The Bristol Urological Institute (BUI) is a long established research unit.

The Bristol Urological Institute (BUI):

• attracts major national and international grants
• publishes extensively in all areas of urology
• participates in international clinical trials
• promotes charitable donations
• provides premier patient services

The Bristol urologists have always been at the cutting edge, introducing robotic surgery, pioneering urodynamics, promoting minimally invasive kidney stone surgery and investing in community delivered diagnostics.

Teaching has been a major component of our work with our certificated courses setting an international standard and generations of young urologists leaving us with new skills. 

When you are told you have a long term condition such as kidney disease and need dialysis, you can feel that you have lost control, particularly as treatment requires so many changes to your life.

Whilst we are used to having our healthcare provided, we often have a more positive outlook, feel better and more in control when we are involved in our own care. Evidence gathered from dialysis patients who have participated in their own care, show that they:

• Understand their treatment and condition
• Gain confidence
• Feel better in themselves

What does Shared Care mean for me?

It can mean doing as much or as little as you want for yourself, supported by the nurses. As you gain confidence you may choose to learn more skills whilst remaining on a dialysis unit.
You may find that you want to dialyse more independently, in which case you could:

• Do your dialysis at home
• You could go to Cossham Self Care unit. This unit offers more independence than our other dialysis units can offer as it

You can participate in as much of your care as you want. This can include anything from taking your blood pressure, setting up the dialysis machine to starting, monitoring and finishing your dialysis.

What are the benefits?

• More control over your treatment
• Possible reduction in waiting time
• Become an expert in your condition and treatment
• Increased confidence
• Learn to a stage of your choice
• A stepping stone to home dialysis or Cossham Self Care unit
• Confidence when having holiday dialysis

What if you decide Shared Care dialysis isn’t for you?

Not a problem!

Shared Care dialysis isn’t for everyone and if it is not your preference, the dialysis nurses will continue to carry out your treatment.

North Bristol NHS Trust supports the national aim (outlined in the Government's Plan for Growth and implemented by the National Institute for Health Research) to increase the number of patients who have the opportunity to participate in research.

The national target for clinical and commercial research is that each trial should recruit the first patient within 70 days from the date an NHS organisation receives a valid research application.

Performance information on each trial hosted by North Bristol NHS Trust which received NHS permission within the last year can be viewed directly through the NIHR Submission Platform.

If you have any questions about the delivery of our current research, please contact the Research & Innovation Office via research@nbt.nhs.uk or 0117 414 9330.

The Living Well programme, which covers the elements of the Macmillan recovery package, is part of routine follow up care and assists people to:

• prepare for the future
• identify their individual needs
• support them to live well after treatment.

It is a combination of different interventions which, when delivered together can greatly improve the outcomes and coordination of patient care including, better and earlier identification of consequences of treatment.

For more information visit www.macmillan.org.uk

Choosing Where to Have Your Baby

Central Delivery Suite, Southmead Hospital, Southmead Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS10 5NB

The Central Delivery Suite, Southmead Hospital, is a consultant-led unit. If you have a medical condition, have experienced problems in a previous pregnancy or if complications arise during this pregnancy, you will be advised to have your baby in a consultant-led unit.

The Central Delivery Suite team includes:

• Midwives, student midwives and maternity care assistants
• Obstetricians
• Neonatologists (doctors for your baby)
• Anaesthetists.
• Housekeepers

The unit has two operating theatres and obstetric high dependency care can be provided within Central Delivery Suite.

Facilities at Central Delivery Suite:

• Ten birth rooms, most of which have an en-suite shower. This room can be changed to suit your needs. The bed can be moved away from the centre of the room. We have birthing mats and balls to facilitate making the environment suitable for your requirements
• A pool room for women who choose to labour /birth in water
• Additional bathrooms
• A kitchen is available for your use with tea and coffee making facilities
• Free WiFi
• Free car parking for all women, and their partners, in active labour. (Further details below).

Throughout labour the midwife will encourage, support and guide you, encouraging you to feel in control. We support your partners involvement at all times, and value their presence. You can have two birthing partners with you if you choose although, only one partner is permitted into theatre or recovery. We do not have waiting space for other visitors.

What pain management options are available?

