Maternity ward information and visiting times

Throughout the pandemic, our visiting policy has been developed in line with Public Health England and NHS England national guidance and in response to changing infection rates in London to protect patients, their visitors and staff.

From the 12 April you can now bring one support partner to:

Outpatients:

• All scans
• All midwife appointments
• All Fetal Medicine Unit appointments
• All attendances to the Maternal Fetal Assessment Unit

Please note that this does not include GGT glucose tests.

Visitors for outpatient appointments will be required to wait just outside the building as waiting areas inside the hospital cannot accommodate all patients and visitors while socially distanced. Visitors will be able to join patients when they are brought into a room and the appointment starts.

Inpatients:

• Admissions for induction of labour
• Admissions for labour and birth
• Daily 4 hour scheduled visiting times for one nominated individual on our Maternity Care Unit (postnatal ward)
• Daily 2 hour scheduled visiting times for one nominated individual on our Antenatal Care ward

All visitors for all outpatient and inpatient appointments will require an ID badge which is produced on that day for that day only by ground floor reception staff.

We recommend that visitors arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment time to allow time for this badge to be produced.

Your support during Covid

While we’re pleased to be able to open up visiting permissions, social distancing means that it will be challenging to accommodate the maximum number of permitted visitors in the hospital at any given time. Visitors will need to wait outside the building until they are called up to attend the appointment itself.

Therefore, we’d ask you to support fellow patients and NHS staff by considering whether or not you feel that you need someone to join you for every outpatient appointment, as feels appropriate to you. This will help to maintain a safe environment during Covid.

We really appreciate your understanding and cooperation on this matter.

 This has been done in partnership with UCLH Infection Control team and our Maternity Voices Partnership: a team of our patients and their families who represent patient views and help us shape our services and processes.

Please note:

• All visitors will be required to wear a face mask and observe the 2 metre social distancing rule at all times in the hospital
• If possible, please let your midwife know the name and contact details of the person who will visit you on the ward before you give birth. This will allow for a smoother process.
• The visiting times for our Maternity Care Unit (MCU) and Antenatal Clinic (ACU) are predetermined based on bed number to meet requirements for social distancing, so these time slots are, unfortunately, not flexible.
• We have converted all appropriate antenatal appointments into virtual (telephone or video). However, as the majority of maternity care requires a face-to-face appointment, we want to assure you that all necessary precautions have been taken to keep your care safe at the hospital.
• These restrictions only apply to hospital attendances. For community appointments please check with the clinic.
• We will be reviewing these restrictions regularly in line with the infection rates in London. For any changes to the policy we will update the website and contact service users directly via their MyCare app.

Many thanks for your understanding during this difficult time. Please always contact your midwife for any concerns and attend our Maternal Fetal Assessment Unit (MFAU) if you are worried about bleeding or reduced fetal movements.