Freya ward
Following the birth of your baby you can chose to be discharged home if there has been no complications during the pregnancy or birth. Alternatively you may chose to stay on Freya ward for continued postnatal care. The staff will be available to give assistance and advise you about how to care for your baby, please do not feel afraid to ask for help should you need it.
Children 11 years old and under are not allowed on Freya Ward
Do not visit Freya ward if you are feeling unwell or if you have experienced vomiting or diarrhoea.
We have two newly refurbished side rooms with en-suite facilities and reclining chairs for partners to stay overnight, these rooms are given priority to women who are unwell or are in need of additional privacy. If these rooms are not in use and you would like your partner to stay you may request a side room. You will be offered the room for one night and may be moved into the ward area consisting of four bedded bays the following day to allow other women the opportunity to have their partner stay also. Unfortunately we do not have facilities for partners to stay overnight in the ward areas. Due to Covid we are unable to support partners staying overnight.
Postnatal Information - Animation
Advice for new parents after you leave hospital
How to Cope with a crying baby (ICON Leaflet)
Postnatal Information - Animation Before you have been discharged home from the maternity unit the midwives will discuss your ongoing plan of care and arrange with you postnatal visits. We aim to offer all women a home visit in the postnatal period the next day after being discharged from hospital although we are currently unable to offer home visits at the weekend. We are unable to provide appointment times for home visits so please inform your midwife if you need to rearrange your home visit. An appointment only postnatal service is run every day from Yeovil Hospital and there are also timed appointment slots available at the Balsam Centre in Wincanton some Fridays from 9am-11pm. Your team midwife will book these for you.
Clinics run from the Yeovil Maternity hospital for postnatal care, you may be asked to attend a session by your midwife. The Midwife will arrange an appointment with you when she makes contact. Please attend alone and wear a hospital provided single use face mask, available at the entrance. Some home visits are taking place in the postnatal period when necessary, the community midwives will phone you to arrange this. Do not attend if you have any symptoms of Covid or anyone else in your household is isolating – please make contact with your community midwives and they will arrange appropriate care.
Some babies need additional care after birth because they are born prematurely or are unwell. These babies may need to be admitted to our Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) for extra monitoring or treatments. SCBU at Yeovil can accept babies born from 32 weeks and can look after up to eight babies at a time. If your baby is born before 32 weeks, is particularly unwell or if SCBU have reached capacity your baby may be transferred to another neonatal unit in neighbouring hospitals such as Bristol or Taunton. Your baby will receive care from Neonatal Staff Nurses and Paediatricians and will involve you at all times with the care of your baby. You will be encouraged to stay with your baby at all times, provide cares and feed where possible. Whilst your baby is in SCBU you will still receive care from the midwives on Freya ward whilst you recover from birth both physically and emotionally. We are currently unable to provide a bed for you on Freya ward if your baby is staying in SCBU for a prolonged length of time. Once you have physically recovered from birth, usually around 1 or 2 days following birth, staff from SCBU will support you to stay with your baby within the unit whilst you may still receive postnatal checks daily from the midwives on Freya ward. What you need to know while your baby is staying in SCBU Click here For more information on services provided by SCBU please click here
Caring for your baby after leaving hospital - postnatal care
How to cope with a crying baby (ICON Leaflet) Postnatal Information - Animation Bottle feeding guide Breast feeding policy Coping with perineal trauma Diabetes and caring for a newborn Group B Streptococcus Low blood glucose in babies Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) Neonatal Jaundice Postnatal care when baby is in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) Yeovil young mums leaflet