• Aromatherapy
• TENS
• Birth pool
• Entonox (gas & air)
• Pethidine
• Patient controlled epidural analgesia

What happens after the birth?

After the birth, we encourage a calm, quiet and gentle time for you and your partner, we recommend skin to skin contact with your baby and will support you with feeding. One partner can stay with you. If everything has been straightforward with your birth and your baby is feeding well, the midwives will try to ensure that you can go home after six hours. You will be transferred to one of the postnatal wards after birth. If admitted to the ward please ask your birth partner to take home items you no longer require, so that all your belongings fit into the bedside locker and on the shelves of the cot provided on the postnatal wards.

Please use the main maternity reception to enter and exit our Maternity Services at Southmead, including AAU and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

• Upon arrival, you will be asked to sign in and given a lanyard.
• If you are a visitor, we kindly request you wear your lanyard at all times.
• Please keep noise in this area, and within the wards, to a minimum.
• When leaving, please ensure you sign yourself out and return your lanyard.

However, please use the Central Delivery Suite entrance if:

• You are in labour and are planning on birthing at either Mendip Birth Centre or the Central Delivery Suite. If your birth partner needs to move the car, get bags etc. after your arrival, they will be allowed out of this door for that purpose.
• You are having scans on the Central Delivery Suite including fetal medicine scans.
• You are having treatment on CDS including ECVs.

Entry and exit from any other route is not permitted without speaking to a member of staff. We appreciate your co-operation.

How do I get free car parking?

How it works:

• The details of the car and the surname of the woman in labour will be taken by the receptionist
• A form will need to be completed and submitted to the parking office
• The car must be parked in the car park near the Central Delivery Suite entrance to qualify for free parking
• Only one registration per couple i.e. the partner’s car or a nominated car if the partner does not have one.

Central Delivery Suite Tours

You can currently take virtual tours of our wards on our website. More information regarding face-to-face tours coming soon.  

For more information for you and your partner on planning where to give birth visit www.nhs.uk

Choosing Where to Have Your Baby

Mendip Birth Centre, Southmead Hospital, Southmead Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS10 5NB.

Mendip Birth Centre is a midwife-led Unit situated along the corridor from the Central Delivery Suite at Southmead Hospital, providing a quiet and tranquil environment for labour and birth. The Mendip Birth Centre is suitable if you are healthy, and your pregnancy has been straightforward.

Mendip Birth Centre can also support women who would not be eligible to birth at home or in Cossham Birth Centre but would still like to benefit from the Birth Centre environment. Individualised birth plans are developed with your own medical needs being considered. If you feel this is something you would like to explore please ask your community midwife for further details.

All the midwives working in the centre have a strong philosophy of women centred care and will support you to have an uncomplicated labour and birth.

Facilities at Mendip Birth Centre have been designed to provide comfort and support in labour and include:

• Three birthing rooms with floor mats and birth balls to support you
• A water pool in each birth room, should you wish to relax and/or give birth in water. Women who labour while immersed in water require fewer drugs for pain management, and are more likely to have a quicker labour
• En-suite facilities 
• A Double bed in all birth rooms rooms
• Partners can stay overnight
• CD player 
• A kitchen is available for your use
• Free WiFi
• Free car parking for all women, and their partners, in active labour. (Further details below). 

Throughout labour the midwife will encourage, support and guide you, encouraging you to feel in control. We support your partners involvement at all times, and value their presence. You can have two birthing partners with you if you choose.

A  study about place of birth supports healthy women with straightforward pregnancies choosing to give birth in an alongside unit such as Mendip Birth Centre. It showed that these women are more likely to have a vaginal birth. And are less likely to have medical interventions such as:

• An intravenous infusion to help with progress of labour
• An Epidural
• A forceps delivery
• A Caesarean section.

What pain management options are available?

• Aromatherapy
• TENS
• Birth pool
• Entonox (gas and air)
• Pethidine.

The midwives at Mendip Birth Centre are not be able to provide:

• Epidural pain management
• Induction of labour (starting contractions off) or a drip to speed up your labour
• Assisted delivery with forceps or ventouse
• Caesarean Birth.

What happens in an emergency?

