Parents-to-be in the Wellington area will soon have access to a state-of-the-art birthing centre following a £300,000 upgrade.

Musgrove Park Hospital’s Bracken Birthing Centre, where women who have a low risk of complications can give birth, will undergo a significant refurbishment over the next few months.

The new birthing centre will have two new en-suite rooms, including an additional birthing pool. It will have a modern feel with better lighting and temperature control. The existing Bracken Birthing Centre has closed to births until the newly refurbished centre opens in early summer 2020. During the temporary closure women will have three options on where to give birth:

Mary Stanley Birthing Unit at Bridgwater Hospital, which is run by an experienced team of midwives and has modern facilities and two birthing pools

The Labour ward at Musgrove Park Hospital under the care of Bracken midwives

A home birth under the care of the community midwifery team.

Additional services, such as 24 hour breastfeeding support and assessment in early labour, is available in all three options.

The Bracken Birthing Centre upgrade has been funded by Musgrove Park’s League of Friends.

This is the first of three improvements taking place at Musgrove Park’s maternity unit in 2020. A second project will begin in April to upgrade the unit’s reception and waiting areas, and the final part will include refurbishment work on the Labour ward, which will begin in May.