Maternity Assessment Unit

Triage is open 7 days a week and offers a 24-hour service.

You may be referred to triage by your GP, community midwife or you may contact us yourself if you need help or advice. We see women from 20 weeks of pregnancy, up to 6 weeks after delivery of your baby.

When you ring Triage, you will speak to a midwife on the phone and they will take a history from you, listen to your concerns, and give you appropriate advice on whether you need to come into hospital to be seen in Triage, Antenatal Day Unit (between the hours of 9-5pm) or Accident and Emergency, stay at home or even be seen by your own GP.

It would also be helpful if you could tell us about anything that might make you high risk in your pregnancy when you ring because this can sometimes affect your care.

• Abdominal pain
• Vaginal bleeding
• Abnormal discharge
• Generally feeling unwell
• Suspected infection/high temperature
• Severe itching on the palms of your hands or feet
• Suspected labour including premature labour (if you are having regular, painful contractions)
• Waters breaking at any point
• Raised blood pressure
• A change in the pattern of baby’s movements
• Problems with vision (blurring, flashing lights or spots, difficulty focusing)
• A persistent headache
• Postnatal concerns up to 6 weeks after giving birth

When you arrive at Triage (The Maternity Assessment Unit) you will be greeted by a member of staff and shown to a clinical assessment area or asked to sit in the waiting area if we are busy. We see women in order of clinical need so occasionally they may be a short wait to see a midwife.

The Maternity Triage facilitates safe and timely assessment of maternal and fetal condition in the antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum periods using the Birmingham Symptom specific Obstetric systems (BSOTS) model. Appropriate treatment can be initiated, including if required, admission to an appropriate ward. Some patients will be discharged home from the assessment unit following review.

The BSOTS model aligns the maternity triage with an Emergency Department triage system where women will be rapidly assessed within 15 minutes of their arrival to triage and then a plan of ongoing care made based on this initial assessment. Women will therefore be seen for ongoing care based upon their initial assessment and not the time order they were admitted to triage.

If you do not understand what is happening to you or you have any worries or questions, please ask a member of staff. If whilst waiting your condition changes then please inform us. Please feel free to bring your birthing partner with you to Triage for support.

During your assessment, the midwife will listen to your concerns, take your medical history and record information to help her make a plan of care for you.

We might do one or more of these tests:

• Temperature
• Pulse
• Blood pressure
• Oxygen saturations
• Urine testing
• CO2 Testing
• Abdominal examination
• Baby’s heart monitoring
• Vaginal examination
• Blood tests

You may need to see a doctor during your time in the Maternity Assessment Unit, depending upon the reason for your admission. You may be admitted to the Labour Suite or the Maternity Ward for any ongoing care or observations following your review.

If attending with suspected labour; following assessment and discussion, if you are not considered to be in established labour, you may go home and wait for the contractions to become longer and stronger before you return.

The comfort of your own home is widely regarded as the best place to be during the early stages of labour. Pain relief and coping strategies will be offered before you leave.

There is more information on the Barnsley Maternity internet page, including information about preparing for labour, the latent phase of labour, pain relief options, having your baby at home, and giving birth.

There are videos to watch to help you prepare for labour available on our Maternity Services page.

If you are discharged home, you are welcome to contact Triage for further advice at any time. We know that things can change quickly so if your symptoms/concerns persist or worsen then you must ring us back because we may need to see you again.

We hope that your visit to our Maternity Triage is a good experience and we welcome any feedback that may help our department.