Mendip Birth Centre has the equipment available and the staff trained for initial care in emergency situations. However, the facilities for more intensive or longer term resuscitation are not available at midwife-led units and therefore if women or babies at Mendip Birth Centre need medical treatment they will need to be transferred to the nearby Central Delivery Suite.

What happens after the birth?

After the birth, we encourage a calm, quiet and gentle time for you and your partner, with skin to skin contact with your baby and support with feeding. One partner can stay with you. If everything has been straightforward with your birth and your baby is feeding well, the midwives will try to ensure that you can go home after six hours.

Please use the main maternity reception to enter and exit our Maternity Services at Southmead, including AAU and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

• Upon arrival, you will be asked to sign in and given a lanyard.
• If you are a visitor, we kindly request you wear your lanyard at all times.
• Please keep noise in this area, and within the wards, to a minimum.
• When leaving, please ensure you sign yourself out and return your lanyard.

However, please use the Central Delivery Suite entrance if:

• You are in labour and are planning on birthing at either Mendip Birth Centre or the Central Delivery Suite. If your birth partner needs to move the car, get bags etc after your arrival, they will be allowed out of this door for that purpose.
• You are having scans on the Central Delivery Suite including fetal medicine scans.
• You are having treatment on CDS including ECVs.

Entry and exit from any other route is not permitted without speaking to a member of staff. We appreciate your co-operation.

How do I get free car parking?

How it works:

• The details of the car and the surname of the woman in labour will be taken by the receptionist
• A form will need to be completed and submitted to the parking office
• The car must be parked in the car park near the Central Delivery Suite entrance to qualify for free parking
• Only one registration per couple i.e. the partner’s car or a nominated car if the partner does not have one.

For more information for you and and your partner on planning where to give birth visit: 

www.nhs.uk

www.nhs.uk (First baby)

www.nhs.uk (If you have given birth before)

Update 10 May 2024

Update on Cossham Birth Centre

Providing safe care for all women, birthing people and babies across our services is our priority. 

While we have made progress in recruitment, maternity workforce challenges remain across the NHS and regretfully we are not yet in a position to reopen the Cossham Birth Centre for births. Work remains ongoing and we will update further as soon as possible.

We are sorry for any disappointment this may cause and would like to reassure families that our Home Birth service continues to be available on a case-by case-basis and the Mendip Birth Centre at Southmead Hospital remains an option as an alternative midwife-led setting for women and birthing people. 

Community appointments, breastfeeding support and other antenatal and postnatal services continue to be available from Cossham.

We recognise the valuable contribution of Cossham Hospital in providing services for the local population and are continuing to review how we can further develop services on the site for the local community.

Cossham Birth Centre, Cossham Hospital, Lodge Road, Kingswood, Bristol BS15 1LF. 0117 4145150.

Why give birth at Cossham? 

You will be cared for by a small team of experienced midwives and support workers who are passionate about supporting normal birth and putting you at the centre of your care. 

You can give birth in a home from home environment with birthing pools, aromatherapy, massage and a focus on active birth. 

Who can birth at Cossham birth centre?

Women from anywhere across Bristol, with uncomplicated pregnancies and who are aiming for a natural birth are welcome to birth at Cossham Birth Centre.

You will need to have your 34 week appointment with the team at Cossham in order to be booked in to give birth at Cossham and your community midwife can arrange this for you.

What care will I receive here?

You can choose to have all your care throughout your pregnancy, birth and the early days with your baby here at Cossham Birth Centre with Jade Team.

Alternatively you can choose to keep your Antenatal and Postnatal care with your local community midwife and just come to Cossham to give birth

Before arriving at Cossham Birth Centre, women in labour must telephone 0117 4145150 and speak to a midwife who will assess and support you by phone and plan your arrival at the birth centre,

What facilities are available here?

Facilities at Cossham Birth Centre have been designed to provide comfort and support in labour and include: 

• Four en-suite birth rooms furnished with floor mats, cushions and birth balls to support you
• A water pool in each birth room, should you wish to relax and/or give birth in water. Women who labour while immersed in water require fewer drugs for pain management, and are more likely to have a quicker labour
• Entonox (gas and air), TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), aromatherapy and Pethidine pain management options  
• A double bed in each room so your partner may stay with you and your baby after the birth
• A bluetooth speaker for your own choice of music
• Use of a communal kitchen with light snacks available.

