A ‘ONE stop shop’ antenatal and postnatal service has been launched the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

The Maternity Hub, officially launched earlier this week and based at the hospital, sees a number of community and hospital services brought together under one roof.

The hope is that pregnant women in the town are now able to access and receive any care they need - throughout their pregnancy and afterwards.

They will still have to travel to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to give birth however.

Lisa Gardner, senior midwife and maternity hub team leader, said: “We're delighted to offer parents more support, more specialised clinics, drop in sessions as this will undoubtedly start to impact our aim of achieving better births for all women in Worcestershire.”

She added: "Our new antenatal clinic opened in 2017 and since then we have been gradually expanding what we can offer from here.

"The developments are in line with the recommendations laid out in NHS England’s Better Births document which sets out a vision for a modern maternity service that delivers safer, more personalised care for all women and every baby.

"We are hearing really positive things from our parents-to-be who like that they can access services in one place and often in one visit which is much more convenient.”

Mums-to-be can access community midwives, scanning midwives, antenatal clinic midwives, consultants and specialist advisors who all work together - meaning they can refer women into each other’s services on the same day.

Accessing services from the hub means expectant mothers have a single point of care from as early as six weeks pregnant, from first blood tests to first scans all the way up to the point of delivery.

The Maternity Hub has four consulting rooms, a dedicated phlebotomy room and an additional quiet room available for use by patients awaiting early pregnancy scans or when greater privacy is required during an appointment.