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University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Antenatal care

Antenatal care is provided to all women during pregnancy by community midwives. Appointments will usually take place in GP surgeries, health centres or in the home.

Women attend regular appointments with midwives throughout their pregnancy, please visit the NHS Choices website for further details.

If a woman has any complications during pregnancy she will be referred to a consultant obstetrician who will advise and share her care with the community midwife. Consultant clinics take place within the Maternity Unit's Antenatal Clinic, which incorporates ultrasound facilities for scans if required.

Ultrasound scans

All women have a 12 week ultrasound scan to confirm or establish their due date, and at this time are offered antenatal screening.  A copy of the  'Screening tests for you and your baby' booklet can be found in patient information.

Women also receive a routine 20 week ultrasound scan to check the physical development of their baby.  All ultrsound scans will take place within the maternity unit.

During your visit for your 12 week scan you will have your height and weight measured, be asked to provide a urine sample, and will also have blood taken for antenatal screening tests. 

Additional facilities

The unit has a 12 bed antenatal inpatient ward for women with complications who need to be admitted.

However, most women are able to remain at home with visits to the Antenatal Day Assessment Unit for monitoring.

Antenatal ward visiting times

Visiting

Visiting Times on the antenatal ward are as follows:

  • Open visiting - partners
  • 10am to 9pm mothers own children.
  • Other visitors are welcome between 2-4 pm and 7-8 pm.

Please do not visit the antenatal ward if you have symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting or any other illness.

We do not allow children who are not the children of the woman admitted to visit.

We ask that there be no more than two people visiting at the bedside at any time for patient safety as well as to keep noise and disruption to a minimum.

Respecting our staff and patients

The trust operates a zero tolerance policy on abuse towards staff or patients. If you are asked to leave, please do so.

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