Barts and The London Maternity Service | For women and families | Your labour
Your labour
Who can be with you during labour
Staying in The Royal London Hospital
IMPORTANT: 24-hour maternity ward closure
The Maternity Unit will be moving into the Women’s Centre in the new building from 20 February 2012. For full details please click on the link.
Signs of labour
The common sign that labour has begun is the start of painful contractions that might feel like back pain or waves of pain across your abdomen. Other signs which are important are a ‘show’ which is a blood stained mucus loss usually just before labour begins or when the waters have broken. This should always lead you to make contact with your midwife.
In normal circumstances, when contractions are regular about every 5-10 minutes you should call your midwife, The Barkantine Clinic on 020 7791 8300 or the Labour Ward (Marie Celeste) at The Royal London Hospital on 020 7377 7170.
If you choose to have your baby in hospital, bring enough clothes and personal items for a stay of up to two days. Friends and relatives can bring in extra things for you later if you need to stay in hospital longer. Please ensure you bring your maternity records and any medicine you are taking. Some useful items to bring include, loose day clothes and nightwear, toiletries, maternity pads, disposable knickers, and feeding bras and breast pads if you are breastfeeding. Useful items for your baby include babygro’s, disposable nappies, towel and cotton wool balls. If you have more questions, please speak to your midwife.
Who can be with you during labour
Because of space limitations, up to two people can be with you during the birth. This can be your partner, relative or friend. Children are not allowed on the labour ward.
There are many ways to helping you cope with pain and discomfort during labour. Pain relief options include TENS machines, entonox (gas and air), pethidine and epidurals. You will be given a leaflet on pain relief. The midwife who is with you in labour is the best person to advise you, and it will also be discussed in the ‘pain relief in labour’ antenatal classes.
You are welcome to use complementary therapies and we are happy to work with practitioners such as homeopaths, osteopaths and acupuncturists. Please discuss this in advance with your midwife so that she knows what you are planning to do.
Vaginal delivery is the most common way to give birth, but a caesarean section is advised and performed in certain situations. It may be planned in advance (elective section) or carried out at short notice as an emergency, especially if there are complications in labour. A caesarean section is the birth of your baby through a cut in your abdomen to deliver your baby from within the womb out through the tummy wall.
If you wish to have a caesarean section for personal reasons, you should discuss this with your obstetrician.
There are 5 pools at the Barkantine Birth Centre and there is one room with a birthing pool on the labour ward at The Royal London Hospital. This is available on a first come, first serve basis. If you think you may want to use the pool, please discuss this with your midwife.
Staying in The Royal London Hospital
If you choose to have your baby in hospital you will give birth to your baby in our labour ward which has nine individual birthing rooms. There are also 29 postnatal inpatient beds, mostly in bays. If you have any complications during labour and require a caesarean, you will usually have the operation in our integrated labour ward obstetric theatre.
Sometimes there may be a need for stitches after the birth and if so this is done as soon as reasonably possible.
