The maternity assessment unit provides a "walk-in" service for women who are at least 20 weeks pregnant and have either been referred by a health professional or have a concern themselves regarding their pregnancy.
The unit is run by a midwife and a maternity assistant. Both midwifery and medical students access the unit as a learning resource. The maternity assessment unit has close links with the antenatal clinic.
The unit is closed for a 30-minute lunch break at variable times depending on the workload. The unit aims to close the door at 4pm each day in order for any remaining patients to be seen and assessed before 4.30pm. Any patients attending after this time may have to be referred to either labour ward or maternity ward for assessment.
The aim of the maternity assessment unit is to provide an accessible "walk-in" service for pregnant women that is midwifery-led and offers care in a welcoming environment. Most of the patients will access the unit on a "one-off" occasion. However, a small number of women will attend the unit on a regular and ongoing basis.
The reasons for attendance are varied, but the majority of women will attend the unit for a small range of reasons/conditions, primarily for blood pressure monitoring, spontaneous rupture of membranes, reduced fetal movements or with itching or Obstetric Cholestasis.
Guidelines are in place to ensure appropriate referral of patients into the maternity assessment unit and also onto other areas of the maternity unit.
