The Barkantine Health Centre
Isle Of Dogs - London

Active Birth Pools Supplied:

2 Deluxe Water Birth Pools

3 New Active Birth Pools

Work has begun on a new state-of-the-art Birth Centre on the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets.

The Birth Centre, which will be run jointly by Barts and The London NHS Trust and Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust, will be based in the new Barkantine Health Centre on Westferry Road.

A sod-turning ceremony was held on the site of the new £11m building on Tuesday (16 May). The Centre is due to open in late 2007.

The new Birth Centre will have five multi-purpose rooms, each with a birthing pool and ensuite facilities. The Centre, which will be staffed by midwives, will provide care for women before, after and during their pregnancy. Women will have the option of using the Birth Centre for ante and post-natal check ups. The Centre will also offer preparation classes, breast-feeding classes and will run support groups for new mums.

Denise McEneaney, Maternity Services Development Manager at Barts and The London NHS Trust, said: "This will be the first NHS Birth Centre in Tower Hamlets. It will give women who are expected to have a straight-forward birth a new option when it comes to deciding where to have their new baby. Up until now they have had the choice of having their baby at hospital or at home. From late 2007, they will be able to give birth at the new Birth Centre.

"There are now over 100 Birth Centres across the UK. Mums, dads and babies love them. These centres have excellent safety records and research suggests that women who have their babies in birth centres have shorter labours, need less pain relief and need fewer medical interventions."

Claire Davis, a mother of four living in Bow and a member of the Birth Centre Steering Group, said: "I had my four girls at home. I wasn’t ill so I didn’t really see the point of going into hospital. Having a baby is one of the most natural things in the world so it made sense for me to have my children at home.

"I am delighted that women in Tower Hamlets will soon have the option of having their baby in a Birth Centre. I’ve seen the plans for the new Centre. It is going to be a wonderful place. It will have a ‘home from home’ feel. It won’t feel anything like a hospital and the midwives will be on hand to help women through labour."

The East London LIFTCo, a partnership of the NHS, Government and private sector, is building the new Barkantine Health Centre. As well as the Birth Centre, the building will contain space for nine GPs, dentists and a teaching centre for dentists, a family planning clinic and counsellors. It will also be a base for health visitors and school nurses, a team to support children with disabilities and the local community mental health team.