In addition to the birth facilities, Cossham Birth Centre is a base for the local community midwives and a venue for antenatal clinics, classes, postnatal clinics and breastfeeding support groups.

Throughout labour the midwife will encourage, support and guide you, encouraging you to feel in control. We support your partners involvement at all times during your labour, and value their presence. A study "Birth Place" 2017 about place of birth supports healthy women with straightforward pregnancies choosing to give birth in a free-standing birth centre such as Cossham Birth Centre, Bristol. It showed that these women are more likely to have:

• A "normal birth"
• A water pool in labour

and are less likely to have medical interventions such as:

• An intravenous infusion to help with progress of labour
• A forceps delivery
• A Caesarean section.

What pain management options are available?

• Aromatherapy
• TENS
• Birth pool
• Entonox (gas and air)
• Pethidine.

The midwives at Cossham Birth Centre are not able to provide:

• Epidural pain relief
• Induction of labour (starting contractions off) if you require this
• Assisted delivery with forceps or ventouse
• Caesarean Section.

What happens in an emergency?

Cossham Birth Centre has the equipment available and the staff trained for initial care in emergency situations. However, the facilities for more intensive or longer term resuscitation are not available at midwife-led units and therefore if women or babies at Cossham Birth Centre need medical treatment they will need to be transferred to Southmead Hospital’s maternity unit by ambulance, a Midwife always accompanies you during a transfer to Southmead Hospital. The current transfer rate from Cossham Birth Centre is, on average, 30%, and the average transfer time is one hour – this is from the initial telephone call to arrival at Southmead Hospital. Your partner is given the option to accompany you on the journey.  Please call Cossham Birth Centre if you require specific details of transfer statistics.

What happens after the birth?

After the birth, we encourage a calm, quiet and gentle time for you and your partner, with skin to skin contact with your baby and support with feeding. Your partner can stay with you. If everything has been straightforward with your birth and your baby is feeding well, the midwives will try to ensure that you can go home after six hours. If you are not able to go home after six hours, you can continue to be supported at Cossham for up to 24 hours post birth.

Cossham Birth Centre Tours

Unfortunately due to the service being suspended, tours aren't currently running. In the meantime, please do explore the virtual tour via the menu on the left side of this page and you can also find us on Google Earth!

We are planning to launch online active birth workshops in the near future, to empower and inform you on active birth in labour. More information coming soon.

Choosing where to give birth

For more information for you and your partner on planning where to give birth visit: 

www.nhs.uk

www.nhs.uk (First baby)

www.nhs.uk (If you have given birth before)

Philosophy of Cossham Birth Centre

Divisional Director of Midwifery and Nursing

Julie Northrop
Email: julie.northrop@nbt.nhs.uk

Deputy Divisional Directors of Midwifery and Nursing

Diane Dorrington
Email: diane.dorrington@nbt.nhs.uk

Jodie Da Rosa
Email: jodie.darosa@nbt.nhs.uk

Clinical Director

Jane Mears 
Email: jane.mears@nbt.nhs.uk

Divisional Operations Director

Claire Weatherall
Email: claire.weatherall@nbt.nhs.uk

General Manager - Maternity

Louise Wallace
Email: louise.wallace@nbt.nhs.uk

General Manager - Gynaecology & NICU

Kirsty Pinner
Email: kirsty.pinner@nbt.nhs.uk

Consultant Obstetricians

• Dr Sonia Barnfield, Obstetrician, Maternal Medicine
• Dr Simon Grant, Obstetrician, Fetal Medicine
• Dr Jo Crofts, Obstetrician 
• Dr Naomi Jobson, Obstetrician 
• Dr Rachel Ion, Obstetrician 
• Dr Christy Burden, Obstetrician 
• Mr Sherif Abdel-Fattah, Obstetrician 
• Dr. Kate Collins, Obstetrician 
• Dr Fiona Day, Obstetrician 
• Dr Sian Edwards, Obstetrician 
• Dr Cameron Hinton, Obstetrician 
• Dr Lisa Kirk, Obstetrician 
• Dr Stephen O'Brien, Obstetrician 
• Dr Judith Standing, Obstetrician
• Dr Fran Neuberger, Obstetrician 

