Breaking: Maternity team at Ipswich Hospital scoops top national award

Christine Colbourne, the head of Midwifery at Ipswich Hospital

The team at Heath Road were named Maternity Service of the Year at the Royal College of Midwives awards ceremony today, recognising their work to improve maternity services and the team’s staff engagement.

Chris Colbourne, head of midwifery, said: “The maternity team works 24/7 to make sure mothers, babies and their families get safe, high quality and personal care and we are thrilled with this national recognition.

“This award is a testament to everyone who works in the unit, I’m very proud of each and every one of them.”

It came on the same day as the Department of Health announced the trust will be handed nearly £700,000 to improve the birthing experience for parents.

Ipswich Hospital is one of 100 trusts set to share from the £25million fund to upgrade maternity units.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, added: “The volume of entries and their quality this year was exceptional, so to win is a real achievement.

“As Ipswich Hospital demonstrate, amazing and innovative work is going on across the UK. These are midwives and teams pushing at the boundaries of practice to deliver a better service for women and their babies.”

The trust - which has nearly four-thousand deliveries per year - has made great efforts to improve the care women receive.

It is one of just twelve trusts that took part in a national project led by the King’s Fund to Improve safety in maternity services.

It was also one of the Trusts that contributed to The Models of Care Project.

This was a national initiative to ensure the right community midwifery service were offered to women and their families.

As a result of the project it was identified that more posts to support safeguarding and vulnerable women in the Ipswich area were needed.