer, we recommend starting a continuous heart rate monitor to assess your baby’s condition. This would be continued until the birth of your baby.
Abnormal fetal heart rate 14%	We listen to your baby regularly in labour, however if the baby’s heart rate gives us any reason for concern, we would transfer you so that we can continuously monitor the heart rate until your baby is born.

(The remaining 33% are for ‘other’ reasons such as raised blood pressure or bleeding).
what to expect in labour
pain relief
Caesarean section

Birth Centre Facts and Figures

This page was last modified on Thu Jul 29 2010