Once you have your booking (first) appointment with a midwife, you will be assigned a named midwife who will be responsible for your care throughout your pregnancy. Your named midwife will work as part of a midwifery team, which is usually centred around your local community.
We aim for your named midwife to be with you for the majority of your appointments in the antenatal period and to offer you support in the postnatal period and value the health benefits that building a trusting relationship can bring you and your family. You will be provided with a single point of contact telephone number and email address for your local community team at your first appointment, where you can contact your named midwife when she is working or another member of her team if she is not available.
Below is a list of our current midwifery teams. We are working really hard to increase our midwifery workforce and community accommodation to enable us to build more “continuity of carer” midwifery teams. These teams allow staff to care for you during your pregnancy, birth and postnatal period and are considered the best practice in midwifery care.
The Sussex community team are based in Crawley and Horsham hospital, while also operating clinics out of local GP practices. There are 15 midwives in the team lead by Lina Colvin, their Midwife Team Leader. Together they care for around 1800 women per year in Sussex.
The Surrey community team are based in East Surrey Hospital but run almost all of their clinics out of GP practices in the community. There are 15 midwives in the team.
The MAPLE Team offer enhanced antenatal and postnatal care in the community. Each team cares for 300 women each and has no more than four community based midwives to offer continuity of carer to you.
The Willow and Oak teams offer targeted care in the Tandridge and East Surrey areas respectively. Each team cares for 300 women each and has no more than four community based midwives to offer continuity of carer to you.
The homebirth team offers caseload continuity of carer to women in Surrey and Sussex who are planning to give birth in the home environment. They are a team of eight midwives who will care for you from the stage in your pregnancy that you have made a decision to give birth at home at your birth and after your baby is born.
We would like to meet you as early as possible, please email homebirth.homebirth@nhs.net if you would like to transfer your care or have any questions. (please also see our choosing where to give birth section on this website for more advice).