At your booking appointment your midwife will go through all the screening that you will be offered during pregnancy and for your baby once they are born. The first screening will involve a blood test at your initial appointment, which will be looking for infectious diseases, your rhesus factor, your haemoglobin level, your blood type and if you have any antibodies.  Also at this appointment your midwife will make a referral for you to have a dating scan, which will give you an estimated date of birth for baby.  At this scan they will ask if you would like to…

Jaundice is a common condition which affects many newborn babies. It is usually mild and causes a yellow tone to the skin and sometimes to the sclera (whites of the eyes). It usually resolves after a few days and isn’t too much of a concern. However, occasionally babies will need treatment for jaundice. This is most likely to be in the form of phototherapy, but if it is severe then an exchange transfusion may be advised, this is rarer. Jaundice occurs because when babies are in the womb, they have many more red blood cells than average to allow for…

COVID-19 Osteoporasis information for public   What is Osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is the term used to describe bones when they become ‘porous’, when the struts which make up the mesh-like structure within bone start to disappear. This leads to a reduction in bone strength and an increased risk of fracture after injuries such as a low impact fall. These broken bones or ‘fragility fractures’ can occur in different parts of the body, although the wrist, hip and spine are most commonly affected. Osteoporosis is thought to affect 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men during their lifetime. It is…

Skin to skin Extensive research tells us the many benefits of skin to skin immediately after baby is born. It helps to regulate baby’s heartrate, breathing and temperature, reduces their stress levels, aids with their first feed, as well as enhancing your milk supply.   It has also been shown to have beneficial effects for the mother if they have experienced a traumatic birth.    A minimum of an hour skin to skin and offering baby their first feed during this time can help to realise these benefits.  However, there is no limit, as baby grows, skin to skin can…

Bromyard Community Hospital - Visiting restrictions  information There are three community hospitals within Herefordshire based at Bromyard, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye.  About our hospital Patients who require a period of rehabilitation at a community hospital will need to have an assessment undertaken of the support they will need during their stay. This assessment will consider which facility in Herefordshire can best meet their needs. Bromyard Community Hospital is a modern, well-equipped hospital, staffed by dedicated professionals who are committed to providing quality care for patients. As well as the qualified Nursing staff, there are teams of professional staff such as Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists,…

When you are on biologic drugs (or biosimilar) you are more likely to get food poisoning, because part of your body’s immune system is being altered. In order to avoid the risk of salmonella, listeria and e.coli you shouldn’t eat the following foods: Unpasteurised milk and dairy products, e.g. cheese made from unpasteurised milk. Mould ripened soft cheeses (e.g. Brie and Camembert) and blue cheeses (whether pasteurised or not), feta and goats cheeses. Raw eggs, or foods containing uncooked egg (e.g. home-made mayonnaise). Raw or undercooked meat (e.g. rare steak) and fish. Cooked rice over 24 hours old and not…

Herefordshire Tuberculosis Service

When you have your pregnancy booking appointment your midwife will ask to take some blood samples, one of these will be to find out your blood group.  It will determine whether you are a positive or negative blood group.  If it is found that you have a negative blood group you will be offered Anti-D at different points in your pregnancy.  Anti D is derived from plasma collected from donors, it is a concentrated form of antibodies. A new test is now offered to all women who are Rhesus Negative at 16 weeks gestation.  The blood test will determine whether…

An instrumental birth refers to the use of either forceps or ventouse (suction cup). An instrumental birth happens for 1 in every 8 births.   Forceps are metal instruments which fit together around your baby’s head to speed up the process of baby being born during the pushing phase.  The doctor will pull the forceps as you also push down during a contraction. Ventouse is a suction cup which is placed on baby’s head firmly and also pulled by the doctor while you push.   The choice of instrument will depend on the situation, how many weeks pregnant you are…

Pre-eclampsia usually isn’t diagnosed until at least 20 weeks of pregnancy, but it actually starts early on.  If the blood vessels in your placenta don’t embed properly into your womb, it means the blood flow from the placenta to baby isn’t as optimal as usual.  Your body tries to compensate for this by tightening all the blood vessels in your body, in order to send more blood to your baby.  This in turn increases your blood pressure and eventually the blood vessel walls will start to become damaged, creating small holes.  These holes let some fluids from your bloodstream leak…