For more information on our Consultants visit www.nbt.nhs.uk/consultants

Clinical Matrons

Central Delivery Suite and Inpatient Services
Nicola Chinnock

General Infertility, Gynaecology Inpatients and Outpatients
Rosie Malins

Community Midwifery Services
Margaret Smith

Antenatal Clinic, Fetal Medicine & Screening and Cedar Team
Bonny Hetherington

Mendip Birth centre, Home Birth, Percy Phillips 
Yvonne Bishop

Continuous Improvement and Learning Team
Jessie Peplar and Ruth Gregory

Divisional Recruitment and Retention Lead 
Liz Haines

Managers

Community Pearl Team
Gaynor Jackson

Community Lilac Team
Libby Hutchison

Community Jade Team
Beth Connelly

Antenatal Clinic

Catherine Poole

Quantock Ward and Quantock Assessment Unit
Carli Bleaken and Lisa Redmayne

Percy Phillips Ward
Rachel Cox

Cotswold Ward
Nicola Carey

Community Blue Team
Hayley Scull

Community Green Team
Vanessa Lanham-Cook

Community Indigo Team
Monica Carter

Community Orange Team
Bethany Roswell

Community Pink Team
Tracy Wharrier

Community Red Team
Nicola Kettle

Community Yellow Team
Eloise Alexander

Mendip Birth Centre and Transitional care 
Beth Thornley and Beth Connelly

Specialist Midwives

Service User Experience and Engagement Leads 
Hayley Forbes

Infant feeding Midwife
Marion Copeland

Screening Coordinator
Aimee Yendle

Fetal Medicine Leads
Julie Wormell and Zoe Dorgan

Bereavement Midwives
Stephanie Evans and Emily Arnold

Complex Care Midwives
Sharon Cohen, Stephanie Miller and Lauren Birchall

Perinatal Specialist Midwives
Gemma Cole and Caroline Oates

Birth Afterthoughts Midwife 
Sarah Brooks

Named Midwife for Safeguarding
Jessica Harrison

Choosing Where to Have Your Baby

If you are healthy and your pregnancy is advancing normally, why not think about having your baby at home?

In your own home environment you will be able to relax and feel at ease, surrounded by whoever you wish as a birth partner/s. Its your home, your choice. The relaxed surrounds supports the natural process of labour and birthing, and women often find they need less pain management in their labour.

If you choose to have a home birth, we have a dedicated home birth midwife on duty, who will come to your home around 36 weeks to guide you in the practicalities of preparing your home. They are usually items you have in the home anyway, so don’t be concerned that there is any added cost. She will help you to decide which room you would like to birth in and the logistics to consider depending if you live, for example, in a flat. We will bring with us some essential items prior to the day, so we are fully prepared. Don’t worry about there being a mess, as midwives are very discreet and excellent at minimising any visual ‘mess’. The midwife will discuss any concerns you may have and answer your questions.

What pain management options are available? 

Some women choose to hire a birth pool or a TENS machine (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). You would be encouraged to remain mobile as you feel you can, to ensure your baby is in the optimal position. The Midwife will provide gas and air (entonox) should you need this, and support you in how to use this. Some Community Midwives can offer massage and aromatherapy.

What happens in an emergency?

Our community midwives are experienced in supporting you, giving dedicated 1:1 care at home and are trained to deal with emergencies. If the midwife has any concerns before, during or after the birth, with either you or your baby, your midwife will discuss these with you and explain and guide you through the next steps to take. If you require a transfer to hospital, this will be by ambulance and your midwife will stay with you and continue to support you for the journey.

What happens after the birth?

On birthing at home, your midwife will encourage you and your birth partner to have skin to skin with your baby, and encourage the building of a special bond. You will be supported in your chosen method of feeding your baby, and practical support and guidance given. If breastfeeding, we will ensure that you have the skills to feed your baby, and encourage you towards being independent and confident before we leave your home.

Your community midwife can answer any questions you may have and will be happy to discuss planning your homebirth with you.

For more information for you and and your partner on planning where to give birth visit: 

www.nhs.uk

www.nhs.uk (First baby)

www.nhs.uk (If you have given birth before)

Read about antenatal appointments and care on NHS.uk